I admit it. When it comes to chewing up disk space, I can easily fill up giga-bytes of data in no time flat which usually leaves me with little available disk space.
Sure, I guess cleaning up old files will get me that much needed disk space back…only on a temporary basis. Sooner, than later, I'm just going to find other music mp3's, video files, what ever, and download to my computer, that will once again…you got it, fill up hard drive space.
So it was time for me to get a bigger internal hard drive that I thought would never prevent me from running out of disk space.
One problem, I just didn't want to go through the hassle of adding an internal hard drive to my computer (unplugging everything and digging the computer out from my desk).
Instead, it was time to find an easier solution to my disk space problem.
What solution did I need?
An external USB hard disk that was a snap to add to my Windows computer. But not any USB drive, something that was fast, had tons of capacity, simple to use and allow me to "just" plug it into any computer so I can take my data with me, and is CHEAP.
After searching around on the Internet, I found the Western Digital 1 TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive (WDBAAU0010HBK-NESN) at a great price (check it out here at Amazon).
At 2.2 pounds, it's light weight design allows for a massive 1 terra byte of storage capacity.
All I had to do was plug in the AC adapter and connect it to one of my USB 2 ports, and in a matter of seconds I just expanded disk space on my computer to an extra 1tb! No screw drivers or dis-assembly needed.
The one thing I love about the Western Digital 1 TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive is that it does not come with any annoying bundled software. It truly is "plug n play" and already formatted as NTFS. Sweet!
Ok, so now it was time for the big test - transfer speed. I had approximately 335 gb of data to copy and was able to copy all that data in about 3.5 hrs. Not bad for an external USB drive. Sure there may be faster drives out there but not at this price.
Another key item that I noticed about the Western Digital 1 TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive, is that it does not get hot and stays warm to the touch.
Other features that I like about the drive are:
- Drive shuts down when USB port or device goes on standby saving power and life of the drive.
- Low Power usage and heat dissipation (good for laptops running on battery power)
- Silent drive, No FAN no Noise!
- Takes up a small foot print (width - 4.9 inches, height - 1.4 inches, 8 inches deep)
- Activity LED is behind the HDD enclosure
- And this is worth re-peating again: No software needed, No bloat-ware included!
- 1 year warranty
So if you are running out of disk space and want a reliable external USB hard drive, that won't cost you an arm and a leg, check out Western Digital 1 TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive (WDBAAU0010HBK-NESN) at Amazon (they also have free shipping).
But don't take my word. Do what I did and check out the reviews first. You won't be disappointed.
Comments on How An External USB Hard Drive Quickly Solved My Computer Disk Space Problems
Spot on, Mr. Boyds!!! I had exactly the same problem (to some extent
I still do …hehehe) and had similar experience while solving it.
I will like to have another OS beside Windows XP. I wonder if I can make
the external HD bootable with the other OS. I'm curious about Linux. But I
don't know what steps I would need to take to make that OS boot from the
EXTERNAL HD. The guides I find on the world wide web are too above my
realm of comprehension.
Anyone know of a simple and comprehensive tutorial for a novice like
yours truly???? Please find it in your heart to help me with this!!! :-))))
Take care good folks! Thank you ALL who contribute on WATCHING THE
NET for your excellent efforts. I find all the help very useful and my
knowledge is increasing more and more.
Take care!!! Best regards from,
…anwar…
More than spot on, I found a TERABYTE disk on sale for $60. ( Dell on sale ) vs $80 at Amazon. I now can do incremental backups for 5 years. Its stunning to me, I have incremental backups for 5 years. Whew!
How to experiment with linux? Get partition magic, and a internal hard disk twice the size ( not too hard ). Backup the original HD to the new HD. ( nice… so you have a spare ), then install Linux on the rest of the HD.
I have been using external storage for a while now and one thing I found was that if you buy an external hard drive (that is one unit) vs external storage bay and a hard drive, I prefer the external storage bay + hard drive. The reason is the warranty. With one unit if there is a problem with the bay only and not the hard drive - if you open it to get your data you void the warranty. On the other side if the two are separate you just replace the faulty one. I know there is gonna be people who tell me how good their product is and that it doesn't break, but I have been working in a warranty center for a computer wholesale company for 3 years I've learned that it is not if it breaks, but when it breaks.
This idea works for several situations.
-I have installed Linux to an external hard disk and booted that OS without issues. That helped me recover deleted files, and also I was able to use a different computer when it had no internal hard disk installed!
-This also adds portability to the data store on the USB drive. Take your picture collection to grandma, no need to email files or burn a photo DVD.
One major down side: these are hard disk drives. Do not drop them.
For a drop resistant solution, 32 Gigabyte Flash drives are costing about the same as a 500 Gigabyte external hard disk. Ran a flash drive through the washer once, still use it.
tanks for you
It's indeed a great solution for storage. Just do keep in mind that most external drives are not suitable for gaming due to the slower transfer speeds. I used to have Dirt Rally on an external drive - I could go make myself some coffee, get married, go to the honeymoon, have kids, and the game would still be at the loading screen after I came back.