[H1PP0]

hey im moving into my dorm in a couple days and im thinking of taking my desktop. im just taking my old desktop that i have been using for 4 years cuz i dont think laptops are woth the money? i dono. anywaysss i want to reformat my computer before i take it so im thinking of buying an external harddrive.

what are the pros and cons?
can ppl hack external hard drives too?
can external harddrive can viruses? can it crash?
IFFF it crashes, is it possible to still get my files back?
does brands matter when buying external hard drives?

lots of questions, i know.
sorry!

[dabrain]

what are the pros and cons?
can ppl hack external hard drives too?
can external harddrive can viruses? can it crash?
IFFF it crashes, is it possible to still get my files back?
does brands matter when buying external hard drives?

lots of questions, i know.
sorry!

i'd get a laptop ... but back to topic

everything can be hacked ... but if u use a fw than itz highly improbable that the hacker is goin to be successful ...
external harddrives can have viruses ... they can crash ... sometimes its possible to recover the data (depending on whether itz a physical problem or a "software" problem)
brands dont rele matter

[CIRee]

yes
yes
yes
yes

External harddrive are the same as internal but slower transfer rate because of the USB.

[aznfishyfart]

yes what they said
the reason u would have one though is that its portable unlike ur desktop
so lets say u wanna take ur dramas to ur friend's place...u have it on ur external and thats that
i dunno if u need hdd space to hold stuff u dont use all the times (movies and stuff) id jsut get an external

[Fishscene]

yes, an external HD is pretty much exactly the same as an internal HD. So anything that can happen to an internal HD (crash/virus/etc..) can still happen to an external drive.

My recommendation: Double check to see if you have 2 physical HD's in the computer first. If so, you can move whatever you want to save to the 2nd HD and reformat the Main HD. (sound complex? If so, stick with the external HD idea)

Ok, so you want to get an external HD.
"How many Gig's should it be?"

-Well, Go ahead and figure out how many gig's of data you want to back up, then buy an external HD that holds several Gig's MORE.

I personally recommend a Maxtor Hard Drive, or Seagate- I've never had any real problems with them. I have however, had several problems with Western Digital Hard Drives- which is a shame because they are lower price and perform VERY well. But they do have a reputation for being "flaky".
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As for taking care of your external HD, try not to move it while it is on. And don't unplug it if you see any read/write lights flashing. Other than that, you should be fine. =)

[yay =]]

i'd just get a laptop if i were you =\ its erally convenient and you can get a good one for 600 bucks at dell and its really worht it =] especially now that your on college and all but ummm for external HD? .. hmm i would say maxtor , hope that helps ;p