Question re external harddrives

[wumply]

My current and only HD sits inside my tower and connects to a power supply and, of course, the mobo.

Now I am about to make a complete copy of my HD to be safe if my HD should quit. OK. No problem (yet) with that. Let's assume I've made the copy on a new HD and that my internal HD quits. So I now disconnect all connections from my tower, drag the tower out, lift it up and lug it to the kitchen where I can work on it on a counter. I take the old drive out and install the new one, bring it back, push it in to its cubbyhole or compartment in the desk, reconnect it up and away I go.

Sounds like no big deal, except it's a chunk of work and being forced to work crouched over is very uncomfortable on my back.

So I was wondering could I make use of an external HD? If yes how would they work? Could the external drive sit on my desk for easy accesibility? If so how woull I--neatly--get power wires and information-transmitting cables from my desk to the tower insides? Is the idea even practical?

[bhxtyrant]

I have used several type's of external drives ranging from USB to SATA based external hard drives.Now i have never really tried this but i think you could safely back up your entire hard drive onto and external and boot from the external drive instead of relying on the internal drive in case it should fail.External drives are very sleek and clean looking.They will have either a USB or SATA cable for connecting it to your PC and a normal power cord similar to one you will see on a printer or scanner.Most of the newer externals are SATA based so if you are on an older PC that does not have SATA connections on your mobo you will require a PCI SATA controller card.Yes you would be able to sit the External drive on top of your desk or basically anywhere that allows good airflow and of course is not out of reach of your cords.Hope that helps.

[MSNwar]

What bhxtyrant said.

Also, you might consider an internal hard drive monuted in a drawer. No special hardware for the motherboard is required. You need one open bay on the front of the tower and one drawer kit. Tinker and I researched it and Tinker wrote an article a few years back located somewhere here.

I use the drawer method because I can connect and disconnect the hard drive by simply opening the drawer. When the drive is disconnected nothing is going to write to the drive, so it is always safe. When you need to copy to or from the drive simply connect it to the cable. Real easy on the back. I have back problems too ;)

[wumply]

MSNWar and bhxstyrant...thank you both for those ideas! I'll save your responses as well as forward them to my son.

MSNwar...couple of things. I think you didn't link your "here" to the site.

The drawer method really appeals to me for its neat way of keeping the 2nd. HD off the desk--I would have been OK with it on my desk, but in a drawer is preferable.

I take it the drawer kit comes designed to attach the HD with screws?

And I would keep the original internal HD as master and this new HD as slave?

[MSNwar]

I looked for the article, but I guess it went south. Here is a link that explains it pretty good:
http://www.usb-ware.com/sata-removable-drive-value.htm

Yes to all your questions. Except there a lot more mounting options available since we last reviewed them, so shop around for whatever ticles you. I Googled "hard drive drawer."

Have fun,

MSNwar