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External Hard drive purchase ?
Hi all,
Merry Xmas to all you helpers. Here is my question,I wish to buy an external hard drive for my back up. I Run Xp pro SP2 my USB Hub is 1.1 which is powered with four ports. I don't have much material to store so around 250 gb would be ample. Most advertise USB 2.0 I believe this should be ok for my 1.1 Hub but things would backup more slower. Can you give any advice as I need to use something simple for my system back up just in case. PS should it be a desk top or portable unit as latter appears cheaper Regards Roger ================================== ==================================== |
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#2
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External Hard drive purchase ?
Roger wrote:
Hi all, Merry Xmas to all you helpers. Here is my question,I wish to buy an external hard drive for my back up. I Run Xp pro SP2 my USB Hub is 1.1 which is powered with four ports. I don't have much material to store so around 250 gb would be ample. Most advertise USB 2.0 I believe this should be ok for my 1.1 Hub but things would backup more slower. Can you give any advice as I need to use something simple for my system back up just in case. PS should it be a desk top or portable unit as latter appears cheaper Regards Roger There are two ways to get drives. You can buy an enclosure with disk ready made. Or, you can buy an enclosure separately from a drive mechanism (two purchases). The following comments address the ready-made external disk market. The 2.5" ones tend to have better reviews than the 3.5" ones. So that is a mark in favor of that particular type. I searched Newegg in the external drive section, sorted the resulting units by rating. and this is a device with good ratings. 90% of respondents gave this a 5 star rating. What you're looking for in these reviews is, "it was dead when I got it", or "it died after three weeks and took all my data with it". http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136388 The 2.5" drive is bus powered, and typically does not include a power supply. That means it will draw up to 5V @ 500mA from the computer USB bus. In some cases, the 2.5" drive doesn't succeed in spinning up properly, due to exceeding the 500mA by a little bit. Some external 2.5" disks come with a "Y" cable, with two connectors which plug into the computer. One connector uses just two of its pins, to carry additional power. The second connector is a regular USB connector. Using this scheme, as long as the computer delivers power on both leads, the 2.5" drive will spin. The two USB connectors together, give up to 1000mA. 3.5" drives draw so much power, that they come with their own adapter. In some cases, the provided adapter dies, leaving the disk intact but unusable until a replacement power source is located. So a 3.5" drive is likely to work immediately when you get it, but if the power brick or built-in supply ever has a problem, you could be searching for a replacement power brick or a complete replacement enclosure. Same comments apply, if you lose the adapter (which happens, as you'll find people looking for adapters, and they don't even know what ratings it has). One reason 2.5" drives may have better reviews, is because they may product less heat in long term usage. The majority of 3.5" products won't come with a fan for cooling. Since I like to see a fan in my disk enclosures, I buy my own enclosure and add a drive mechanism to it. That takes me five minutes of work with a screwdriver. If there is a warranty issue, it is either the enclosure warranty that I use, or the hard drive mechanism warranty. So there can still be warranty coverage by building your own solution. The quality of empty hard drive enclosures that are for sale, is quite variable. Some are total garbage. Some are OK. Again, the reviews on Newegg can advise on which are total dogs. The best advice is, drives are cheap, and you should own two. Make backups to both, and chances are, when you need to do a restoration, one of the drives will work. You can alternate between the drives, rather than make two backups each time. That way, if one drive dies, you're using a bit older backup from the other drive, but you're still covered. You can use "Safely Remove", then disconnect the drive when it is not being used. The main advantage of that, is protection against lightning. If the backup drive is put in a safe place, without an electrical connection, then if the PC is completely blown up some day, your data may still be safe on the external enclosure. If you're not worried about this, then leave it connected. Most of the enclosures will spin down, after a short period of inactivity. I like to disconnect mine, because that's the kind of person I am. HTH, Paul |
#3
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External Hard drive purchase ?
Roger wrote:
Hi all, Merry Xmas to all you helpers. Here is my question,I wish to buy an external hard drive for my back up. I Run Xp pro SP2 my USB Hub is 1.1 which is powered with four ports. I don't have much material to store so around 250 gb would be ample. Most advertise USB 2.0 I believe this should be ok for my 1.1 Hub but things would backup more slower. A LOT slower. How about the idea of first getting a USB 2.0 card, so you could use the much faster speed of USB 2.0? Or is that not practicable? Can you give any advice as I need to use something simple for my system back up just in case. PS should it be a desk top or portable unit as latter appears cheaper Regards Roger ================================== ==================================== |
#4
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External Hard drive purchase ?
"Paul" wrote in message ... Roger wrote: Hi all, Merry Xmas to all you helpers. Here is my question,I wish to buy an external hard drive for my back up. I Run Xp pro SP2 my USB Hub is 1.1 which is powered with four ports. I don't have much material to store so around 250 gb would be ample. Most advertise USB 2.0 I believe this should be ok for my 1.1 Hub but things would backup more slower. Can you give any advice as I need to use something simple for my system back up just in case. PS should it be a desk top or portable unit as latter appears cheaper Regards Roger There are two ways to get drives. You can buy an enclosure with disk ready made. Or, you can buy an enclosure separately from a drive mechanism (two purchases). The following comments address the ready-made external disk market. The 2.5" ones tend to have better reviews than the 3.5" ones. So that is a mark in favor of that particular type. I searched Newegg in the external drive section, sorted the resulting units by rating. and this is a device with good ratings. 90% of respondents gave this a 5 star rating. What you're looking for in these reviews is, "it was dead when I got it", or "it died after three weeks and took all my data with it". http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136388 HTH, Paul {SNIP} Well thank you for your detailed comments Paul, so I will now look at your link, and correct me if I'm wrong for my above old system I can use a USB 2.0 disc unit on my 1.1 set up. Or for the amount of back up I have is there an alternative, as XP back up tool does not give much option i.e. to a CD etc. It looks as though you feel I would be better with a 2.5". Thanks Again Roger ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
#5
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External Hard drive purchase ?
"Bill in Co." wrote in message ... Roger wrote: Hi all, Merry Xmas to all you helpers. Here is my question,I wish to buy an external hard drive for my back up. I Run Xp pro SP2 my USB Hub is 1.1 which is powered with four ports. I don't have much material to store so around 250 gb would be ample. Most advertise USB 2.0 I believe this should be ok for my 1.1 Hub but things would backup more slower. A LOT slower. How about the idea of first getting a USB 2.0 card, so you could use the much faster speed of USB 2.0? Or is that not practicable? Can you give any advice as I need to use something simple for my system back up just in case. PS should it be a desk top or portable unit as latter appears cheaper Regards Roger ================================== ==================================== Well that's a possibility but am looking at cost, and my older pc with 800Mhz AMD board K7S5A with SIS 735 chipset. On my PC hard drive very little is used i.e. 11GB used, over 65 GB free. So some form of small back up at cheap pensioner cost would be ideal. I would not mind my back up speed being slower, as I'm not in a rush yet. Roger ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
#6
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External Hard drive purchase ?
Roger wrote:
"Bill in Co." wrote in message ... Roger wrote: Hi all, Merry Xmas to all you helpers. Here is my question,I wish to buy an external hard drive for my back up. I Run Xp pro SP2 my USB Hub is 1.1 which is powered with four ports. I don't have much material to store so around 250 gb would be ample. Most advertise USB 2.0 I believe this should be ok for my 1.1 Hub but things would backup more slower. A LOT slower. How about the idea of first getting a USB 2.0 card, so you could use the much faster speed of USB 2.0? Or is that not practicable? Can you give any advice as I need to use something simple for my system back up just in case. PS should it be a desk top or portable unit as latter appears cheaper Regards Roger ================================== ==================================== Well that's a possibility but am looking at cost, and my older pc with 800Mhz AMD board K7S5A with SIS 735 chipset. On my PC hard drive very little is used i.e. 11GB used, over 65 GB free. So some form of small back up at cheap pensioner cost would be ideal. I would not mind my back up speed being slower, as I'm not in a rush yet. I think those USB 2.0 cards are pretty cheap though. Even with 11 GB to backup, I think the difference would be quite significant. I don't have the USB max speeds at my fingertips, however, but just as a wild guess, using USB 1.1, I'm guessing it might take more than an hour. |
#7
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External Hard drive purchase ?
Bill in Co. wrote:
Roger wrote: "Bill in Co." wrote in message ... Roger wrote: Hi all, Merry Xmas to all you helpers. Here is my question,I wish to buy an external hard drive for my back up. I Run Xp pro SP2 my USB Hub is 1.1 which is powered with four ports. I don't have much material to store so around 250 gb would be ample. Most advertise USB 2.0 I believe this should be ok for my 1.1 Hub but things would backup more slower. A LOT slower. How about the idea of first getting a USB 2.0 card, so you could use the much faster speed of USB 2.0? Or is that not practicable? Can you give any advice as I need to use something simple for my system back up just in case. PS should it be a desk top or portable unit as latter appears cheaper Regards Roger ================================== ==================================== Well that's a possibility but am looking at cost, and my older pc with 800Mhz AMD board K7S5A with SIS 735 chipset. On my PC hard drive very little is used i.e. 11GB used, over 65 GB free. So some form of small back up at cheap pensioner cost would be ideal. I would not mind my back up speed being slower, as I'm not in a rush yet. I think those USB 2.0 cards are pretty cheap though. Even with 11 GB to backup, I think the difference would be quite significant. I don't have the USB max speeds at my fingertips, however, but just as a wild guess, using USB 1.1, I'm guessing it might take more than an hour. In the same order for the USB hard drive, a PCI USB2 card isn't going to add much to the overall project cost. And it will be a damn sight more responsive (by a factor of 30). (5 port USB2 PCI card - needs an empty PCI slot inside the computer) $9.99 (Uses NEC uPD720101. Positives: Compatibility. Negatives: Sensitive to static. Some people report the ports on the NEC based cards can die, but when the ports fail, the failures are independent. The remaining ports continue to work, at least, until they're all used up.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815124008 USB2 devices are supposed to be backward compatible with USB1.1 ports. So if a person has a computer with only USB1.1 ports, you can still plug USB2 devices into those ports. For things like mass storage devices, I would not expect a problem. Your transfer rate in that case is 1MB/sec, rather than the 30MB/sec typically seen on USB2 host ports. There are some exceptions, but those exceptions have never been provided with a text explanation of what the limitation might be. Some devices simply won't perform their function well, if the bandwidth is limited. (Imagine a device taking video in real time, which is dropping a lot of frames.) But the times I've seen the exception, there isn't even an explanation like that. Instead, the description gives the impression it "doesn't work", which I find hard to believe. I think there is some Apple USB2 product like that, where the claim is it "doesn't work" if plugged into a USB 1.1 port. I'm still waiting to see a report from someone who has tried it. Paul |
#8
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External Hard drive purchase ?
Bill in Co. wrote:
Roger wrote: "Bill in Co." wrote in message ... Roger wrote: Hi all, Merry Xmas to all you helpers. Here is my question,I wish to buy an external hard drive for my back up. I Run Xp pro SP2 my USB Hub is 1.1 which is powered with four ports. I don't have much material to store so around 250 gb would be ample. Most advertise USB 2.0 I believe this should be ok for my 1.1 Hub but things would backup more slower. A LOT slower. How about the idea of first getting a USB 2.0 card, so you could use the much faster speed of USB 2.0? Or is that not practicable? Can you give any advice as I need to use something simple for my system back up just in case. PS should it be a desk top or portable unit as latter appears cheaper Regards Roger ================================== ==================================== Well that's a possibility but am looking at cost, and my older pc with 800Mhz AMD board K7S5A with SIS 735 chipset. On my PC hard drive very little is used i.e. 11GB used, over 65 GB free. So some form of small back up at cheap pensioner cost would be ideal. I would not mind my back up speed being slower, as I'm not in a rush yet. I think those USB 2.0 cards are pretty cheap though. Even with 11 GB to backup, I think the difference would be quite significant. I don't have the USB max speeds at my fingertips, however, but just as a wild guess, using USB 1.1, I'm guessing it might take more than an hour. I actually have a USB 1.1 enclosure and I stopped using it years ago. The data transfer time was *excruciating* slow . I *highly* advise adding a PCI USB-2 card to the machine. They cost very little (under $10 from Newegg) and are very easy to install |
#9
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External Hard drive purchase ?
Paul wrote:
Bill in Co. wrote: Roger wrote: "Bill in Co." wrote in message ... Roger wrote: Hi all, Merry Xmas to all you helpers. Here is my question,I wish to buy an external hard drive for my back up. I Run Xp pro SP2 my USB Hub is 1.1 which is powered with four ports. I don't have much material to store so around 250 gb would be ample. Most advertise USB 2.0 I believe this should be ok for my 1.1 Hub but things would backup more slower. A LOT slower. How about the idea of first getting a USB 2.0 card, so you could use the much faster speed of USB 2.0? Or is that not practicable? Can you give any advice as I need to use something simple for my system back up just in case. PS should it be a desk top or portable unit as latter appears cheaper Regards Roger ================================== ==================================== Well that's a possibility but am looking at cost, and my older pc with 800Mhz AMD board K7S5A with SIS 735 chipset. On my PC hard drive very little is used i.e. 11GB used, over 65 GB free. So some form of small back up at cheap pensioner cost would be ideal. I would not mind my back up speed being slower, as I'm not in a rush yet. I think those USB 2.0 cards are pretty cheap though. Even with 11 GB to backup, I think the difference would be quite significant. I don't have the USB max speeds at my fingertips, however, but just as a wild guess, using USB 1.1, I'm guessing it might take more than an hour. In the same order for the USB hard drive, a PCI USB2 card isn't going to add much to the overall project cost. And it will be a damn sight more responsive (by a factor of 30). (5 port USB2 PCI card - needs an empty PCI slot inside the computer) $9.99 (Uses NEC uPD720101. Positives: Compatibility. Negatives: Sensitive to static. Some people report the ports on the NEC based cards can die, but when the ports fail, the failures are independent. The remaining ports continue to work, at least, until they're all used up.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815124008 USB2 devices are supposed to be backward compatible with USB1.1 ports. So if a person has a computer with only USB1.1 ports, you can still plug USB2 devices into those ports. For things like mass storage devices, I would not expect a problem. Your transfer rate in that case is 1MB/sec, rather than the 30MB/sec typically seen on USB2 host ports. So let's see, for say 10 GB of data, at 1 MB/sec, we're looking at 10,000 seconds, vs 333 seconds for USB 1.1. Ideally. 10,000 seconds/3600 = 2.78 hrs, vs 333/3600 = 0.093 hrs (around a tenth of an hour, or 6 minutes), if I didn't mess up the calculations. WOW, what a difference! Actually, these speeds sound a bit high (idealistic) to me, though; and maybe in practice it's even less, and perhaps even significantly less, but I'm not positive of that. There are some exceptions, but those exceptions have never been provided with a text explanation of what the limitation might be. Some devices simply won't perform their function well, if the bandwidth is limited. (Imagine a device taking video in real time, which is dropping a lot of frames.) But the times I've seen the exception, there isn't even an explanation like that. Instead, the description gives the impression it "doesn't work", which I find hard to believe. I think there is some Apple USB2 product like that, where the claim is it "doesn't work" if plugged into a USB 1.1 port. I'm still waiting to see a report from someone who has tried it. Paul |
#10
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External Hard drive purchase ?
"philo" wrote in message ... Bill in Co. wrote: Roger wrote: "Bill in Co." wrote in message ... Roger wrote: Hi all, Merry Xmas to all you helpers. Here is my question,I wish to buy an external hard drive for my back up. I Run Xp pro SP2 my USB Hub is 1.1 which is powered with four ports. I don't have much material to store so around 250 gb would be ample. Most advertise USB 2.0 I believe this should be ok for my 1.1 Hub but things would backup more slower. A LOT slower. How about the idea of first getting a USB 2.0 card, so you could use the much faster speed of USB 2.0? Or is that not practicable? Can you give any advice as I need to use something simple for my system back up just in case. PS should it be a desk top or portable unit as latter appears cheaper Regards Roger ================================== ==================================== Well that's a possibility but am looking at cost, and my older pc with 800Mhz AMD board K7S5A with SIS 735 chipset. On my PC hard drive very little is used i.e. 11GB used, over 65 GB free. So some form of small back up at cheap pensioner cost would be ideal. I would not mind my back up speed being slower, as I'm not in a rush yet. I think those USB 2.0 cards are pretty cheap though. Even with 11 GB to backup, I think the difference would be quite significant. I don't have the USB max speeds at my fingertips, however, but just as a wild guess, using USB 1.1, I'm guessing it might take more than an hour. I actually have a USB 1.1 enclosure and I stopped using it years ago. The data transfer time was *excruciating* slow . I *highly* advise adding a PCI USB-2 card to the machine. They cost very little (under $10 from Newegg) and are very easy to install Changing my card seems the possibility now, would it be best to remove the current USB card from machine and put USB 2.0 in that slot, and are those leads universal for the new card type. Roger ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
#11
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External Hard drive purchase ?
Bill in Co. wrote:
USB2 devices are supposed to be backward compatible with USB1.1 ports. So if a person has a computer with only USB1.1 ports, you can still plug USB2 devices into those ports. For things like mass storage devices, I would not expect a problem. Your transfer rate in that case is 1MB/sec, rather than the 30MB/sec typically seen on USB2 host ports. So let's see, for say 10 GB of data, at 1 MB/sec, we're looking at 10,000 seconds, vs 333 seconds for USB 1.1. Ideally. 10,000 seconds/3600 = 2.78 hrs, vs 333/3600 = 0.093 hrs (around a tenth of an hour, or 6 minutes), if I didn't mess up the calculations. WOW, what a difference! Actually, these speeds sound a bit high (idealistic) to me, though; and maybe in practice it's even less, and perhaps even significantly less, but I'm not positive of that. When I mention speeds such as 1MB/sec for USB 1.1 or 30MB/sec for USB 2.0, those are ideal values you might see when copying a very large file to a USB hard drive. If there is backup software running, compressing things and generally thrashing the heads on the source disk, it is quite possible to get an apparently much lower transfer rate. I've had plenty of backup software, that could only manage 5MB/sec. So having a 30MB/sec link to the disk, isn't always the rate limiting factor. I think you could see a 6 minute transfer time, if the 10GB of data was available as a single file, and you wished to transfer it to the external. I've benched with HDTune or the like, and can get the 30MB/sec number. If you look at the USB2 cable rate, it is 480 megabits per second. Dividing by 8 gives 60MB/sec. Yet, the enclosures give 30MB/sec, and the difference is due to the packet protocol used to do the transfer. Someone did a calculation once, claiming that USB2 could give 57MB/sec under ideal (no protocol issues) type conditions, but I'm still waiting to see a situation that actually does that. Somewhere in the 30MB/sec range seems to be what people can see. Another tiny point about USB2 bandwidth, is it is shared over multiple ports. If you use two USB2 cards, then each may manage 30MB/sec. If you connect two USB hard drives to one USB2 PCI card, you may not get the entire 30MB/sec rate that way. For people pushing the limitations, they may experience less than ideal results. But if you're transferring from an internal disk to the USB external via a USB2 PCI card, I would expect to see 30MB/sec there. And the 6 minutes to transfer 10GB. I've also tested a PCI USB 1.1 card (I have one in my junk box), and when using my fast USB pen drive, I got 1MB/sec on that one. Paul |
#12
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External Hard drive purchase ?
Roger wrote:
"philo" wrote in message I actually have a USB 1.1 enclosure and I stopped using it years ago. The data transfer time was *excruciating* slow . I *highly* advise adding a PCI USB-2 card to the machine. They cost very little (under $10 from Newegg) and are very easy to install Changing my card seems the possibility now, would it be best to remove the current USB card from machine and put USB 2.0 in that slot, and are those leads universal for the new card type. Roger ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You may currently be using USB ports in the "I/O area" on the back of the computer. Those would be ports supported by the motherboard itself. There would be nothing to remove there. (Picture of an I/O plate - plate snaps into computer case and surrounds built-in connectors) (You might be using a USB connector in the I/O plate area.) http://estore.asus.com/images/13-020010440.JPG A desktop computer also has room for add-in cards, with slot names such as PCI. Here, you can see a card poking out through one of the slots used for add-in cards. You have to look inside the computer, to see if you have a spare (empty) slot for insertion of an add-in card. http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data...in%20place.jpg The slot types have names, such as ISA, PCI, AGP, PCI Express. Each slot has a different shape and count of contacts. PCI is a very common type, and has been present in computers for at least ten years. There are a couple very modern motherboards that have no PCI slots. On other machines, you might find anywhere from 1 to 5 of those slots. My current Core2 computer has four PCI slots (an exception). PCI is favored currently, when seeking the cheapest add-in card possible. PCI is what makes a $10 card possible. Other formats may be more expensive. This article has pictures of some PCI slots. There are big and small sized slots, with the big ones being more popular in server type computers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conventional_PCI Your slots will look more like this. Check to see if any of them look like this. These are spare PCI slots as seen on a home (desktop) computer. In this picture, the faceplate area is to the left. The key in the slot, is on the right. Having the key on the right, means the slot accepts a 5V card (because the motherboard is using 5V I/O). PCI slots have two key positions, left and right, the left one meaning 3.3V and the right one meaning 5V. The card only fits in the slot, if the key fits a groove in the PCI card. The keying is there to ensure only compatible cards can be inserted. If there is incompatibility, you won't be able to seat the card. The keying scheme prevents electrical mischief. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ots_Digon3.JPG It is not as complicated as it sounds :-) Just buy it and stuff it in. I probably wouldn't waste an extra minute thinking about it, and would tick the box to order the $10 card. Have a quick look inside the machine, to make sure there is physical room for it. And that check should be enough of a precaution. If you've filled all the slots (or Dell filled them with stuff), then you might have to spend more time investigating what your options are. In this picture, you can see a computer with a purple colored AGP slot for addition of a video card. You can see how it is set back a bit, from the left hand faceplate area. The PCI slots are also visible in this picture. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...1/AGP_slot.jpg So if you own an IBM PC compatible desktop, chances are good you have PCI slots, and that a PCI card purchased at retail, is going to fit into it. If you own a high end Apple desktop computer, sometimes you have to stop and ask more questions. If you want more help, please give the make and model number of the PC, or if you built the computer from parts, the make and model number of the motherboard used in the build. If we can find a picture of the product, we can point out to you, where the slots are located. Paul |
#13
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External Hard drive purchase ?
"Paul" wrote in message ... Roger wrote: "philo" wrote in message I actually have a USB 1.1 enclosure and I stopped using it years ago. The data transfer time was *excruciating* slow . I *highly* advise adding a PCI USB-2 card to the machine. They cost very little (under $10 from Newegg) and are very easy to install Changing my card seems the possibility now, would it be best to remove the current USB card from machine and put USB 2.0 in that slot, and are those leads universal for the new card type. Roger ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ You may currently be using USB ports in the "I/O area" on the back of the computer. Those would be ports supported by the motherboard itself. There would be nothing to remove there. (Picture of an I/O plate - plate snaps into computer case and surrounds built-in connectors) (You might be using a USB connector in the I/O plate area.) http://estore.asus.com/images/13-020010440.JPG A desktop computer also has room for add-in cards, with slot names such as PCI. Here, you can see a card poking out through one of the slots used for add-in cards. You have to look inside the computer, to see if you have a spare (empty) slot for insertion of an add-in card. {SNIP} Paul thank for your most detailed reply which I try to absorb. I'm not worried about getting inside PC as I often clean there and have changed the Ram. My board is K7s5a ECS I have the manual stored in My docs in adobe PDF but are unable to sort out getting you a picture link of mainboard. Looking at board it shows 5 PCI slots This was a made up PC. Looking at the back of unit one of those slots is housing four USB ports this must have been added later on an upgrade.as on drawing it only shows one usb1 next to fp audio,woL1,FP1, SPK1, etc . I have 3 of those slots still with the blank fitted. Roger ====================================== ============================= |
#14
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External Hard drive purchase ?
Roger wrote:
Paul thank for your most detailed reply which I try to absorb. I'm not worried about getting inside PC as I often clean there and have changed the Ram. My board is K7s5a ECS I have the manual stored in My docs in adobe PDF but are unable to sort out getting you a picture link of mainboard. Looking at board it shows 5 PCI slots This was a made up PC. Looking at the back of unit one of those slots is housing four USB ports this must have been added later on an upgrade.as on drawing it only shows one usb1 next to fp audio,woL1,FP1, SPK1, etc . I have 3 of those slots still with the blank fitted. Roger I have a K7S5A manual on disk here. (I download a lot of different manuals, so I have a small collection.) There are two USB ports in your I/O area. If you already have a PCI USB card, you should check Device Manager in WinXP, and look for the word "Enhanced" in the USB section. The technique of checking for USB2 is described in the link below. So it could be, you already have USB2 and it might be on that PCI card. If you're not seeing Enhanced, then perhaps the purchase of another card would help. I have a really old PCI USB card, which has USB 1.1 ports only on it, so it isn't guaranteed that your PCI USB card is USB2. But if you check Device Manager, you may be able to save yourself $10. http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checking_for_usb_2.htm "NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller (B1)" That is an example of what is coming from a PCI USB2 card with a NEC chip on it. So that machine has USB2 capability. Paul |
#15
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External Hard drive purchase ?
"Paul" wrote in message ... Roger wrote: Paul thank for your most detailed reply which I try to absorb. I'm not worried about getting inside PC as I often clean there and have changed the Ram. My board is K7s5a ECS I have the manual stored in My docs in adobe PDF but are unable to sort out getting you a picture link of mainboard. Looking at board it shows 5 PCI slots This was a made up PC. Looking at the back of unit one of those slots is housing four USB ports this must have been added later on an upgrade.as on drawing it only shows one usb1 next to fp audio,woL1,FP1, SPK1, etc . I have 3 of those slots still with the blank fitted. Roger I have a K7S5A manual on disk here. (I download a lot of different manuals, so I have a small collection.) There are two USB ports in your I/O area. If you already have a PCI USB card, you should check Device Manager in WinXP, and look for the word "Enhanced" in the USB section. The technique of checking for USB2 is described in the link below. So it could be, you already have USB2 and it might be on that PCI card. If you're not seeing Enhanced, then perhaps the purchase of another card would help. I have a really old PCI USB card, which has USB 1.1 ports only on it, so it isn't guaranteed that your PCI USB card is USB2. But if you check Device Manager, you may be able to save yourself $10. http://www.usbman.com/Guides/checking_for_usb_2.htm "NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller (B1)" That is an example of what is coming from a PCI USB2 card with a NEC chip on it. So that machine has USB2 capability. Paul It looks a basic set to me, e.g. showing 1 Logitech Camera, 1 Generic USB hub, 4 Lucent QuadraBus host Controller, 2 SIS 7001 PCI to USB host, 6 USB Root Hub. Roger |
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