Joined Nov 2011
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Forum Thread
external hard drive options
April 16, 2021 at
04:48 AM
My desktop computer keeps telling me that my storage is full.
Is there a difference between a desktop computer hard drive and other hard drives, such as WD My Book or My Passport or WD Easystore??
What do you recommend or what do I need to look for in the specifications?
Any help would be appreciated
Is there a difference between a desktop computer hard drive and other hard drives, such as WD My Book or My Passport or WD Easystore??
What do you recommend or what do I need to look for in the specifications?
Any help would be appreciated
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Depending on what your computer configuration is and what your data needs are, it's possible you could upgrade your system drive with a large SSD.
As for externals: I would personally stay away from the MyBook series as the enclosure encrypts the data. If the board inside the enclosure fails you are basically SOL as the data on the drive is encrypted to that board. If you intended to shuck, then it doesn't matter.
I would go for a CMR disk VS an SMR disk. To my knowledge, all Western Digital and Seagate drives above 10tb are CMR disks. 8tb and below is more difficult to ascertain as many times it's not advertised.
Depending on what your computer configuration is and what your data needs are, it's possible you could upgrade your system drive with a large SSD.
As for externals: I would personally stay away from the MyBook series as the enclosure encrypts the data. If the board inside the enclosure fails you are basically SOL as the data on the drive is encrypted to that board. If you intended to shuck, then it doesn't matter.
I would go for a CMR disk VS an SMR disk. To my knowledge, all Western Digital and Seagate drives above 10tb are CMR disks. 8tb and below is more difficult to ascertain as many times it's not advertised.
If you intend to use the external drive as something that you just write to occasionally (like a weekly backup disk), anything will be fine. If, however, you intend to use it as a scratch disk for photoshop or something like that, you would be best to make sure you are getting a CMR drive or an SSD.
Note that ALL drives will fail, it's just a matter of time. Always have multiple backups of your most important data. I recommend at least a local backup and a cloud backup (three copies total).
https://windirstat.net/
the same for running disk cleanup, moving pics or videos to the cloud could be a good solution too?
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There is probably a YouTube video specific to whatever model you end up purchasing. Just do a Google search before you buy to know if it's possible. Some externals have non-standard connections inside or they're soldered on to prevent people from doing that.