External HD as main?

enzofur · 07-02-2008, 05:14 AM

one of our computers was running extremely low on memory ( like 200mb) so we bought a 500g external hard drive becuz i had heard stuff about secondary hd and making it your main
so is making it the main hd as simple as i think or does it take some knowledge???
thanx

Quick69GTO · 07-02-2008, 05:20 AM

Yes it's possible but it's all dependent on your motherboard supporting booting from USB.
http://www.winusb.de/index_en.html
Be aware, booting from a USB drive probably won't increase the PCs speed.

enzofur · 07-02-2008, 05:38 AM

i think that is just talking about a memory stick
i mean an external hard drive
not flash drive

oregon · 07-02-2008, 06:37 AM

It shouldn't matter as long as you have enough space. Be aware that it will probably only work well with one computer and trying to boot from it on other computers will cause issues.

fortyways · 07-02-2008, 07:49 AM

Why didn't you just get another internal hard drive? Those things don't have any cooling; they're meant to be used briefly and then turned off. In addition to being limited to USB speeds, if you use it as your main drive, you're going to kill it with heat.

**mep916** · 07-02-2008, 08:03 AM

Like said above, that's not a practical solution for booting and running an OS. Not only is an internal hard drive cheaper, it's more efficient. Install some more memory if your PC is running low.

spikebuck77 · 07-02-2008, 03:11 PM

It should be no problem.

enzofur · 07-04-2008, 08:36 PM

ya i did notice that it got pretty hot quickly and i did figure that it wouldnt really work to well but that was after we bought it = / and plus i dont think it has space for another hd we will prbly look into getting another computer anyways

07-02-2008, 05:14 AM	#1 (permalink)
enzofur Bronze Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 84	External HD as main? one of our computers was running extremely low on memory ( like 200mb) so we bought a 500g external hard drive becuz i had heard stuff about secondary hd and making it your main so is making it the main hd as simple as i think or does it take some knowledge??? thanx

07-02-2008, 06:37 AM	#4 (permalink)
oregon Diamond Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: portland, oregon Age: 19 Posts: 1,578	It shouldn't matter as long as you have enough space. Be aware that it will probably only work well with one computer and trying to boot from it on other computers will cause issues. __________________ MB: Gigabyte P35-DS3L CPU: Core 2 Duo E6550 @3.5hz GPU: PNY GeForce 8800 GT 512 RAM: 4GBs DDR2-800 (Ballistix and OCZ SLI) CL4 PSU: Antec NeoPower 650W Case: Antec 900 HDD: Seagate SATA 250GB, 16MB cache Seagate SATA 320GB, 16MB cache

07-02-2008, 03:11 PM	#7 (permalink)
spikebuck77 Bronze Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 60	It should be no problem. __________________ PerformanceComputerParts

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07-02-2008, 05:20 AM	#2 (permalink)
Quick69GTO Silver Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 204	Yes it's possible but it's all dependent on your motherboard supporting booting from USB. http://www.winusb.de/index_en.html Be aware, booting from a USB drive probably won't increase the PCs speed.

07-02-2008, 05:38 AM	#3 (permalink)
enzofur Bronze Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 84	i think that is just talking about a memory stick i mean an external hard drive not flash drive

07-02-2008, 07:49 AM	#5 (permalink)
fortyways banned Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: USA Posts: 1,134	Why didn't you just get another internal hard drive? Those things don't have any cooling; they're meant to be used briefly and then turned off. In addition to being limited to USB speeds, if you use it as your main drive, you're going to kill it with heat.

07-04-2008, 08:36 PM	#8 (permalink)
enzofur Bronze Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 84	ya i did notice that it got pretty hot quickly and i did figure that it wouldnt really work to well but that was after we bought it = / and plus i dont think it has space for another hd we will prbly look into getting another computer anyways