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Questions tagged [external-hard-drive]

A hard drive designed to be connected to a computer via an external interface such as USB, eSATA, Thunderbolt, or IEEE 1394.

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84 votes
9 answers
197k views

How much time until an unused hard drive loses its data?

Do you guys know how much time needs to pass until the data stored on a hard drive starts to degrade? To keep the data intact for long periods of time, I heard you need to periodically rewrite it on ...
Alex's user avatar
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77 votes
10 answers
18k views

Unplugging USB hard drive can damage computer? Seriously?

I’m reading through the manual for a Samsung portable USB hard drive, and I’ve come across this warning: Detaching the USB cable while file transfer is in progress can damage your computer and/or ...
misha256's user avatar
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75 votes
11 answers
100k views

Automatically mount external drives to /media/LABEL on boot without a user logged in?

This question is similar, but kind of the opposite of what I want. I want external USB drives to be mounted automatically at boot, without anyone logged in, to locations like /media/<label>. I ...
endolith's user avatar
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66 votes
6 answers
18k views

Is it safe to unplug a blinking USB drive after 'safely' ejecting it?

There is a lot of information about how to safely unplug USB hard drives. However, the articles tend to stop at the part where the operating system says it is safe to unplug, or where you're sure ...
Lawrence's user avatar
  • 673
58 votes
2 answers
37k views

Cross-platform usable filesystem with large file support

What is the best filesystem to use cross-platform (Linux, Windows, OS X) which supports disk sizes of at least 2TB and file sizes >4GB? I'm planning to use it on a USB drive on different computers. ...
Zulakis's user avatar
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55 votes
6 answers
397k views

How to detect if a USB port is 3.0 or 2.0?

I have a Toshiba Canvio 3.0 external HDD. It has USB 3.0. It flashes blue if you connect it to a USB 3.0 port. If it is a 2.0 port, the light becomes white. Yesterday, I plugged it in and the light ...
padawan's user avatar
  • 639
55 votes
6 answers
65k views

Permissionless external drive with NTFS

I have an external hard disk which has 1 partition, formatted in NTFS. I use this drive on multiple computers with a different logins on different machines, Windows XP and Windows 7. All files are ...
user12889's user avatar
  • 1,873
54 votes
10 answers
385k views

How do I remove a MyBook's "WD SmartWare" virtual CD from my desktop?

I recently got a Western Digital MyBook external hard drive to enable Time Machine. It has its software installed on a "virtual CD" called "WD SmartWare" which shows up on the desktop any time the ...
49 votes
4 answers
47k views

How can I check whether USB3.0 UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol) mode is enabled in Linux?

I have a laptop running Ubuntu 15.04 (3.19.0-21-generic) and an external USB3.0 2.5" SATA HDD enclosure which claims that it supports UASP mode (the S2510BPU33 model by StarTech). I have no problems ...
ali_m's user avatar
  • 726
48 votes
4 answers
113k views

How to mount and unmount hard drives under Windows (the unix way)

On my work computer I have two USB hard drives that I use rarely. They have a power save mode that sends them into sleep after a couple of minutes of them being idle. Whenever I open a context menu ...
Oliver Salzburg's user avatar
46 votes
11 answers
59k views

External HDD is always in use when trying to safely remove

I have a WD 1TB Elements external hard drive, and every time I use the Windows 7 "safely remove" feature, it gives me a dialog telling that a process is using the disk. Using Sysinternals Process ...
MarioDS's user avatar
  • 1,612
44 votes
4 answers
118k views

Access to a disk drive using volume ID instead of a drive letter in Windows

Can I access to a disk drive using volume ID instead of a drive letter in Windows? It could be very useful for external drives.
olvin's user avatar
  • 443
41 votes
6 answers
195k views

Is it possible to check an external USB Drive health (SMART)? [closed]

Is it possible to check an external USB Drive health (SMART)?
37 votes
5 answers
140k views

Formatting : The volume is too big for FAT32

Formatting an external 500GB HDD took almost >6 hours that I started like: D:\>format /FS:fat32 F: The type of the file system is EXFAT. The new file system is FAT32. Enter current volume label ...
Caspar Kleijne's user avatar
37 votes
3 answers
5k views

Is time a substitute for Safely Remove Hardware?

In Windows 7, before unplugging an external hard disk or flash drive, you are ideally supposed to use the Safely Remove Hardware option to make sure there aren't any writes still pending. Suppose it ...
rwallace's user avatar
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36 votes
2 answers
5k views

Why is my USB drive showing corrupted data when plugged as an internal SATA drive?

I have a 3TB Seagate Backup Plus Desktop USB 3.0 drive, which works fine when in its enclosure, but when I get it off its enclosure and directly plug it as an internal SATA drive, it's just not ...
OMA's user avatar
  • 1,730
35 votes
3 answers
177k views

How to copy files to read-only NTFS hard drive on a Mac?

I want to copy my some files from Mac (Macbook-Air) to an USB external hard drive, formatted as NTFS. How is it possible? Because when I do copy my files from the Mac and go to paste them on the ...
Jamna's user avatar
  • 453
30 votes
1 answer
89k views

Why Do Some USB Cables Have Two USB Connectors at the End?

I've recently bought an external hard drive enclosure and it had arrived with an USB cable, with one USB connector on one side and two on the other. Why do some USB cables have two connectors while ...
JFW's user avatar
  • 2,444
29 votes
7 answers
11k views

Safely remove external USB drive fails due to $extend

When connecting an external USB 3.0 hard drive to my USB 3.0 ports I can never safely remove it. Somehow windows always keeps the journal files open: "Always" as in this time I only connected the ...
Dennis G's user avatar
  • 1,310
28 votes
5 answers
59k views

Is a 7200rpm USB 3.0 drive going to have very similar performance to an internal 7200rpm drive or is it still going to be noticeably slower?

I use my old 500gb drive to store all temporary stuff (windows temp folder, adobe scratch disks etc), and anything that needs thousands of small files to avoid unnecessarily fragmenting my C drive. ...
Peter's user avatar
  • 1,105
27 votes
8 answers
203k views

How to read and write Mac drives on Windows

I have some external hard drives that are Mac OS Extended (Journaled) formatted. What software can you recommend for working with those drives when under Windows? Do you have any experience with this? ...
Svish's user avatar
  • 39.9k
27 votes
5 answers
178k views

Convert NTFS volume to exFAT (without losing contents)

I have a 500GB external hard disk which I use mostly for storing movies/music and some backup. Since I have some rather large files I use NTFS on it, but don't need the security/compression/encryption ...
user avatar
25 votes
2 answers
36k views

5400rpm HDD speeds in a USB 3.0 connectivity enclosure

I plan to replace my laptop's 5400rpm HDD with an SSD in the near future. I then want to make the old HDD an external HDD. I want to get it to work with USB 3.0. Will I get better speeds from my ...
user avatar
25 votes
2 answers
13k views

What is the tolerable magnetic field (in Tesla) for a hard disk?

I was wondering what would be the safest magnetic field for a hard drive so that the data inside it is safe and not wiped off? For example I have a 2.1 home theatre system and when I take my android ...
Chetan Kothari's user avatar
25 votes
5 answers
41k views

How can I remount an ejected (not just unmounted) USB drive on Mac?

I frequently eject an usb stick, and then realize I still need it. If I unmount the drive in Disk Utility, I can just remount it, but if I eject, it's gone. Not showed in Finder Not showed in ...
Pepijn's user avatar
  • 555
23 votes
4 answers
8k views

Is it safe to remove USB media when a computer is suspended?

We are often cautioned against unplugging USB drives in case it is currently being read from or written to. When a computer is suspended, hibernated, or asleep is it obviously not writing any data; it ...
IQAndreas's user avatar
  • 4,077
22 votes
5 answers
100k views

Why is my 3.5" SATA hard drive not spinning up via USB?

I'm having issues connecting a 3.5 inch WD Caviar SE (WD3200AAJS) via a SATA to USB adapter. The drive is recognized, but it doesn't spin, so it just shows up with a capacity of 0 bytes. Note that ...
Brokenstuff's user avatar
22 votes
5 answers
47k views

Can I install Windows OS (Windows 7) on a removable USB hard drive? [duplicate]

I wanted to take a sneak peek at Windows 7 so I thought of installing it. I have Windows Vista on my laptop which came pre-installed with it. I didn't want to mess with it. So I created a partition (...
Hemant's user avatar
  • 1,528
22 votes
5 answers
121k views

Windows 10: No option to Eject External HARD DRIVE (NOT USB Stick)

When I plug in my external hard drive (again, NOT USB stick), and right click on the icon in This PC, there is no option to eject the drive. There is a system tray option to "safely eject" it, but ...
meowgoesthedog's user avatar
21 votes
3 answers
55k views

What is the difference between SATA and eSATA?

Is the following correct? eSATA is the same as SATA, except that the cable plug has a slightly different shape, but as far as the electrical signal goes, it's the exact same thing. In theory, if you ...
Manos Dilaverakis's user avatar
21 votes
1 answer
24k views

Turn off (spin down) external (USB) HDD on Linux

I have an external HDD connected through USB. There is that Gnome utility called "Disks". When working the disk is on the list on the left. If I click on "turn off" button, the disk disappear from the ...
Veelkoov's user avatar
  • 581
19 votes
3 answers
58k views

Please explain wasted space on an exFAT formatted external hard drive [duplicate]

I recently bought a 750 GB 2.5" hard drive and put it in an external enclosure. It has Advanced Format Technology (AFT), but I use Windows 7, so I assumed I would be safe. I decided to try exFAT, ...
JohnB's user avatar
  • 1,295
19 votes
4 answers
22k views

How do I make an external hard drive keep the same drive letter permanently?

I have a desktop PC (2002 vintage) running Windows XP that I turn on about two or three times per week. I have a mains powered 250 GB Western Digital hard disk connected to it via USB. I ...
andygrunt's user avatar
  • 2,473
19 votes
2 answers
75k views

USB stick appearing as hard disk drive, not removable storage device

I just plugged in a very simple 1GB USB stick from the office in hopes of making it a Fedora Live USB stick. For that to work, I need a removable storage device, or else it won't appear in LiveUSB ...
Paul Lammertsma's user avatar
18 votes
4 answers
4k views

Which virtual machine can boot from USB drive?

There are any desktop (not hipervisor) virtual machine software able to boot from USB drive? Which one and how?
FerranB's user avatar
  • 1,077
18 votes
5 answers
41k views

Force spin-down of external hard-drive on linux (raspberry pi)

I'm currently setting up a home-server using a Raspberry Pi with an external hard-disk connected via usb. However, my hard-drive will never spin down when being idle. I tried already the hints ...
user258346's user avatar
17 votes
4 answers
42k views

Windows USB Tool and Unetbootin never detects external hard drive

I like to try out different Linux distro's and I don't like partitioning my main drive. I have plenty of actual hard drives that I can use for that (I like one OS per drive). Anyway, I'm trying to ...
jay_t55's user avatar
  • 548
17 votes
2 answers
104k views

Can't eject external USB hard drive in Windows 10

First, I must state that it is not that "ejecting" the drive always prompt the "This drive is still utilized by etc." message. It is that there is simply no option to "eject" it in the first place in ...
Doombot's user avatar
  • 273
17 votes
2 answers
77k views

Is there software to fully emulate a USB hard drive? [closed]

Does anyone know a Windows program that can mount disk images and emulate a physical USB hard drive, including properties like the serial number? I already found software to emulate CDs and DVDs like ...
Jonathan's user avatar
  • 307
16 votes
8 answers
24k views

Which file system to use for a large (1 TB) external hard drive?

I've got a 1 TB hard disk drive which is currently formatted as NTFS. I've recently learned about exFAT. I'm connecting this drive via USB. Which filesystem should I use for this large hard disk drive ...
RomanSt's user avatar
  • 9,817
16 votes
5 answers
87k views

Can't change permission/ownership/group of external hard drive on Ubuntu

I have an external hard drive connected to my Linux box. I wanted to setup a web server to access files on it, but the permission on all files and directories on the drive are rwx for the owner which ...
MikeN's user avatar
  • 1,064
16 votes
3 answers
4k views

Using External Harddisk as an internal desktop SATA Harddisk

I have a 2TB Western Digital MyBook Essential External Hard-disk. I wanted to use the Hard-disk as an internal hard-drive for my PC running Linux Mint. So, I dis-assembled it, and took out the SATA ...
shivams's user avatar
  • 1,754
16 votes
5 answers
10k views

How to prolong the life of an external hard drive?

In ten years, across several different machines, different companies, and different operating systems I've noticed a trend that external hard drives die long before their internal counterparts. ...
Django Reinhardt's user avatar
16 votes
2 answers
119k views

Can I run a virtual machine from external USB drive?

A question regarding how to setup my VMs on internal/external disks. First, here's my setup: Host OS: Windows 10 Processor: i7 5600U RAM: 16 GB VMware Workstation Player (Licensed) I have 3 VMs so ...
Boregore's user avatar
  • 353
16 votes
4 answers
2k views

Why does OS X insist on spinning up all external drives when loading a file from the local drive?

Why does OS X insist on spinning up all the attached external drives (firewire, usb) when loading a file from the local (internal) drive? It's driving me insane that I have to wait for 3 attached ...
Phillip B Oldham's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
107k views

Can't change current working directory to external drive in Windows [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Using cd Command in Windows Command Line, Can’t Navigate to D:\ CMD cd to other drives except C:\ not working I'm trying to run a program located on an external USB disk ...
Tom's user avatar
  • 357
15 votes
2 answers
2k views

Could a low quality SSD enclosure prevent the TRIM functionality on my SSD?

I'm about to purchase an external SSD enclosure (case) for my Samsung 860 QVO. Some case manufacturers mention "supports TRIM" in the description, some don't. Reading online, I only could ...
J13C's user avatar
  • 190
15 votes
2 answers
127k views

How to run Windows 10 from an external hard drive? [duplicate]

I am currently able to boot from an external drive or multiboot USB. Taking this concept one step further, I have 3 questions: 1) Is it possible to install and run Windows 10 on a portable external ...
xCare's user avatar
  • 787
15 votes
4 answers
27k views

USB drive keeps disconnecting and reconnecting

I'm running Debian 7.2 on an old late 2006 Macbook Pro. I've got two 4 TB Seagate Backup Plus hard drives connected to it that I've got in a mirrored ZFS pool. Recently one of the drives died, and I ...
Bri Bri's user avatar
  • 856
14 votes
10 answers
77k views

Remove System Volume information folder from external drive

I have currently found out that System Volume information folder on my external HDD takes around 124GB of space. Hence I decided to delete it to free up some additional space. But for now everything ...
Alex Ljamin's user avatar
  • 1,073

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