USB HD enclosure questions

[MIDIman]

newegg and compgeeks sells these...i.e. like this one

I have a friend who wants to run mame off an external HD in Win98se or up.

1) Would this work ok with any Win98se OS? i.e. does a driver needed to be installed, or is it just detected on whenever like in WinXP? I'm assuming Win95 is out of the question to mess with.

2) Will the USB 2.0 enclosures work ok on a USB 1 motherboard? (assuming yes, but just making sure)

3) Can I throw in ANY type of ATA drive? i.e. like any POS old drive, even those under 10gigs?

4) For those that know mame - would the HD need to be fast to play games better? i.e. is it constantly accessing the drive after the game has been loaded?

THANKS!

 

[metalmania]

1. Yes, installl the driver for Win98se first.

2. Definitely yes, but speed is slow to hell, you can not run mame from usb1.1.

3. As long as it's a hard drive, yes.

4. no, it usually depends on your ram.

 

[Blain]

Have your pal get a Rocket Drive.

 

[MIDIman]

thx guys...so sad to here this, cause i'm sure his mobo isn't usb 2.0...oh well

 

[Sheriff]

Just have him purchase 1 USB/Firewire PCI card. I've seen them @ $20 (even cheaper for USB2.0's) @ local stores, then it'll be good to go

 

[MIDIman]

good idea - didnt think about that!

Though I suppose, if he's going to go digging in the computer, why not just give him an HD and just install that right? The whole reason for the external mess, was so he didn't have to dig into the box.

Thanks guys.