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Who's the "removable hd" expert here?? Will this work?

G

Greenwald

Member
Hi, need a quick 101 on removable hard drives and how it all works. Can you help me please??

I do a bit of video editing work on my home PC and I'm building up a new rig. I was thinking of having a 3 hd's: one for OS (xp-home) and programs, an 80G for completed video work, and a removable 120G for raw footage. I'd like to make the 120g removable so I can keep all the footage on the hd and install a new 120G with footage on the second drive.

1. Can I do this?
2. Will the os identify the new drives w/o problems?
3. Where can I buy just the removable section (not the receiving part?) for the 2nd drive?

Thanks in advance,

Greenwald
 
Let's see...
1. Yes, with no problem.
2. Yes (you'll have to partition/format them, but it will see them just fine
3. I would try places like newegg I believe they sell just the inner sections for certain drive bays, but even if they don't you can find mobile racks (whole units) for as little as $10 (maybe less), so you might have an easier time just getting a few of them.

Just so you know, not all removable racks are hot-swappable. I don't know if you were wanting this feature, but if you do you should make sure the rack you get does that. You could also get some USB2.0 enclosures and put 120GB drives in there (useful if there's a chance you'll be taking them to more than 1 PC).
 
its very easy to do if you dont mind turning off your computer each time you change disks, just need a mobile rack
 
I did the same work too. In my opinion, I prefer a 1394 HD. I have a 5.25" 1394/usb1.1 external case bought from Compgeeks.com and put a 120GB Western Digital in it. Works great. This case is based on the Oxford 911 chipset and the price is $57 if I remeber correctly. However I had to partition and format the HD before put it in that case, Windows 2000 did not allow me to do this.
 
I use the aluminum mobile racks, and have 2 in my home system. The primary is for running different oses (and betas) and the second is for backup and storage. I can buy the inserts separate or complete packages. At work I have 1 for backup as the base hard drive is inside. <FWIW>
 
I do it like Horsepower does. It's super-convenient for change to different OSes or running beta stuff. I also have two diffferent storage drives that I change out as I need.

None of this is hot-swappable. IDE isn't as far as I been able to find out. If you want hot-swappable drives you either need SCSI or one of the external firewire or USB 2.0 drives.
 
Ditto Horsepower and Ralf - I have two aluminum mobile racks in every system I build - even for clients. They can be on or off, but - not hot-swappable. Another solution is to get a Trios2 switch adapter . . .

Trios2
Spare inner trays are available where ever good racks are sold (I Like the KF series) - we have them locally at SWS Electronics.
 
Thanks for the input guys. Lets see if I got this correct, I can do it, but some aren't hot-swappable which means I'd have to turn off the computer each time, pull the drive and replace it with another, then reboot. Right? But Win XP (home) will recognize it fine and I can go on with my project using the info already saved on the drive I just inserted?? I mean, I don't need to format each time I swap, is that right? Will XP Home work fine or do I need Win XP Pro?

Out of curiousity, what would it take to make it hot swappable??

Another question: After pulling and replacing the drive a number of times, even if I turn the machine off, could that eventually confuse my OS (which will be on a separate drive) and lead to a more unstable system?

I've considered the firewire or USB2 alternative but to me there seems to be something inherently 'cool' to be able to 'pull' the drive from the system and replace it. That alone would be a blast! Maybe it's just me. Any suggestions much appreciated.

Greenwald
 
You got it right amigo, you won't have to format every time, of course. Windows will recognize the drive without any problems.

"Another question: After pulling and replacing the drive a number of times, even if I turn the machine off, could that eventually confuse my OS (which will be on a separate drive) and lead to a more unstable system?"

Not at all, there shouldn't be any problem of this sort.

I recommend also the 1394 route, it'll be probably easier (hey, just plug and unplug from the machine), and cheaper (although this is just a guess, no clue about the rack prices!).
 
Agree with ElDonAntonio - but will add this. In addition to my two mobile racks, I also have an external Firewire drive for data, downloads and stuff. I found a big security hole with my McAfee VirusScan 6.02 - it would not and could not scan over the Firewire connection! I posted several notes aboutthis and asked if NAV could do it - got no answer. Anyway that problem is now solved - just downloaded and installed VirusScan 7.0 - it does Firewire beautifully,

Another Firewire advantage is that you can add drives easily - the old Daisy chain. USB 2.0 will also work for hot-plugging and a good transfer rate. Your choice!
 
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