External Hard Drives AxeMan <axem[ at ]hotmail.com> 11/4/2008 9:39:51 PM Where Can I find the proper step by step procedure for connecting an external at boot up and disconnecting at shut down ?? TIA

Re: External Hard Drives Malke <malke[ at ]invalid.invalid> 11/4/2008 10:32:26 PM AxeMan wrote: [Quoted Text] > Where Can I find the proper step by step procedure for connecting an > external at boot up and disconnecting at shut down ?? TIA ?? Plug in the external drive, turn it on, turn on your computer. Or turn on your computer, turn on the external drive, plug it in. Your choice. When you want to shut down, either use the "Safely Remove Hardware" button in the Notification Area to remove the external. When it is safe to remove it, unplug it, turn it off, shut down the machine. Or shut down the machine, turn off the external, unplug it. Malke -- MS-MVP Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Re: External Hard Drives AxeMan <axem[ at ]hotmail.com> 11/4/2008 11:19:40 PM In article <#vgg30sPJHA.4008[ at ]TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl>, malke[ at ]invalid.invalid says... [Quoted Text] >AxeMan wrote: > >> Where Can I find the proper step by step procedure for connecting an >> external at boot up and disconnecting at shut down ?? TIA > >?? Plug in the external drive, turn it on, turn on your computer. Or turn on >your computer, turn on the external drive, plug it in. Your choice. > >When you want to shut down, either use the "Safely Remove Hardware" button >in the Notification Area to remove the external. When it is safe to remove >it, unplug it, turn it off, shut down the machine. Or shut down the >machine, turn off the external, unplug it. > >Malke Thank you. One last question. Is it necessary to unplug the USB cable from the computer USB port or can I leave it in after going through the "safely remove hardware" process ? Thanks again

Re: External Hard Drives Malke <malke[ at ]invalid.invalid> 11/4/2008 11:44:08 PM AxeMan wrote: [Quoted Text] > Thank you. One last question. Is it necessary to unplug the USB cable > from > the computer USB port or can I leave it in after going through the > "safely > remove hardware" process ? Thanks again "Safely remove hardware" means that you unplug the USB connector from the computer. So no, you wouldn't leave it in. Is there some reason you're going through all this? Like your computer won't boot with this USB drive plugged in? If not, just leave the USB drive plugged in all the time. If it is something like a Western Digital MyBook, it will turn itself off when the computer is off anyway. If you want more specific advice, please tell me why you want to do this, what the external drive is, and whether you have a laptop. Malke -- MS-MVP Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Re: External Hard Drives "philo" <philo[ at ]privacy.net> 11/4/2008 11:45:44 PM "AxeMan" <axem[ at ]hotmail.com> wrote in message news:20081104-231940.203.0[ at ]AxeMan.news.us.easynews.com... [Quoted Text] > In article <#vgg30sPJHA.4008[ at ]TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl>, > malke[ at ]invalid.invalid says... > >AxeMan wrote: > > > >> Where Can I find the proper step by step procedure for connecting an > >> external at boot up and disconnecting at shut down ?? TIA > > > >?? Plug in the external drive, turn it on, turn on your computer. Or turn on > >your computer, turn on the external drive, plug it in. Your choice. > > > >When you want to shut down, either use the "Safely Remove Hardware" > button > >in the Notification Area to remove the external. When it is safe to remove > >it, unplug it, turn it off, shut down the machine. Or shut down the > >machine, turn off the external, unplug it. > > > >Malke > > Thank you. One last question. Is it necessary to unplug the USB cable from > the computer USB port or can I leave it in after going through the "safely > remove hardware" process ? Thanks again > You do not have to remove it and when you reboot the machine, it will come back

Re: External Hard Drives "Ian D" <taurus[ at ]nowhere.com> 11/5/2008 2:19:44 AM "AxeMan" <axem[ at ]hotmail.com> wrote in message news:20081104-231940.203.0[ at ]AxeMan.news.us.easynews.com... [Quoted Text] > In article <#vgg30sPJHA.4008[ at ]TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl>, > malke[ at ]invalid.invalid says... >>AxeMan wrote: >> >>> Where Can I find the proper step by step procedure for connecting an >>> external at boot up and disconnecting at shut down ?? TIA >> >>?? Plug in the external drive, turn it on, turn on your computer. Or turn >>on >>your computer, turn on the external drive, plug it in. Your choice. >> >>When you want to shut down, either use the "Safely Remove Hardware" > button >>in the Notification Area to remove the external. When it is safe to remove >>it, unplug it, turn it off, shut down the machine. Or shut down the >>machine, turn off the external, unplug it. >> >>Malke > > Thank you. One last question. Is it necessary to unplug the USB cable > from > the computer USB port or can I leave it in after going through the > "safely > remove hardware" process ? Thanks again > You don't have to disconnect it. However external drives are not intended to be operated for long periods. The cooling in USB drive enclosures isn't the best, and the drive may reach elevated temperatures that could affect the drive's operational life if left running for extended periods. If the drive has a separate power supply that you shut off after "Safely Remove", there's no problem.

Re: External Hard Drives AxeMan <axem[ at ]hotmail.com> 11/5/2008 3:29:04 AM In article <#T3I8ctPJHA.576[ at ]TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl>, malke[ at ]invalid.invalid says... [Quoted Text] >AxeMan wrote: > > >> Thank you. One last question. Is it necessary to unplug the USB cable >> from >> the computer USB port or can I leave it in after going through the >> "safely >> remove hardware" process ? Thanks again > >"Safely remove hardware" means that you unplug the USB connector from the >computer. So no, you wouldn't leave it in. Is there some reason you're >going through all this? Like your computer won't boot with this USB drive >plugged in? > >If not, just leave the USB drive plugged in all the time. If it is something >like a Western Digital MyBook, it will turn itself off when the computer is >off anyway. > >If you want more specific advice, please tell me why you want to do this, >what the external drive is, and whether you have a laptop. > >Malke I have two WD Element drives (250gb/500gb). Each has its own power supply. It's a desktop system. I do lots of music downloads from newsgroups and I want to check and see if i have a CD/Album before downloading. I've always left the USB cables plugged in after I shut off the power. I boot the computer, plug in the external power supply and have always got the icon showing the external drive. I was reading in some forum about people losing data because of improper procedures when powering up and shuting down. I wanted to check with the resident experts to try and eliminate any potential problems and keep the drives working as long as possible. Appreciate your advice.

Re: External Hard Drives Malke <malke[ at ]invalid.invalid> 11/5/2008 1:17:38 PM AxeMan wrote: [Quoted Text] > I have two WD Element drives (250gb/500gb). Each has its own power > supply. It's a desktop system. I do lots of music downloads from > newsgroups > and I want to check and see if i have a CD/Album before downloading. I've > always left the USB cables plugged in after I shut off the power. > I boot the computer, plug in the external power supply and have always got > the icon showing the external drive. I was reading in some forum about > people losing data because of improper procedures when powering up and > shuting down. I wanted to check with the resident experts to try and > eliminate any potential problems and keep the drives working as long as > possible. Appreciate your advice. Thank you for the clarification. There is no need for you to disconnect these external drives. Simply shut down the computer when you want to. If the external drives stay on when the computer is off, turn them off to conserve power. Otherwise, don't worry about it. Malke -- MS-MVP Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic! FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

Re: External Hard Drives ----- AxeMan <axem[ at ]hotmail.com> 11/5/2008 1:37:21 PM In article <eumAhj0PJHA.2392[ at ]TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl>, malke[ at ]invalid.invalid says... [Quoted Text] >AxeMan wrote: > >> I have two WD Element drives (250gb/500gb). Each has its own power >> supply. It's a desktop system. I do lots of music downloads from >> newsgroups >> and I want to check and see if i have a CD/Album before downloading. I've >> always left the USB cables plugged in after I shut off the power. >> I boot the computer, plug in the external power supply and have always got >> the icon showing the external drive. I was reading in some forum about >> people losing data because of improper procedures when powering up and >> shuting down. I wanted to check with the resident experts to try and >> eliminate any potential problems and keep the drives working as long as >> possible. Appreciate your advice. > >Thank you for the clarification. There is no need for you to disconnect >these external drives. Simply shut down the computer when you want to. If >the external drives stay on when the computer is off, turn them off to >conserve power. Otherwise, don't worry about it. > >Malke Thank you for your responses.