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What is an external hard drive and why do I need one?  See More Computer Basics

By Mitz

Free computer Education

An external hard drive is the ultimate backup device. How much data it stores depends on how big the hard drive is inside the external case. If you find that there is not enough storage space you can simply remove the hard drive and replace it with a bigger one. 

Most newer type external hard drives connect to the computer via a USB cable. Most computers have a front USB port and therefore make it easy to plug and play or use an external hard drive.

Once connected to the computer, your external hard drive device will show up in my computer as another hard disc drive. All you have to do is double click on the external hard drive icon and you can paste or drop any file you like there. Now days people have a 500gb external hard drives or even larger.

The benefits of having an external hard drive

1. It's a portable device You can easily pick up your external hard drive, take it to a friends house, and connect it to their computer. Most computers have a USB port through which it can be connected.

2. Safe Backup Device Because the external hard drive is not permanently connected to your computer, if your system crashes, the information and files on your external hard drive device will still be safe. There this is a great backup device.

3. Easily upgradeable If you find that it does not have enough storage space for your backup files you can easily replace the hard drive with a bigger one. You cannot, as yet, upgrade a normal USB Flash drive.

4. Can store a huge amount of Data and files For example if you had a 160gb external hard drive you could fit movies, backup your music, photos, entire programs, and more on it.

5. Will save your computer from getting clogged up with downloads and large files. If you find yourself downloading a lot of files it is always better to remove them from your computer to store somewhere else. This way your computers performance will not be effected by storing unnecessary files, data, and movies.

What size external hard drive do you need?

If you just want to store documents, emails, small backup files, and photos then 20GB is enough for an external hard drive. However if you want to store in type of movie, video footage, large amounts of music, or even entire backups of your system, then you will need at least 100GB or more.

How much money does an external hard drive cost?

Nowadays you can buy a 500GB hard drive for $100 and then you just have to buy an external hard drive case which can be around $20 or $30 off Ebay Power sellers. However people usually buy the external hard drive with the hard drive inside and pay a fair bit more than is necessary.

You can store or backup everything on your external hard drive. I cannot live without mine!!! It is a fantastic device...

What happens if the eternal hard drive fails to work and I loose my files:

OK this is not funny. It has happened to me. I had my 300GB external hard drive sitting on a chair and knocked the cord and the whole thing gently slid off the chair. The hard drive was dead. It just tapped the floor. Anyway I was absolutely devastated and vowed this would not happen again. Now I have an external hard drive that backs up the other external hard drive. I know this sounds silly but image loosing 10 years of goodies that I had on that hard drive.. I would rather keep my files safe.

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About the Author

Mitz wrote this article and others for tips4pc.com  Browse for more articles that are written in an easy to understand way. Also see our very popular Video Tutorials page. Watching a video is a very easy way to learn about computers.

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