Hi...I have a large external HDD connected to my desktop computer by a USB
cable. I would like to use some of the data on the HDD on my Laptop. Can it be
as simple as moving the USB cable from one machine to the other or am I missing
something major here?
If it works that easily, I can envision storing my photos and music on the HDD
for use on both of my computers.
As always, thanks in advance!
Gail Miller
Gail
Although it's simple to move the USB drive from one computer to another,
it's generally not a good idea to do that too frequently. Ports don't
last forever, and ports on laptops aren't easy to replace. Yes, you can
share the drive among many computers as long as it's formatted as FAT32
[also FAT 16?]. For Macs, sharing works with Samba [smb://--insert path
or IP here-- ].
Other solutions are to leave the drive plugged into the desktop PC or
hub and share it wirelessly with the laptop. Desktop must be running to
share a drive. Better solution is to have a network drive, easy to
access with its own IP address from both computers.
Problem with using one drive to hold iTunes library for both computers
is that the library will be missing when the drive is missing, so you'll
have to create two versions of the library on each computer--one with
the external drive, one without. Does your broadband modem have a USB
port where the drive can be shared? Otherwise you'll need to put a bare
drive into a NAS case and share it through a router/modem/switch.
Next solution and cheaper than the NAS, could be best choice: get
another drive, an extra 2.5-inch notebook drive. I picked up a WD 'My
Passport' 500GB drive for $56 in November--it's very good, so far. For
around the same price you can get a full-size external 3.5" 1TB drive.
You can sync both drives, or portions of each, wirelessly.
Last solution only works if you have an old iPod. I have a 40GB Toshiba
iPod hard drive in a very tiny USB enclosure. Fits in my pocket and is
smaller than the Classic iPod. External cases for the 1.8-inch drives
are hard to find. Saw some at Amazon a few weeks ago for $12. Can't help
with that though. I got mine at w00t.com on a lucky day--drive and
enclosure, $25.
Betty
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