all about External HD

[mynameismatt89]

hello all,

In the next few days i will be purchasing an External HD. I havent quite yet decided on which one to buy but i will be going to futureshop and best buy to get one. I was just wondering once i have installed the software and what not, is there anything i have to do like adding it as a HD to the disk utility thing so it can be checked for any problems, etc. Also is it possible to compress the files before putting them onto the etxternal HD so that i can store more files.... how do i go about doing this. If people could just let me know what i should do when i get it and how to maintain it and what people prefer to do with theirs.

Thanks-

Matt

 

[mynameismatt89]

oh yes, also, would i be able to (for example if i have a movie stored on the external HD) watch the movie right from the external HD, or would i have to put it on my computers internal HD and then watch it from there? what my concern is if the movie will be too slow playing it right from the External HD.

thanks again.

 

[mynameismatt89]

i have been looking for compression programs for mac but they all seem to be decompress only (freeware) while the compression and decompression are shareware. Are there any free compression and decompression programs to make files smaller?

 

[rickvanr]

I suggest buying an internal HD, and a FW/USB2 enclosure. Buy from an OEM shop (ex. newegg) too. You'll save a lot of money.

An external drive acts like an internal drive except you can unmount it. Playing movies, music, etc.. will all work fine.

I suggest getting a large external and not worrying about compressing files, because you'll have to decompress them to look at them.

 

[obrien234]

Try www.dealnews.com They have amazing deals. That's where I always shop. They look through all the shops like newegg for the best deal.