"MS" <matth***@mailsnare.---nojunktakeout---.net> wrote in message
news:hBy2e.6$G8.5@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> Hi,
>
> I'm thinking about getting an External HDD Enclosure such as the Manhattan
> USB 2.0 3.5" External HDD Enclosure and have a couple of questions.
>
> 1) Assuming they work well, what kind of data transfer rates do they
> achieve over USB and is it a lot slower than a normal IDE connection? Is
> the speed bottleneck the speed of the USB connection rather than the hard
> disk's speed?
>
> 2) How can I tell if my USB ports are USB 2.0 or not? I've looked in
> 'device manager' which doesn't seem to say whether it's v. 2.0 or not.
>
> 3. I only have 2 USB ports and both are currently in use by 2 printers.
> I've seen a 4 port USB hub, which has one end to connect to a USB port in
> my PC and the other end which provides 4 USB input ports. Is there any
> reason why I can't buy one of these and use all the devices as normal (the
> printers don't get much use) rather than buying a card and having to open
> the PC up and install it (I'm physically disabled and opening the PC and
> installing things is a major mission)?
>
> Many thanks,
>
> MS

> Everest Home will reveal a wealth of info
> http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?lang=en
> 3) A USB hub will be fine
> 2) Everest
> 1) http://www.necel.com/en/faq/f_usbspec.html one site that gives info
> Whether the actual data rate is important to you may depend on what your
> using the disk for. eg Office docs may be fine, but video/graphics
> manipulation may be too slow.
>
> "MS" <matth***@mailsnare.---nojunktakeout---.net> wrote in message
> news:hBy2e.6$G8.5@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>I'm thinking about getting an External HDD Enclosure such as the Manhattan
>>USB 2.0 3.5" External HDD Enclosure and have a couple of questions.
>>
>>1) Assuming they work well, what kind of data transfer rates do they
>>achieve over USB and is it a lot slower than a normal IDE connection? Is
>>the speed bottleneck the speed of the USB connection rather than the hard
>>disk's speed?
>>
>>2) How can I tell if my USB ports are USB 2.0 or not? I've looked in
>>'device manager' which doesn't seem to say whether it's v. 2.0 or not.
>>
>>3. I only have 2 USB ports and both are currently in use by 2 printers.
>>I've seen a 4 port USB hub, which has one end to connect to a USB port in
>>my PC and the other end which provides 4 USB input ports. Is there any
>>reason why I can't buy one of these and use all the devices as normal (the
>>printers don't get much use) rather than buying a card and having to open
>>the PC up and install it (I'm physically disabled and opening the PC and
>>installing things is a major mission)?
>>
>>Many thanks,
>>
>>MS
>
>
>

"MS" <matth***@mailsnare.---nojunktakeout---.net> wrote in message
news:6HF2e.464$G8.409@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> Many, many thanks DL.
>
> Wow 'Everest' is one great bit of software, so much better than MSInfo32
> which is now redundant! In fact Everest looks so good it has already
> graduated to a desktop icon even after running it just once --that's not
> bad going on my machine (it is also now bookmarked in my 'Great Free
> Software' folder). The bad news is that Everest says the USB controller is
> version 1, no mention of version 2, so I will have to also buy a USB 2
> card and install it. Oh well.
>
> Thanks also for the USB NEC link, which informs me speeds are approx.
> 60MB/s which will be fine for me. It is in fact for video files but to be
> used as a repository and not for editing or such like.
>
> Cheers,
>
> MS
>
> PS. This is the reply I made to you in 'hardware':
>
> "Thanks... and I forgot to add microsoft.public.win2000.hardware to my
> recipient list before posting and so posted here as well. Sorry about the
> multi-post."
>
>
> DL emailed this:
> > Everest Home will reveal a wealth of info
> > http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?lang=en
> > 3) A USB hub will be fine
> > 2) Everest
> > 1) http://www.necel.com/en/faq/f_usbspec.html one site that gives info
> > Whether the actual data rate is important to you may depend on what your
> > using the disk for. eg Office docs may be fine, but video/graphics
> > manipulation may be too slow.
> >
> > "MS" <matth***@mailsnare.---nojunktakeout---.net> wrote in message
> > news:hBy2e.6$G8.5@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> >
> >>Hi,
> >>
> >>I'm thinking about getting an External HDD Enclosure such as the
Manhattan
> >>USB 2.0 3.5" External HDD Enclosure and have a couple of questions.
> >>
> >>1) Assuming they work well, what kind of data transfer rates do they
> >>achieve over USB and is it a lot slower than a normal IDE connection? Is
> >>the speed bottleneck the speed of the USB connection rather than the
hard
> >>disk's speed?
> >>
> >>2) How can I tell if my USB ports are USB 2.0 or not? I've looked in
> >>'device manager' which doesn't seem to say whether it's v. 2.0 or not.
> >>
> >>3. I only have 2 USB ports and both are currently in use by 2 printers.
> >>I've seen a 4 port USB hub, which has one end to connect to a USB port
in
> >>my PC and the other end which provides 4 USB input ports. Is there any
> >>reason why I can't buy one of these and use all the devices as normal
(the
> >>printers don't get much use) rather than buying a card and having to
open
> >>the PC up and install it (I'm physically disabled and opening the PC and
> >>installing things is a major mission)?
> >>
> >>Many thanks,
> >>
> >>MS
> >
> >
> >

>
> Thanks also for the USB NEC link, which informs me speeds are approx.
> 60MB/s which will be fine for me. It is in fact for video files but to be
> used as a repository and not for editing or such like.
>
> Cheers,
>
> MS
>
> PS. This is the reply I made to you in 'hardware':
>
> "Thanks... and I forgot to add microsoft.public.win2000.hardware to my
> recipient list before posting and so posted here as well. Sorry about the
> multi-post."
>
>
> DL emailed this:
>
>>Everest Home will reveal a wealth of info
>>http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?lang=en
>>3) A USB hub will be fine
>>2) Everest
>>1) http://www.necel.com/en/faq/f_usbspec.html one site that gives info
>>Whether the actual data rate is important to you may depend on what your
>>using the disk for. eg Office docs may be fine, but video/graphics
>>manipulation may be too slow.
>>
>>"MS" <matth***@mailsnare.---nojunktakeout---.net> wrote in message
>>news:hBy2e.6$G8.5@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>>
>>
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>I'm thinking about getting an External HDD Enclosure such as the Manhattan
>>>USB 2.0 3.5" External HDD Enclosure and have a couple of questions.
>>>
>>>1) Assuming they work well, what kind of data transfer rates do they
>>>achieve over USB and is it a lot slower than a normal IDE connection? Is
>>>the speed bottleneck the speed of the USB connection rather than the hard
>>>disk's speed?
>>>
>>>2) How can I tell if my USB ports are USB 2.0 or not? I've looked in
>>>'device manager' which doesn't seem to say whether it's v. 2.0 or not.
>>>
>>>3. I only have 2 USB ports and both are currently in use by 2 printers.
>>>I've seen a 4 port USB hub, which has one end to connect to a USB port in
>>>my PC and the other end which provides 4 USB input ports. Is there any
>>>reason why I can't buy one of these and use all the devices as normal (the
>>>printers don't get much use) rather than buying a card and having to open
>>>the PC up and install it (I'm physically disabled and opening the PC and
>>>installing things is a major mission)?
>>>
>>>Many thanks,
>>>
>>>MS
>>
>>
>>

> MS wrote:
>
>> Many, many thanks DL.
>>
>> Wow 'Everest' is one great bit of software, so much better than
>> MSInfo32 which is now redundant! In fact Everest looks so good it has
>> already graduated to a desktop icon even after running it just once
>> --that's not bad going on my machine (it is also now bookmarked in my
>> 'Great Free Software' folder). The bad news is that Everest says the
>> USB controller is version 1, no mention of version 2, so I will have
>> to also buy a USB 2 card and install it. Oh well.
>
>
> Since you would need to buy a USB 2.0 card anyway, why not consider
> other alternatives to USB for external drives ?
>
> A USB controller really does bugger all - it relies on your CPU to do
> most of the work.  Hence USB is very ill-suited for things that need a
> lot of steady throughput - such as hard drives.
>
> Both IEEE1394 (AKA "FireWire") and E-SATA (External SATA) will give you
> better transfer rates and will not demand so much attention from your
> CPU.   At the higher end, there is also SCSI.
>
> Your motherboard might very well have one or two IEEE1394 ports.  If it
> doesn't, then many USB PCI cards have one or two IEEE1394 ports on them
> anyway.
>
>
> For E-SATA, I have one of these:
> http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=11930&vpn=RM1110-R1511&manufacture=Highpoint%20Technologies
>
>
> It includes a PCI card with an E-SATA port, an external drive enclosure,
> and a cable. You just need to buy a hard drive to stick inside the drive
> enclosure.   It is a huge step up from the crappy performance you get
> from a drive plugged into a USB 2.0 port.  The down side is that buying
> one of those and a 300 GB drive to stick in it costs about $70
> (Canadian) more than a USB 2.0 drive the same size.
>
>>
>> Thanks also for the USB NEC link, which informs me speeds are approx.
>> 60MB/s which will be fine for me. It is in fact for video files but to
>> be used as a repository and not for editing or such like.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> MS
>>
>> PS. This is the reply I made to you in 'hardware':
>>
>> "Thanks... and I forgot to add microsoft.public.win2000.hardware to my
>> recipient list before posting and so posted here as well. Sorry about
>> the multi-post."
>>
>>
>> DL emailed this:
>>
>>> Everest Home will reveal a wealth of info
>>> http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?lang=en
>>> 3) A USB hub will be fine
>>> 2) Everest
>>> 1) http://www.necel.com/en/faq/f_usbspec.html one site that gives info
>>> Whether the actual data rate is important to you may depend on what your
>>> using the disk for. eg Office docs may be fine, but video/graphics
>>> manipulation may be too slow.
>>>
>>> "MS" <matth***@mailsnare.---nojunktakeout---.net> wrote in message
>>> news:hBy2e.6$G8.5@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I'm thinking about getting an External HDD Enclosure such as the
>>>> Manhattan
>>>> USB 2.0 3.5" External HDD Enclosure and have a couple of questions.
>>>>
>>>> 1) Assuming they work well, what kind of data transfer rates do they
>>>> achieve over USB and is it a lot slower than a normal IDE
>>>> connection? Is
>>>> the speed bottleneck the speed of the USB connection rather than the
>>>> hard
>>>> disk's speed?
>>>>
>>>> 2) How can I tell if my USB ports are USB 2.0 or not? I've looked in
>>>> 'device manager' which doesn't seem to say whether it's v. 2.0 or not.
>>>>
>>>> 3. I only have 2 USB ports and both are currently in use by 2 printers.
>>>> I've seen a 4 port USB hub, which has one end to connect to a USB
>>>> port in
>>>> my PC and the other end which provides 4 USB input ports. Is there any
>>>> reason why I can't buy one of these and use all the devices as
>>>> normal (the
>>>> printers don't get much use) rather than buying a card and having to
>>>> open
>>>> the PC up and install it (I'm physically disabled and opening the PC
>>>> and
>>>> installing things is a major mission)?
>>>>
>>>> Many thanks,
>>>>
>>>> MS
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>

> Hi Rob,
>
> Many thanks for your excellent suggestion and apologies for taking 2 days
> to reply, I was out all day yesterday.
>
> I have followed your idea and bought these items:
>
> Highpoint Rocket 1511 Single Channel SATA Host Adapter
> Highpoint Rocket Mate 1110 e.SATA HDD Enclosure
> Western Digital Caviar 7200RPM 200GB FDB 8Mb SATA HDD
>
> They arrived this morning and I now have it all installed and working
> perfectly, including having formatted the new HDD.
>
> It is a far superior option to using USB and without your help I would not
> have even known about external SATA.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> MS
>

> Rob Stow emailed this:
>
>>MS wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Many, many thanks DL.
>>>
>>>Wow 'Everest' is one great bit of software, so much better than
>>>MSInfo32 which is now redundant! In fact Everest looks so good it has
>>>already graduated to a desktop icon even after running it just once
>>>--that's not bad going on my machine (it is also now bookmarked in my
>>>'Great Free Software' folder). The bad news is that Everest says the
>>>USB controller is version 1, no mention of version 2, so I will have
>>>to also buy a USB 2 card and install it. Oh well.
>>
>>
>>Since you would need to buy a USB 2.0 card anyway, why not consider
>>other alternatives to USB for external drives ?
>>
>>A USB controller really does bugger all - it relies on your CPU to do
>>most of the work.  Hence USB is very ill-suited for things that need a
>>lot of steady throughput - such as hard drives.
>>
>>Both IEEE1394 (AKA "FireWire") and E-SATA (External SATA) will give you
>>better transfer rates and will not demand so much attention from your
>>CPU.   At the higher end, there is also SCSI.
>>
>>Your motherboard might very well have one or two IEEE1394 ports.  If it
>>doesn't, then many USB PCI cards have one or two IEEE1394 ports on them
>>anyway.
>>
>>
>>For E-SATA, I have one of these:
>>http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=11930&vpn=RM1110-R1511&manufacture=Highpoint%20Technologies
>>
>>
>>It includes a PCI card with an E-SATA port, an external drive enclosure,
>>and a cable. You just need to buy a hard drive to stick inside the drive
>>enclosure.   It is a huge step up from the crappy performance you get
>>from a drive plugged into a USB 2.0 port.  The down side is that buying
>>one of those and a 300 GB drive to stick in it costs about $70
>>(Canadian) more than a USB 2.0 drive the same size.
>>
>>
>>>Thanks also for the USB NEC link, which informs me speeds are approx.
>>>60MB/s which will be fine for me. It is in fact for video files but to
>>>be used as a repository and not for editing or such like.
>>>
>>>Cheers,
>>>
>>>MS
>>>
>>>PS. This is the reply I made to you in 'hardware':
>>>
>>>"Thanks... and I forgot to add microsoft.public.win2000.hardware to my
>>>recipient list before posting and so posted here as well. Sorry about
>>>the multi-post."
>>>
>>>
>>>DL emailed this:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Everest Home will reveal a wealth of info
>>>>http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?lang=en
>>>>3) A USB hub will be fine
>>>>2) Everest
>>>>1) http://www.necel.com/en/faq/f_usbspec.html one site that gives info
>>>>Whether the actual data rate is important to you may depend on what your
>>>>using the disk for. eg Office docs may be fine, but video/graphics
>>>>manipulation may be too slow.
>>>>
>>>>"MS" <matth***@mailsnare.---nojunktakeout---.net> wrote in message
>>>>news:hBy2e.6$G8.5@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>>I'm thinking about getting an External HDD Enclosure such as the
>>>>>Manhattan
>>>>>USB 2.0 3.5" External HDD Enclosure and have a couple of questions.
>>>>>
>>>>>1) Assuming they work well, what kind of data transfer rates do they
>>>>>achieve over USB and is it a lot slower than a normal IDE
>>>>>connection? Is
>>>>>the speed bottleneck the speed of the USB connection rather than the
>>>>>hard
>>>>>disk's speed?
>>>>>
>>>>>2) How can I tell if my USB ports are USB 2.0 or not? I've looked in
>>>>>'device manager' which doesn't seem to say whether it's v. 2.0 or not.
>>>>>
>>>>>3. I only have 2 USB ports and both are currently in use by 2 printers.
>>>>>I've seen a 4 port USB hub, which has one end to connect to a USB
>>>>>port in
>>>>>my PC and the other end which provides 4 USB input ports. Is there any
>>>>>reason why I can't buy one of these and use all the devices as
>>>>>normal (the
>>>>>printers don't get much use) rather than buying a card and having to
>>>>>open
>>>>>the PC up and install it (I'm physically disabled and opening the PC
>>>>>and
>>>>>installing things is a major mission)?
>>>>>
>>>>>Many thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>>MS
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>

> MS wrote:
>
>> Hi Rob,
>>
>> Many thanks for your excellent suggestion and apologies for taking 2
>> days to reply, I was out all day yesterday.
>>
>> I have followed your idea and bought these items:
>>
>> Highpoint Rocket 1511 Single Channel SATA Host Adapter
>> Highpoint Rocket Mate 1110 e.SATA HDD Enclosure
>> Western Digital Caviar 7200RPM 200GB FDB 8Mb SATA HDD
>>
>> They arrived this morning and I now have it all installed and working
>> perfectly, including having formatted the new HDD.
>>
>> It is a far superior option to using USB and without your help I would
>> not have even known about external SATA.
>>
>> Thanks again,
>>
>> MS
>>
>
>
>> Rob Stow emailed this:
>>
>>> MS wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Many, many thanks DL.
>>>>
>>>> Wow 'Everest' is one great bit of software, so much better than
>>>> MSInfo32 which is now redundant! In fact Everest looks so good it
>>>> has already graduated to a desktop icon even after running it just
>>>> once --that's not bad going on my machine (it is also now bookmarked
>>>> in my 'Great Free Software' folder). The bad news is that Everest
>>>> says the USB controller is version 1, no mention of version 2, so I
>>>> will have to also buy a USB 2 card and install it. Oh well.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Since you would need to buy a USB 2.0 card anyway, why not consider
>>> other alternatives to USB for external drives ?
>>>
>>> A USB controller really does bugger all - it relies on your CPU to do
>>> most of the work.  Hence USB is very ill-suited for things that need
>>> a lot of steady throughput - such as hard drives.
>>>
>>> Both IEEE1394 (AKA "FireWire") and E-SATA (External SATA) will give
>>> you better transfer rates and will not demand so much attention from
>>> your CPU.   At the higher end, there is also SCSI.
>>>
>>> Your motherboard might very well have one or two IEEE1394 ports.  If
>>> it doesn't, then many USB PCI cards have one or two IEEE1394 ports on
>>> them anyway.
>>>
>>>
>>> For E-SATA, I have one of these:
>>> http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=11930&vpn=RM1110-R1511&manufacture=Highpoint%20Technologies
>>>
>>>
>>> It includes a PCI card with an E-SATA port, an external drive
>>> enclosure, and a cable. You just need to buy a hard drive to stick
>>> inside the drive enclosure.   It is a huge step up from the crappy
>>> performance you get from a drive plugged into a USB 2.0 port.  The
>>> down side is that buying one of those and a 300 GB drive to stick in
>>> it costs about $70 (Canadian) more than a USB 2.0 drive the same size.
>>>
>>>
>>>> Thanks also for the USB NEC link, which informs me speeds are
>>>> approx. 60MB/s which will be fine for me. It is in fact for video
>>>> files but to be used as a repository and not for editing or such like.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>>
>>>> MS
>>>>
>>>> PS. This is the reply I made to you in 'hardware':
>>>>
>>>> "Thanks... and I forgot to add microsoft.public.win2000.hardware to
>>>> my recipient list before posting and so posted here as well. Sorry
>>>> about the multi-post."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> DL emailed this:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Everest Home will reveal a wealth of info
>>>>> http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?lang=en
>>>>> 3) A USB hub will be fine
>>>>> 2) Everest
>>>>> 1) http://www.necel.com/en/faq/f_usbspec.html one site that gives info
>>>>> Whether the actual data rate is important to you may depend on what
>>>>> your
>>>>> using the disk for. eg Office docs may be fine, but video/graphics
>>>>> manipulation may be too slow.
>>>>>
>>>>> "MS" <matth***@mailsnare.---nojunktakeout---.net> wrote in message
>>>>> news:hBy2e.6$G8.5@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm thinking about getting an External HDD Enclosure such as the
>>>>>> Manhattan
>>>>>> USB 2.0 3.5" External HDD Enclosure and have a couple of questions.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1) Assuming they work well, what kind of data transfer rates do they
>>>>>> achieve over USB and is it a lot slower than a normal IDE
>>>>>> connection? Is
>>>>>> the speed bottleneck the speed of the USB connection rather than
>>>>>> the hard
>>>>>> disk's speed?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2) How can I tell if my USB ports are USB 2.0 or not? I've looked in
>>>>>> 'device manager' which doesn't seem to say whether it's v. 2.0 or
>>>>>> not.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 3. I only have 2 USB ports and both are currently in use by 2
>>>>>> printers.
>>>>>> I've seen a 4 port USB hub, which has one end to connect to a USB
>>>>>> port in
>>>>>> my PC and the other end which provides 4 USB input ports. Is there
>>>>>> any
>>>>>> reason why I can't buy one of these and use all the devices as
>>>>>> normal (the
>>>>>> printers don't get much use) rather than buying a card and having
>>>>>> to open
>>>>>> the PC up and install it (I'm physically disabled and opening the
>>>>>> PC and
>>>>>> installing things is a major mission)?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Many thanks,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> MS
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>