External DVD Rewriter and Internal HDD Questions.

ManOnTheMoon

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thefenman

ManOnTheMoon wrote: »

Rather than two seperate threads, i'll try my luck in one thread.

1. I'm looking at buying an external DVD RW for as little as possible, to attach to a Win XP machine initially.

Are these easy enough to 'install' and what should I be looking for with regards to speeds? What is the difference between DVD - and DVD +?

2. I have replaced my internal HDD, but have data on the one that was removed that I did not take off. Rather than re-installing it, is their an easy, cost effective way of connecting via USB or something to transfer the data onto the new HDD?

Thanks for any help and if you need any more info from me, i'll see what I can do

:T

What is the PC, desk or laptop?

ManOnTheMoon

thefenman wrote: »

What is the PC, desk or laptop?

Compaq Desktop

thefenman

ManOnTheMoon wrote: »

Compaq Desktop

Can't advise on the cheapest DVD writer, but I have a Freecom one attached to my laptop (the internal one is rubbish) and XP installed it automatically. I presume you have a reason for wanting an external one rather than internal.

Re the HDD with data on it, why not put it back into the PC and either simply leave it or copy the data across to the new one?

thefenman

You can get caddies to put HDDs in which connect via USB, by the way

ManOnTheMoon

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robredz

Try Maplin for a usb drive enclosure but if it is an old HDD you would need one for IDE, this would be simpler than the external writer.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=hard+drive+enclosure&menul1=1665

posted_2

You can get a usb to ide (or sata) lead to do the transfer, but if it is a one off, you may as well disconnect one internally and do it. Most if not all rewriters support +r and -r, and r/w (but not DVD-RAM) nowadays.

ManOnTheMoon

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thefenman

You don't need an IDE lead to use a caddie, just a USB lead and that may come as part of the kit.

You can burn CDs with a DVD burner and yes, DVDs hold 4.7GB as opposed to 700MB on a CD. I have not tried it, but I believe my burner handles double layer which doubles the capacity of a DVD. However, the raw DVD recordable is more expensive.

As for the difference between DVD+R and DVD-R, I don't really know (nor the difference between CD+R and CD-R, for that matter) but this link has some answers . . . .

http://!!!!!!!.com/9pnlpy

thefenman

How strange - that link has come up as nonsense. Try this . . . .

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Technology/Question326913.html

The previous effort was simply a means of reducing the size of the link.

The row of exclamation marks should read t i n y u r l without the spaces!