cables with external hard drives

zebedy

Hi, I have several external hard drives (one for iTunes, one for photos etc) and they all have a cable that fits into the external drive at one end and has 2 USB connectors at the other end.

Do I have to use the specific cable that came with that hard drive or can i use one cable for all hard drives?

kwikbreaks

No they are all the same. You would normally only need to use the two connector ones with external disks that do not have their own power brick.

As an aside it is best to plug in the two connectors to your computer then follow up by plugging the single in the external drive. In a perfect world it wouldn't matter which you plug in first but I've found it sometimes does.

John_Gray

kwikbreaks wrote: »

it is best to plug in the two connectors to your computer then follow up by plugging the single in the external drive. In a perfect world it wouldn't matter which you plug in first but I've found it sometimes does.

I'd be interested to know what result you sometimes get if you don't use your approved method. Isn't the hard drive recognised? Does it not spin up?

I'd agree that it shouldn't make any difference, since it is the fact that the PC/laptop is actually being connected to the external hard drive that seems to be the important issue!

busenbust

zebedy wrote: »

Hi, I have several external hard drives (one for iTunes, one for photos etc) and they all have a cable that fits into the external drive at one end and has 2 USB connectors at the other end.

Do I have to use the specific cable that came with that hard drive or can i use one cable for all hard drives?

For this particular requirement, the cables would be interchangeable. The additional (secondary) usb is sometimes required for additional power.