External hard drive uses USB 3.0 question???

hybernia

Hi gang: hopefully, this is a case of me being technologically illiterate, and so the answer to my question will be easy to offer.

I have an almost-eight years old desktop PC. It runs Windows 7. It has two internal drives, a 250GB SSD, and a 1TB HDD. The SSD contains the OS and programs; the HDD has everything else. And it's pretty much full.

I back up the HDD every so often (not as frequently as perhaps I should) to an external hard drive, my 5-year-old Seagate. It's also 1TB. It works flawlessly. But it, too, is getting more and more full.

I've decided that instead of continuing to run complete 'My Documents' synchronised back-ups (via Synchredible software) from desktop PC to Seagate external drive, I'd be better advised to archive some of the space-hogging images and video files which exist in abundance on the PC onto another external drive. That material doesn't change much. Just piles up instead.

I'm not in the habit of skate-boarding around the country carrying a vast amount of data in my jeans pocket so I don't need a so-called 'portable' drive, whose power runs off a USB socket; I would much prefer to have a mains-powered drive (which is what my Seagate is.)

So I guess what I'm really seeking is an external drive which will likely be used maybe twice or three times in an entire year. It won't be permanently connected. Won't be permanently switched on.It will be a bit like a safety deposit box, a container securely stored away from the computer.

I reckon a 1TB external drive will suit me fine as the volume of images, video and music data I need to archive is probably only around half that figure.

But but but. . . having identified on Amazon UK a couple of reasonably priced external hard drives that seem to be OK (a Seagate 'portable') and a Toshiba Canvio -- neither of which, though, are mains powered -- I keep coming up against references in product specification texts to USB 3.0. The term is also used in reference to USB 3.0 'connector'.

Specifically, there's this text in the Toshiba Canvio description: "Box also contains USB 3.0 cable, Type A to micro B. This allows you to connect to older hardware, with USB 2.0 compatibility."

Er, um, we-ell . . . I'm aware of the different kinds of USB, how they've gotten quicker and quicker as time has gone by. My problem is: my desktop PC's USB slots aren't even USB 2.0. They're just 'ordinary' USB 1.0 (I guess).

So what I'm wondering is, will a USB 3.0 external hard drive plug into my old PC all right and work OK?

Oh, and just a quick additional query: can anyone recommend an external hard drive, 500GB or 1TB, that is mains powered? I'm aware of the fact, thanks to a family friend, that it's an old wives' tale, all this "harping on about how mains powered external drives being better than USB powered external drives" but I guess as a wife I'm ageing myself (though I'd never previously realised that elderly wives got together to discuss the reliability and operating speeds of external hard drives) and there's also the fact that unlike the trendy young things which the drive manufacturers depict in their silly advertising hype, I absolutely do not need 'portability'.

Advice, as ever, appreciated. Thanks.

grumpycrab

hybernia wrote: »

will a USB 3.0 external hard drive plug into my old PC all right and work OK?

yes. buy from amazon if you're slightly worried (so you can return for whatever reason).

Peter999_2

I would be incredibly surprised if an 8 year old desktop didn't have at least USB 2.0.

Frozen_up_north

Backup to an external drive via USB 2 takes ages, USB 1 is even worse.

Time to look at upgrading?

Neil_Jones

USB 2 has been common since the turn of the century and I was using them on boards made in 2003.

I too would be very surprised if an eight year old computer is not USB 2 capable at least. USB 3 spec was fixed in 2008 and some boards would have had them at the time but it was more a premium feature. Now they're pretty much standard.

But to answer the question, you can use a USB 3 device in a USB 2 port. I think its safe to assume it's at least USB 2 capable.

debitcardmayhem

Why not get a powered usb enclosure and put in a desktop drive in it
I do the same using spare hdds , which I swap regularly.

wongataa

hybernia wrote: »

So what I'm wondering is, will a USB 3.0 external hard drive plug into my old PC all right and work OK?

Yes

hybernia wrote: »

Oh, and just a quick additional query: can anyone recommend an external hard drive, 500GB or 1TB, that is mains powered?

There really isn't much between any of them. Just buy one with the capacity you want with a brand name you recognise that suits your budget.

A.Penny.Saved

debitcardmayhem wrote: »

Why not get a powered usb enclosure and put in a desktop drive in it
I do the same using spare hdds , which I swap regularly.

That is what I do for my backups.....

I got mine from eBay, a dual bay USB 3.0 docking station which cost me £31.41 in August 2018. It has a separate PSU to power the bare drives (2) then you can swap them quickly as needed.
One of these>
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIDECO-USB-3-0-Hard-Drive-Docking-Station-Aluminum-USB-3-0-to-SATA-External-Dua/323913581290
This was to replace another dual bay docking station which failed by Startech a fairly well known company. All they could offer were black replacements under warranty. I did not want black coloured PC equipment.

I think you might be better off getting a larger drive, 2TB so that you do not run out of space so quickly. The price difference is not that great because you are paying for the control electronics and housing etc each time and having a larger capacity hard drive costs only a small amount until you get to the very large sizes, That would save you purchasing another drive later.

It might be worth considering a USB 3.0 PCI-e card. The only problem with your motherboard would be it will not run at full speed due to it likely to have PCI-e v1.1 slots rather than the v2> that are required to run at full speed.

A word of advice, do not trust ANY USB 3.0 cables. A very high percentage of them are faulty and contain grounding faults where some of them short out the power to ground. I will not use any USB cable without first checking that it has no short circuits in it after a USB 3.0 cable destroyed a PCI-e v2.0 x16 connector holding a PCI-e x4 SATA 6Gb and USB 3.0 card. The faulty cable destroyed the PCI-e slot and the card.

I have tested all my USB 3.0 cables and found the majority of them have faults! Most not as dramatic or damaging as power to ground.

hybernia

Sincere thanks to everyone for the help and constructive advice. I'm reassured.

There is, perhaps inevitably, some technical stuff I don't fully comprehend (re the USB 3.0 docking stations kindly mentioned by debitcardmayhem and A.Penny.Saved) but I guess I'd be wise to follow the consensus view here of looking to update my desktop PC after all these years.

It was originally built by a home computer enthusiast as his 'gaming machine', so it was over-specc'd for my purposes but has been fast and robust ever since I purchased it from him. Sadly, he's now emigrated to Australia, so I can't invite him round to have a look at how best to bring the PC more up to date. It seems to have only one functioning USB port nowadays at the front/top of the case, the other three at that location not being 'live' at all.

(And then whenever I plug something in, Windows keeps reporting 'this device will perform more quickly if you connect it to a USB 2.0 port'. It then produces a 'map' of the 2.0 ports, except I have no clue where they are, but presume they're at the back of the computer, under my desk, and just about inaccessible for temporary plugging into. Hopeless!)

However, we do have a very small local PC firm that has proved very reliable with great value for money pricing: i took the PC in last year when it kept over-heating, and they discovered that great clumps of dust balls had settled on some sensitive parts of the computer's innards and so the temperature was rising to the point that it kept cutting out.

They put everything right, showed me how to get the blasted case off in future and regularly vacuum it (lightly) and said to bring it back, any time I fancied updating it. So. . . I guess I'll do that next week.

Meantime, then, thanks again to everyone for the guidance: when you're as lost as I sometimes get, wandering along corridors of technology, it's a heck of a relief to have immediate help from others who know what they're doing!:)

A.Penny.Saved

hybernia wrote: »

Sincere thanks to everyone for the help and constructive advice. I'm reassured.

There is, perhaps inevitably, some technical stuff I don't fully comprehend (re the USB 3.0 docking stations kindly mentioned by debitcardmayhem and A.Penny.Saved) but I guess I'd be wise to follow the consensus view here of looking to update my desktop PC after all these years.

It was originally built by a home computer enthusiast as his 'gaming machine', so it was over-specc'd for my purposes but has been fast and robust ever since I purchased it from him. Sadly, he's now emigrated to Australia, so I can't invite him round to have a look at how best to bring the PC more up to date. It seems to have only one functioning USB port nowadays at the front/top of the case, the other three at that location not being 'live' at all.

(And then whenever I plug something in, Windows keeps reporting 'this device will perform more quickly if you connect it to a USB 2.0 port'. It then produces a 'map' of the 2.0 ports, except I have no clue where they are, but presume they're at the back of the computer, under my desk, and just about inaccessible for temporary plugging into. Hopeless!)

A USB 2.0 Hub, some are powered, would extend those rear ports so that you could use them without pulling your PC out. Not being the latest version, USB 2.0 Hubs cost very little and can be purchased with a range of USB connectors ie 4, 7 and up. That then plugs into the rear port and then you run the cable around to a more convenient location. You could maybe hook up those case USB ports to the rear connectors so that they could be used.

If you get the following program, portable version, it will reveal your system makeup and what CPU, USB and expansion slots that you have. Based upon the age it should have PCI-express probably v1.1 but it might be older than you think and have PCI and AGP slots.

Leave the Sensors checkbox unticked when you run it so that you get a system report. It also gives hardware monitor information about your hardware, including temperatures etc.
https://www.hwinfo.com/download/

He left the country after selling it to you?:rotfl: Maybe he was not 100% honest about the age.

Neil_Jones

Windows pops up the "this device may perform faster in a USB 2 port" because the message doesn’t necessarily indicate that the device itself can perform faster, only that the USB port itself is operating at a lower speed than it supports. This is not uncommon for front USB ports on cases.

Devices that draw too much power can also generate this message (such as if you connect them to unpowered USB hubs) - technically a front USB connection is a hub of some sort because its running power not directly off the board. The ports on the back are physically part of the board so don't have "power" issues.