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Resolved external hard drive need docking station?

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by dispatch trophy, 2012/08/06.

  1. 2012/08/06
    dispatch trophy Contributing Member

    dispatch trophy Inactive Thread Starter

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    I need an external hard drive to do video editing.

    But I am a bit confused about how it works with my Sony Laptop with Windows 7 (This is not the computer that is listed in my profile).

    I need to know if I need to get a docking station in addition to the external hard drive.

    My laptop has one eSATA port and 3 USB ports.
    ===============================================

    Here are the specs of the laptop:

    US-VPCF1390X-LBOM

    Component: LED Backlit Keyboard

    Component: No Fresh Start

    Component: Adobe Bundle

    Component: Blu-ray Discâ„¢ Player / Burner

    Component: Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter

    Component: High capacity battery

    Component: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 425M GPU (1GB VRAM)

    Component: No Engraving

    Component: Intel® Coreâ„¢ i7-740QM quad-core processor (1.73GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz

    Component: 16.4" VAIO Full HD Premium Display (1920x1080)

    Component: 500GB (7200rpm) hard drive

    Component: Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit

    Component: 6GB (4GBx1 + 2GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
     
    dispatch trophy,
    #1
  2. 2012/08/06
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    Are you asking about a docking station for the laptop or an "enclosure" for the drive?

    Enclosures for the drive aren't 100% necessary but they protect the drives from getting broken.
     
    Steve R Jones,
    #2
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  4. 2012/08/06
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    No, you won't need a docking station to connect to an external hard drive.

    If the USB ports on your Sony laptop are all USB 2.0, the eSATA port will be faster. So in that case you might want something like this: Fantom Drives G-Force 2TB USB 2.0 / IEEE 1394a / eSATA External Hard Drive GF2000T (Note that since this has both USB 2.0 and eSATA ports you could do a speed comparision).

    However, if you have at least one USB 3.0 port, it would be even faster then eSATA. So you might be more interested in something like this: Western Digital My Passport 2TB USB 3.0/USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive WDBY8L0020BBK-NESN

    There are gadzillion's of choices ranging from roughly $50.00 to well over $5,000.00 (USD).
     
    SpywareDr,
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  5. 2012/08/06
    dispatch trophy Contributing Member

    dispatch trophy Inactive Thread Starter

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    My only purpose is to edit indie movies. I was planning on getting a 2T LaCie Minimus because it is small and relatively light, I will be able to travel with it:

    http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10518

    I want to get the job done with a minimum of equipment. If I don't need the "docking station" then I won't bother.

    I have two 3.0 USB ports (2.0 compatible) and one combined eSATA/USB port.
     
    Last edited: 2012/08/06
    dispatch trophy,
    #4
  6. 2012/08/06
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    Interface : USB 3.0 (USB 2.0-compatible)

    You won't need a docking station, just a free USB port.

    FYI, I have found that many external drives such as the one you selected come with unnecessary software on them that will autorun when you connect the drive for the very first time. Some even put software on a hidden partition. What I usually do is cancel out any software installs when connecting such a drive, then I use Disk Management to delete all the drive's partitions and setup the partition(s) how I want them.

    As for video editing, you will do best if you put the video on your main drive while editing it and then put the finished products onto the external drive. Editing will go faster that way because your main drive will be faster than the USB drive.
     
    TonyT,
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  7. 2012/08/06
    dispatch trophy Contributing Member

    dispatch trophy Inactive Thread Starter

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    1. Will an external drive get too hot if used without a docking station or "caddy "?

    2. What I have heard about video editing is that it is not wise to use the computer's HD because the raw footage and editing take up much more space than the finished product. That is why a minimum 2T is required for the external HD.

    Then the finished product is burned onto a DVD. I am guessing that the external HD cannot be used for storage because so much of it will be used for editing.

    3.slightly OT: I have some autorun files lying around, and I am wondering if I can delete them.
     
    dispatch trophy,
    #6
  8. 2012/08/07
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    For the record, I love my docking station. With an enclosure, you often have to disassemble the enclosure, mount (often with screws) the drive, then re-assemble the enclosure. With a docking station, you just insert the drive. Wrong drive? No problem, yank it out and insert the right drive. No screws, no opening cases, no drive power or data cables, no fuss.
     
    Bill,
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  9. 2012/08/07
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Attached Files:

    SpywareDr,
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  10. 2012/08/07
    lj50 Lifetime Subscription

    lj50 SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    I have two WD My Passport 2.5" External HDDs. I only use and recommend Western Digital HDDs. The Lacie 2TB 3.5" HDD is out ot stock.
     
    Last edited: 2012/08/07
    lj50,
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  11. 2012/08/08
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    No
    You can keep all the files on the external drive and edit from it as well. I just realized it's USB 3, which will be fast enough AND there's enough space to store EVERYTHING.

    Lying around where? There's shouldn't be any autorun files on your hard drive. The only exceptions are ones that you made yourself to be used on CDs or DVDs, or ones that are part of installation packages that you copied or downloaded.
     
    TonyT,
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  12. 2012/08/09
    dispatch trophy Contributing Member

    dispatch trophy Inactive Thread Starter

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    It seems from your response that I should delete all those I find.
     
    dispatch trophy,
    #11
  13. 2012/08/09
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    If you are never, ever going to need the installation packages that you copied or downloaded, then yes.

    They're usually so tiny though most simply leave them alone. You never know, you might end up needing them.
     
    SpywareDr,
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  14. 2012/08/09
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    NO!

    As SpywareDr stated, you may need them.

    For example, if you copied a CD or DVD, or downloaded a software package, there may be autorun files accompanying the software, in which case you should keep them.

    But there are also autorun malware and viruses. Such autorun files will usually exist in the root of the hard drive. These malicious autorun files automatically run malware or viruses. You can open any autorun file in Notepad to determine if it's malicious. For example, a malicious autorun file may contain a line such as:

    start 26yy68s5.exe (random file name)

    in which case it's probably unwanted. Autorun files are also used for the Recycle Bin virus that infects all external drives and thumb drives when you connect it.
     
    TonyT,
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  15. 2012/08/09
    dispatch trophy Contributing Member

    dispatch trophy Inactive Thread Starter

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    since I have done many scans from many virus scanning and cleaning programs, I would assume they have already caught any bad autorun files.

    If they have not, do we determine if an autorun is bad by opening it as .txt then looking for an .exe file code? Is there more that should be done?
     
    dispatch trophy,
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  16. 2012/08/09
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Autorun files aren't usually bad, but, they can be used to launch malicious programs.
     
    SpywareDr,
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  17. 2012/08/09
    dispatch trophy Contributing Member

    dispatch trophy Inactive Thread Starter

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    I am going to reserve the external drive for video editing and use the hd on my laptop to keep my other files. Hopefully this will guard against file bits getting moved around too much.

    I am going ahead with the WD 2TB Passport option.
     
    dispatch trophy,
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  18. 2012/08/18
    dispatch trophy Contributing Member

    dispatch trophy Inactive Thread Starter

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    The WD Passport 2TB arrived.

    The bundled software and files brought it down to 1.82 TB.

    I ran the accompanying WD software. It lists 3 security scans of the drive. I was able to run the first two, but the third one said it failed.

    I do not know if I should worry about this. So far the drive seems to function.

    I am planning to travel with it so may buy a case.
     
    dispatch trophy,
    #17

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