how to use external hdd? (pls help)

[dustless]

hi, i have two 3.5" HDDs lying around & i was thinking of buying a case to connect it as an external drive for my labtop.

So if i get the gadget, how do i use it? Will it work like a thumbdrive? Or will i have to install a OS on it? Is reformatting necessary? I would like to use it to store big files & maybe install programs/games that have big file sizes.

The HDDs were from my old Windows ME comp which was infested with viruses & was all screwed up. If i connect it to my labtop, will it screw it up too?

Note: my labtop uses WinXP, its a HP Omnibk 6100

& here's the link to the USB case i wanna buy => click here (http://page.auctions.yahoo.com/sg/auction/92300596) ... is it suitable?

[Cricket]

So if i get the gadget, how do i use it? Will it work like a thumbdrive?Basically...yes, it's work like a USB flash drive.Or will i have to install a OS on it?Nope.Is reformatting necessary?No, but why not just format it anyway.I would like to use it to store big files & maybe install programs/games that have big file sizes.Storing files on it won't be a problem but I don't think you'll want to run programs from it.The HDDs were from my old Windows ME comp which was infested with viruses & was all screwed up. If i connect it to my labtop, will it screw it up too?Probably not, but why take the chance? If there are lots of viruses and junk on them I'd zero-fill the drives before using them again.& here's the link to the USB case i wanna buy => click here (http://page.auctions.yahoo.com/sg/auction/92300596) ... is it suitable?That looks more like a mobile rack than a actual USB external hard drive housing. I wouldn't bid on it as it looks like it's supposed to be used with internal rack trays.

See if you can something like these external hard drive enclosures. (http://www.byteccusa.com/product/enclosure/index.htm)

:) Cricket

[dustless]

oops, looks like i have to look for another usb device

anyway, how do i reformat/zero fill my drive? i want it to be as clean as possible & rid of all the crap.

thanks!

[Cricket]

To zero-fill a drive you need a utility like KillDisk (http://www.killdisk.com/) or Darik's Boot And Nuke (http://dban.sourceforge.net/).

:) Cricket

[rspassey]

When you connect it (and the system recogizes it and gets the drivers needed to access the drive), you can go to storage manager and click on the drive and select format. This wipes it clean so it is a fresh drive. You should format it as NTFS and as far as I know it is best to do a full format not a quick one.