It would be best if you just downloaded Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor—assuming you haven't already—to see exactly what you're working with regarding your current PC specs. 😉
"Expect to see service pack 1 released in its Final form during First quarter 2011" (link)
So, March 31st at the absolute latest. 🙄 Or, if you actually bother to run your updates regularly, you basically already have SP1, minus a few minor tweaks. 😁
rustyranger6 said:That's the external model. I've been looking at WD, but they're pricey over at Best Buy; managed to find some cheaper WD options elsewhere. How reliable are they? Are they on par with internal hard drives?
I've been running two different capacity WD internals at home for years now, both tucked inside Icy box enclosures. Both have held up fine. 👍 I assume their external versions are just as reliable and long-lasting.
Karen Ortiz83 said:Thanks for the detailed breakdown. 😉 Exactly. My goal is simple: maximum storage capacity for the lowest possible price without sacrificing quality. The options out there are all over the place right now, making it a total headache to figure out what’s actually worth buying and what’s just junk. I've been looking through everything... Procurement.com Some people aren't even using it, so I figured I’d come over here and see what everyone thinks. 🙂 One more question—if I pick up a drive with USB 2.0, isn't that tech basically obsolete already? Look, my gear usually lasts me at least four or five years. Right now, I'm rocking an older laptop, but if I upgrade to a new one in a year or two, am I just going to end up tossing this drive because everything will be USB 3.0 by then? Can I still actually use it, or will I just be stuck dealing with those sluggish speeds?
USB 2 isn't quite as "dead" as everyone thinks, especially since USB 3 still hasn't fully hit the mainstream.[Link])
If you aren't losing sleep over the lower capacity, just grab a 2.5" external hard drive (USB 3, 500GB). It’ll work fine with USB 2 right now, and by the time you actually upgrade to a new laptop, it’ll almost certainly support the USB 3 standard anyway. 😉
At that price point, you're probably not going to find a cheaper 640GB external 2.5" drive. Sure, there are 500GB models out there from brands like Transcend, Toshiba, or WD, but we're all looking for the best bang for our buck here, right? 😉
I don't think this is junk either; honestly, the warranty length alone is enough proof of quality.
The later model (25M) mostly features a rubberized, shockproof casing that actually meets US military standards.
USB 3.0 is significantly faster than USB 2.0 (5 Gbps vs 480 Mbps). Even though there are still fewer devices supporting the newer standard compared to the old stuff, they are backward compatible. If your laptop only has a USB 2.0 port, the transfer speed will just match that older standard. Take the Transcend StoreJet 25 D3 or the StoreJet 25 M3, for example—you can pick up those 500GB versions for a bit more than $167 at retailers here in the States. Check them out on http://www.amazon.com/. 🙂
rustyranger6 said:3.5" External Hard Drive | 1TB Toshiba | 7200rpm | Aluminum Case | USB 2.0
That would be it. This model.Right? 😉
rustyranger6 said:I've got this old junker of a PC, but I’m going to beef it up a bit so I can squeeze a few more years out of it for gaming before we finally bite the bullet and buy a new one.
I’m looking at picking up an external drive so I can move everything over. Specifically, I wanted to know if they're actually decent for running games? As for music and movies, obviously that's the plan—I'm trying to stop clogging up my PC's internal storage. Also, does anyone know what their prices are looking like lately? Reliability., i Longevity.?
ASRock > Products > P4i65G
Take a look at this: Hard Drives - Procurement.net
Maybe you'd be better off just picking one of those WD external drives from the list. Honestly, they're actually cheaper than the Toshiba anyway. 🙂
Like I mentioned last night, I wiped my C: drive and did a fresh install of Windows. I've run into one snag, though: I can't get into Ubuntu (which is sitting on a different partition). Before, I always had the menu pop up at startup letting me choose between Windows 7 or Ubuntu. Now, it just boots straight into Windows without giving me any kind of choice. How do I fix this?
Thanks.🙂
The Windows install messed up the Master Boot Record.
Jonathan Morris40 said:What exactly would that mean, specifically?
Thanks for the heads-up!👍
Look, you don't need to be sitting there on pins and needles waiting for the SP1 release. Just keep an eye on Windows Update and stay current. That's enough.
bluehawk3 said:The RC is out now. Official release hits at the start of 2011, and that includes all the previous updates, security patches, and everything else. The biggest game-changer is going to be Internet Explorer 9.!
If you believe what you're hearing... SourceJust so you know, Internet Explorer 9 doesn't even require SP1.
Will people actually need Windows 7 Service Pack 1 once Microsoft finally drops Internet Explorer 9?
Look, here's the deal: Internet Explorer 9 works on both Windows 7 RTM and Windows 7 with Service Pack 1. If you're running the base Windows 7 RTM, the IE9 installer has to pull in extra OS components to make everything work. However, if you've already got Windows 7 SP1 sitting there, those components are already baked into the system. Because they're already present, you don't need to reinstall them, which means you can skip the reboot after installing Internet Explorer 9 on a system with Windows 7 SP1. Simple as that.
Jonathan Morris40 said:Hey everyone, I haven't been around here in a while. Honestly, I haven't had the bandwidth to keep up with this thread—it seems like quite a bit has changed since my last visit... there was some chatter about the first SP1 coming out within a week. What's the actual status on that? Is it officially live yet? My Windows already updated and I didn't even realize it. 😬
A little more intel would be appreciated. What exactly is the SP fixing? Why did they push it out so fast? I'd appreciate any info you guys have. Cheers, good people. 👍
The beta dropped mid-July, RC at the end of November, and the final version is expected in Q1 2011.
"SP1 includes both a roll-up of operating system updates and several new capabilities for Windows Server." (link)
Download details: Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate (KB976932)
Did you actually enable AutoPlay? Go into the Control Panel, then Hardware and Sound, find AutoPlay or start, and just search for autoplay. Check if you checked the box for "Use AutoPlay for All Media and devices".🤔
Some people claim the "standard" pagefile size should be 1.5x your total RAM (link), but I have no clue why on earth that file would be eating up space on a non-system partition. Maybe someone else knows?