External HDD

[curly]

.  My PC which has served me very well , is in need of a boost . Most important, the  HDD's are both full..I am considering buying a fairly large external HDD and transfer E-mail and some other files to this and in addition use it for Photo's and music.
Which Ext Hdd should I buy -  I think I think I am going to need a fair amount of space
At present I am using Windows XP and Outlook Express. I have the original CD for Windows , but the auto updates have been many and mostly pretty lengthy. These updates have caused  a bit of trouble in the past. Last week I crossed all fingers and toes took several deep breaths and tried to do a bit of a clean up. – Windows refused to let me because my windows CD didn't have all the required files. Is this going to be a problem when I try to set up the external HDD?

I think I am going to need some advice and a bit of hand holding. For starters, it will need partioning – will it come with instructions?

[Rik]

If you're just going to use the drive for external storage, Robert, do you really need to partition it? You do realise that a USB HD is much slower than an internal HD, so if you put live data on it, eg email, you will see a slow down?

What's the size of your current HD, and does the machine support just USB or do you have the choice of eSata of Firewire?

What exactly did you do when you tried to clean the drive up?

[curly]

Thanks for the reply Rik. Frankly I know nothing about external HDD and very little about the internal variety.
The last bit of my original post should have been "...will it need partioning?" Not "....it will..."
I'm not feeling too great at the moment, not thinking straight. Probably have to leave it till i feel a bit better.

When I was stopped by Windows I was following my nose trying to make some space  - speed was not the issue. I don't play games or watch videos.

A few month ago I had a paid "expert" come in to fix a small problem,set up my wifes email, and hook it up to my broad band He was useless had to give him the boot and get a friend to finish the job Now I find the original chappie made a mess of  the filing of my installation cd's and leaflets and the specification sheet is missing. Can't find any reference to the two hdd's.

Robert

[Lance]

Hi Robert. I'm assuming that you've had your PC for quite a few years? If so, its likely that you only have a USB hard drive an option to you. No need for partitioning, its (normally) just a case of plug it in and away you go. No need for software installation as Windows will install the drivers automatically.