using external hard drive

I don't know exactly how to ask this because I am fairly computer illiterate so bear with me...

I purchased a BUSlink USB2.0 external hard drive to add more space to my desktop running XP home. It is plug and play, so there was no cd, no instructions, nothing. It works, (my E: drive) I can save stuff on it and move stuff to it, but my question is, how do I make it a "functioning" hard drive, or is this possible?

How can I run programs off of it? I moved all my pictures to it, but then when opening up kodak easyshare, it couldn't find the pics, so I had to add them back. There is no point if I have to keep doing this...so any help would be great.

Is it possible to run games and stuff off it (this was the main reason for getting it) my current computer only has 40 GB! I don't care if I need to boot from it in order to get this to work, if that's the case I just need to know what to do, if I need some software to make it work, just direct me there!!

After writing this post I decided to edit and add more... I went somewhere in computer management and found the two drives C: and E: the C: says system, and I just put "active" on the E: but I am also confused the C: says NTFS and the E: says FAT32 is this a problem, do I need to format it??

Thanks in advance

 

Personally I would format the new drive to NTFS anyway. But when you put stuff on a different drive...all you have to do (typically) is point it to the directory were you want to install a program, and/or locate the pictures/files. So when you open your Kodak program, just tell it to retrieve the pictures from whatever directory it is in.

Roger

 

Thanks for your response!

the only problem that seems to be happening with that, when I add the pictures to kodak again, they get added to C: and so it is defeating my purpose!!


I have tried to add applications or programs or whatever they are called to E: and it will not let me...does it need to be formatted the same to do that, or is there something else that is missing.

To format to NTFS I just go into computer management and click on the drive and then click format, right? Is there anything else I need to put in to do that? I know I will have to back up all the documents and stuff I moved there, but is there anything else?

 

Well, you CAN reformat the E: drive to the NTFS file system through Computer Management; of course, you know you'll have to back up all of the data on E:, because anything stored there will be lost when you reformat.

Once that is done, reboot the system and copy some files to the E: drive (you can do that through Windows Explorer). That way, you'll know that the drive is working properly, and that you can write to it (copy or move files to it) and read from it (see and open the files you've copied to it), and that should give you some peace of mind.

For the problems with Kodak Easyshare, you might want to do a fresh installation of Easyshare into a folder on the E: drive. I would suggest that you use Windows Explorer to create a new folder on the E: drive (you can call it "Installed Programs", or anything else that will help you remember what it is for). Then, install Easyshare; do NOT let it use the existing folder on the C: drive; instead, point the installer to the "install" folder on the E: drive. If you can get Easyshare to install onto the E: drive, it should create new shortcuts on the Desktop; once you see those, you should be able to use the E: drive to store your photos, and the new installation of Easyshare should work without a problem.

Once you KNOW everything is working properly, you can copy the photos on the C: drive to the E: drive. Then, open some to be sure they weren't corrupted during the copy process. If everything is working properly, you can eventually uninstall the older copy of Easyshare from the C: drive, and reclaim that space.

Good luck; let us know how this turns out.

 

External drives are good for data storage or backups but it sounds like you need to repace your system drive. Any reason you didn't consider that?

 

Why exactly do you want to install and run programs from your external drive? Typically, Windows and other programs are installed on your boot drive (C: ) and data such as Mp3s, Videos, Photos, Word files, etc. are stored on your secondary drive. You can put your photos on your E: drive and add those pictures to Easyshare, but I don't understand why you would want to do anything more than that.

 

it is because my comp hard drive is so small it is running really slow and the pics take up a lot. if I could figure out how to load easy share on the external one that would help because adding the pics back defeats the purpose, because it adds them back to C: But it isn't just the pics. the same thing happens with music. That takes up a lot of space, too, but to listen to it I have to add it to the playlist on C: that doesn't make sense to me. What good is the external if I can't use it like a normal hard drive. I don't need 160 GB of storage just for pics and music and docs. I need 160 GB of storage for saved games, for games in general. I mean, isn't an external hard drive suppose to be about the same as the internal hard drive? If I had room in the tower to hook it up in there wouldn't it function the same? Why is it any different? That is my whole reason for wanting it to boot up like a normal hard drive.

 

I didn't think the replace the system drive because I don't know how to do it. If I did I would. I figured that the external one was good enough. It said that it is good for gamers when I bought it, so thats what I thought. Who needs 160 GB of storage for the other stuff??? If I was editing movies or anything I could see the need, but right now I can't even do stuff like that.

 

Adding your pictures to Easyshare does not copy them to your C: drive. (or whatever drive you have it installed on) I know because I have it running on my second computer. It's installed on the C: drive and the pictures are on the G: drive. I'm not sure what you are doing exactly, but adding pictures to your library doesn't change their location.

After you moved the pictures to your external drive, did you remember to delete them off of your C: drive?