How To Select The Western Digital Portable Hard Drives That Best Suit Your Requirements

By Matthew Kerridge

If you want to make sure that the information on your computer is safe, you need to consider getting one of the different models of Western Digital portable hard drives available on the market. These are very convenient ways for you to store a large amount of information so that you do not lose it if something bad happens to your computer.

Computers can be confusing and so being able to tell the difference between a portable and a permanent hard drive can be difficult. There may also be some confusion between an internal and an external hard drive. An internal hard drive is one that is built into your computer and an external computer is plugged in when extra storage is needed.

Deciding which kind of hard drive to get is not hard. It does take a bit of thinking on your part however. You need to think about whether you will be keeping the hard drive in one place or whether you will be moving it from one location to another. Do you have the ability to plug your hard drive in separately from the computer itself? And how much storage do you think you will be using? If you can narrow down these needs then you have a better chance of getting the storage you need without spending a fortune.

Permanent hard drives and ones that are portable are designed differently. For example, a permanent hard drive is not meant to be hooked up and unhooked over and over. A portable hard drive is. Also, a permanent hard drive is not intended to be turned on and off. Again, a portable hard drive can accommodate this. As well, portable hard drives often do not need a separate power supply like permanent hard drives do. They draw the power that they need to run from the computer itself.

Portable hard drives also come in a variety of sizes. The larger the size the more expensive the hard drive will be. If you will be moving a large number of files or you are moving files that take up a lot of memory, you will want to spend the money and get a larger hard drive. Remember that you cannot add memory to an external hard drive. If you end up filling up your hard drive, you may find that you need to spend the money on a new one. This can end up costing more in the long run that buying a larger drive originally would have.

Another thing that you need to think about when purchasing a Western Digital portable hard drive is whether or not you want your computer to automatically back up information to the hard drive. There are some models which automatically transfer files to the external drive. This happens in addition to saving them on the computer's internal hard drive. This can be very helpful, especially if you tend to forget to back things up on your own.

PC's and Macs each use different types of hard drives and Western Digital makes drives that will work with each kind of computer. You need to know which computer you are purchasing the hard drive for when you shop since some may not work with both types of computer. You can find both stationary and portable hard drives for Macs and each works very well to meet your needs.

You will love the convenience and versatility of your portable hard drive. Picking the right one can make it so much easier for you to work on the run. - 31403

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