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    External harddrives and Vista?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by minj, Aug 14, 2007.

  1. minj

    minj Notebook Consultant

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    Are all external harddrives compatible with vista, or only certain typs? I thoguht they were all compatible but then I read that some of them did not work with vista. I need one for college but I am not sure which to get now. Any input wouild be greatly appreciated.
     
    minj, Aug 14, 2007
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  2. zinfandel

    zinfandel Notebook Consultant

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    I have not heard that external drives were not compatible with Vista. USB external drives should work just fine. Some drives do come formatted in FAT32 (our WD 500GB My Book was FAT32 out of the box) and it is a simple matter to reformat them to NTFS file system. If you need help doing that, just ask.

    Some backup programs are not yet compatible with Vista. Maybe that is what you heard. Norton Ghost 12 is and I think Acronis is. You can check newegg reviews to read user comments on their issues.

    Hope this helps.
     
    zinfandel, Aug 14, 2007
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  3. rahamanpatrick

    rahamanpatrick Notebook Geek

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    Just to add, you can certainly use FAT32 with Vista, you just won't be able to store files that are above 4 GB in size. FAT32 has the benefit of being readable/writable by all operating systems that I know of. The same certainly cannot be said of NTFS.

    Also, the latest version of Acronis TrueImage is fully compatible with Vista, I've used it several times. Handy little program.
     
    rahamanpatrick, Aug 14, 2007
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  4. minj

    minj Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks guys, I will be buying one soon as I get back from vacation. I think I read it on one of the feedbacks on amazon.com but I'm not 100% sure. I think one of the buyers said that a certain model didn't work with vista.
     
    minj, Aug 15, 2007
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