Is this the correct procedure? 1

[G0AOZ]

Have acquired an external hard drive case with USB connector. Unfortunately, after having checked the I.C. it appears not to be an "Oxford" chipset as has been recommended by forum members. Box is an Akasa with IDE interface, and sports a Genesys Logic chipset GL811E.

Disappointed to find virtually no instructions included as to correct connection and disconnection procedures, so would appreciate some input from forum members.

My thoughts are these:

1. Computer already running XP or whatever.
2. Power up mains adaptor connected to USB external case.
3. Connect USB cable between computer and USB case.
4. Run backup software or whatever...
5. When complete, use System-tray icon to "stop" the USB device.
6. Disconnect USB cable.
7. Switch off mains power to USB case.

How does that sound?

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[bcastner]

Sounds fine.

 

[garebo]

If you switch off mains power to USB case then you dont have to disconnect the usb cable, that could be optional.

Also, you could connect the hard drive case main power to either a UPS or a good quality surge protector instead of at the wall.




Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[micker377]

One thing to watch: drive letters assigned to the USB devices. I have a multi-slot card reader permamently installed(drives l-m-n-o). If I turn on my external drive after boot-up, the ext becomes drive "P". If I boot-up with the ext turned on, it is marked as drive "K". If you have programs that look for data on a certain drive, it might not find it.

 

[G0AOZ]

Thanks for all the feedback. I suspect the drive will be pulled out of the cupboard at the last minute when the users suddenly remember they need to do a backup on their machines!

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[Freestone]

Having had to return an external USB enclosure, I urge you to perform a binary compare of data written to the source files. My copies from internal drives to the external USB hard drive appeared to be fine on the surface, and the copies went fairly quickly to boot. But being that I was depending on this data for backup purposes, I used XP's command line FC program. I was not a happy camper to find almost every file copied exhibiting data miscompares.

This kind of data verification should be performed routinely, but I'm posting my experience as a reminder to anyone highly dependant on their backups - check them before they are needed!

 

[bcastner]

Freestone,

That is very valuable advice, and a star. But be careful if compression is used at either end of the FC process. You can obtain a lot of false postives in the compare.

Best wishes,
Bill Castner