Ask A Geek

Q: I have a Sony VAIO model: PVC-710G, Processor: intel(r) 4 cpu 3.00GHz with 1024MB RAM running Windows XP.

I wanted to add an external hard drive the cheap way so I opened up an old computer and removed the hard drive. Then I bought an enclosure for it. The hard drive is a Quatom fireball 3.5 series. I tried connecting it but there is no sign of it any where on my computer. I tried installing it manually and I cannot find it. The computer wont find it. What can I do from here to make my computer see the external hard drive?

Q: Can I transfer all of my music off my old computer in iTunes to an external hard drive? I don’t have it in my hard drive of that computer, only in iTunes.

Q: I just purchased an Iomega external hard drive and tried to use it on a new computer. Is it suppose to show a desktop icon? How do I get my information off my computer into the hard drive? I am using a Toshiba with Windows 7.

Q: My dell latitude C510 laptop computer crashed, and I decided to by an external hard drive so I can transfer my files to my new computer. However, once I received my external hard drive, and removed my hard drive, I do not see how I can connect my hard drive to the external hard drive. The external hard drive case is big enough to fit my hard drive, but I do not see how to connect the two. The external hard drive is an elements, and it came with no significant user manual or disk.

Q: Basically I have a mini laptop with a problem. It has a virus (99.9% sure) that basically doesn’t allow me to do anything once a user is logged into it. The icons keep blinking like it is continuously loading something. Stopping all non-essential processes does absolutely nothing to fix this. This mini-laptop thing has no form of connecting to it other than a USB or Ethernet/WiFi.

What I want to do is install Windows XP on my external HDD in addition to AVG anti-virus. I want to boot from the external and then run the virus scan on the mini-laptop drive.

I have a few different computers, so this is what I did. I took the hard drive out of my main laptop. I hooked the external HDD to it and put in a windows XP disc. I was able to install the OS on the External and thought everything was peachy. I restarted the computer and it said something about not being able to find a MBR (Master Boot Record).

Basically I want to know if there is a way I can make my External HD bootable and run a virus scan on a computer I connect it to?

Q: Is there a difference in a External Hard Drive and a Media Drive?

Q: Is there a program that will prevent people from copying my hard drive via the USB ports? I operate a DJ service and I suspect that my DJ’s are copying music files from my hard drive and starting their own DJ service.

Q: Is this an external hard drive for a iMac? I’m confused. If so how big is it? Is this one good for a iMac?

Q: Once I turn on my external hard drive I cannot access the Internet anymore. Any idea how to fix it?

Q: I am running out of space and I need more. I’m thinking of using a external hard drive. can you use that as internal memory?