College and computers... help a guy out

[snowairg]

Well I'm almost off to college and I have an idea for bringing/leaving computers. I won't be far from home and will actually be coming home on the weekends and I want my computer with me. Instead of dragging my whole case from school to home, here's my idea. Let me know what you think and if it will work...

Basically, build another computer for college, and leave my current one home. Get a swappable hard drive bay that I can carry between school and home so I will always have my files with me (aka my computer).

Here's where I have a question. Can I run two copies of Win2k on one hard drive? For example, drive C will be Win2k for college with drivers installed for my college computer and drive D will be Win2k for home with drivers installed for my home computers. E drive will have the apps that both OS's can use. This way I don't have to redetect everything each time I switch computers; I'll just choose which OS to boot to depending on where I'm at.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[TunaBoo]

Yah you can dual boot like that.

Better yet: make the computers identical, and then no worries

 

[gsaldivar]

Don't make the boot disk portable. If the portable drive were dropped/lost/stolen - you have two computers dead in the water!

At minimum, both of your two computers should have a small fixed hard disk containing the OS + drivers etc.

The drive you carry with you will be a secondary disk - containing only your work documents, MP3s, p0rn, etc

There are several ways to do this - I'd opt for a laptop myself, but if you really just want to carry files with you between home & college dorm, then maybe consider secondary disk designed to be portable:

Like this, this, this, or this.

 

[LanEvoVI]

If i'm not mistaken, you can definately do this through a dual boot. Like you said, put each on a different partition and have Windows NT loader will let you pick which OS (or version of the same OS) you want to run when it boots.

 

[Passions]

Why not just have a hd as slave with all ur needs on it. Then link up the slave data, and off u go.

I do dat.

 

[snowairg]

"Why not just have a hd as slave with all ur needs on it. Then link up the slave data, and off u go."

This might be a good idea now that I think of it. My main thing is: I want each computer to use the same exact programs, so I don't have to do different settings for them. Answer for that is similar to what gsaldivar mentioned... having primary HD's on each PC with the OS's (my C and D drives in my original explanation) and the slave drive can contain everything else like the programs and my files (my E drive in my original explanation).

My only concern with the above "slave" method is: will the computer's performance be affected with the OS files and program files on seperate physical hard drives??

Thanks again everyone!

 

[gsaldivar]

"...will the computer's performance be affected with the OS files and program files on seperate physical hard drives??..."

Simply putting apps and OS on different drives will not affect performance.

If you choose to use a portable drive as I suggested, your performance may be affected:

A portable drive connected via USB will be much slower than an internal IDE or SCSI drive.

A portable drive connected via Firewire (1394) will be about equal to an internal IDE or SCSI drive.

Hope this helps.

 

[snowairg]

Cool, thanks man.

I like the slave idea, but that means I'll have to buy more hard drives... hmm...

 

[gsaldivar]

Any of these solutions will require you to buy at least one extra Hard Drive.

The decision will be which & what type you want.

The main advantage to using a portable drive, rather than an internal one, is that the drives are engineered to be portable.

With the firewire devices, there are no power cables to connect - and no opening of computer cases - just plug in a single firewire cable and boot as normal. The speed is comparable to an internally installed hard disk. The portable drives are also made to withstand more abuse than an internal drive as well.

None of these solutions will be as expensive as a laptop, which I think is what you are avoiding here

 

[Rankor]

You're gonna leave a computer in your college room/dorm? Hope it doesn't get stolen or messed-around with.

I'd build a rig designed around a mid-tower unit and transport the box back and forth using CaseAce carrying straps. Sure it'll be a hassle, but it'll be hella more of a hassle if it's stolen or messed-around with.


Better yet, I'd buy a laptop, a decent one though with DVD/CD-R combo, GF2Go, etc.

 

[gsaldivar]

"...I'd ... transport the box back and forth using CaseAce carrying straps..."

God, that's worse than carrying a laptop. I couldn't imagine lugging the entire computer back and forth

 

[snowairg]

"Any of these solutions will require you to buy at least one extra Hard Drive."

Not my original plan. My original plan requires only one hard drive, which I already have.

"The main advantage to using a portable drive, rather than an internal one, is that the drives are engineered to be portable."

I completely understand where you are coming from. The problem I see with portable drives is how expensive they are. Also, I believe that anything is prone to damage if you aren't careful with it, no matter how it's engineered. True, though, that an IDE hard drive would get damaged more from a drop than a portable one.

"With the firewire devices, there are no power cables to connect - and no opening of computer cases - just plug in a single firewire cable and boot as normal. The speed is comparable to an internally installed hard disk. The portable drives are also made to withstand more abuse than an internal drive as well."[/i"]

I think you might have misunderstood my original post. You can buy 5 1/4" hard drive bays that turn IDE hard drives into swappable ones. So no cables to hook up or cases to open.


"You're gonna leave a computer in your college room/dorm? Hope it doesn't get stolen or messed-around with."

Yep, but I'll take as many precautions as possible...

 

[Rankor]

<< I couldn't imagine lugging the entire computer back and forth >>



&quot;...it builds character...&quot;

Calvin's Father, Calvin and Hobbes

It'll impress the women carrying a computer case on the shoulder.

Don't talk to (women) about the techno-geek stuff; big turn off. Do offer them computer help (if) they have a computer and if it should ever go wrong...for a price, of course .

 

[pyr]

ya know, if you have a good connection at home, like cable or something you could use VNC. then you could just run your system at school from home.

 

[snowairg]

VNC? Please explain further as I do have cable. Thanks.