External hard disk compatibility

[Manuel]

Hi, I have to transfer some files from my dad's old notebook (ThinkPad T30) to his new machine and I need an external hard disk. I would like to buy the bestselling external disk on Amazon (WD My Passport Ultra 1TB USB 3.0) but I hace a doubt: will it work with the ThinkPad T30? As you know, that old notebook has just USB 1.1 ports and I fear that they are not able to power that WD external disk...

[ZaZ]

If memory serve me correctly and it may not, it should work.

[Manuel]

Thank you!

What filesystem do you suggest for a disc that will be shared among different machines (Windows XP, Windows 7, Mac, Linux). Windows XP don't let me format a disc bigger than 32 GB as FAT32... So options are NTFS, exFAT...

[Neil]

I don't know about the Mac OS, but the others will function best with NTFS which is native to Windows, and well supported in Linux.

[ZaZ]

I think OS X can read NTFS partitions natively, but cannot write to them. At least that's the way it was a few years ago when I had a Mac. I believe there is third party software that allows OS X to write to NTFS partitions.

[Norway Pad]

Hi, I have to transfer some files from my dad's old notebook (ThinkPad T30) to his new machine and I need an external hard disk. I would like to buy the bestselling external disk on Amazon (WD My Passport Ultra 1TB USB 3.0) but I hace a doubt: will it work with the ThinkPad T30? As you know, that old notebook has just USB 1.1 ports and I fear that they are not able to power that WD external disk...

The USB port in your T30 is able to power the external 2.5" hard drive. I have used my WD Passport with T30s many times. The bigger problem though, is the USB 1 transfer speed, which can be a bottleneck if you have many files, or transfer files regularly. So I have bought cards like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCMCIA-To-2-Por ... 2c6852b9c5 for all my older Thinkpads. The 770, T23 and T30. Flush mount, and they can stay inserted at all times. This card itself isn't able to power an external 2.5" hard drive, so you need to use the cable that comes with it, and plug that into the built in USB port. Then it works.

[robert213]

Hi, I have to transfer some files from my dad's old notebook (ThinkPad T30) to his new machine and I need an external hard disk. I would like to buy the bestselling external disk on Amazon (WD My Passport Ultra 1TB USB 3.0) but I hace a doubt: will it work with the ThinkPad T30? As you know, that old notebook has just USB 1.1 ports and I fear that they are not able to power that WD external disk...

The USB port in your T30 is able to power the external 2.5" hard drive. I have used my WD Passport with T30s many times. The bigger problem though, is the USB 1 transfer speed, which can be a bottleneck if you have many files, or transfer files regularly. So I have bought cards like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/PCMCIA-To-2-Por ... 2c6852b9c5 for all my older Thinkpads. The 770, T23 and T30. Flush mount, and they can stay inserted at all times. This card itself isn't able to power an external 2.5" hard drive, so you need to use the cable that comes with it, and plug that into the built in USB port. Then it works.

+1

Please use search to find details of my previous posts.

I use AKE USB 2.0 adapter through PC Card port. In the past, I have run two external HD(s). Data transfer through two USB 2.0 ports on AKE adapter. 5V DC power through two USB 1.1 ports on back of T30.

However, I use USB enclosures for laptop-style HD. The problem with most dedicated external HD(s), is that they only have One USB connection (for both data transfer and DC power). With USB enclosures, you can have one USB connection for data transfer and a second USB connection for DC power.