All You Need to Know About External Hard Drive Adapters
The external hard drive adapter allows you to transfer, copy, and backup your data from almost any hard drive onto your computer. You can choose from a box adapter or a cord adapter. These hard drive adapters have excellent transferring, copying, and backup speed and are especially useful when working with a hard drive intended as an internal drive.
What is the speed of the external hard drive adapter?
The speed for external hard drive adapters varies, but it can have a transferring speed that can get up to 6GBs per second. Factors that affect the speed include the type of USB connector on the adapter as well as the speed of the port you plug it in to.
What kinds of eternal hard drive adapters are there?
The two basic kinds are a box-type adapter and a cable adapter. Both types are designed to allow you to connect a drive that does not have a USB connector to your computer through its USB port. While cable adapters usually only have one type of hard drive connector, box-type adapters often have two, three, or more types of connectors. Some options when choosing an adapter include:
- SATA connector: Most external hard drive converters include a SATA connector.
- USB 3.0: Some adapters have the slower USB 2.0, but others have a USB 3.0 connector.
- Power cord: The power cord enables your box-type external hard drive adapter to use its own power when transferring your data. This helps with transferring speed.
- 4-pin power cable: Another power cord to connect your external hard drive to a smaller hard drive.
How many drives can you connect to the adapter?
On most box-type adapters, you can connect up to three drives simultaneously. Depending on which adapter you choose, you may be able to connect a combination of DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, 2.5 and 3.5-inch HDD, 2.5- and 3.5-inch IDE HDD, and SATA HDD. If you are only buying the hard drive adapter cord, then you can connect one hard drive at a time.
Which operating systems do external hard drive adapters work with?
Most adapters support plug-and-play compatibility with computers operating under Windows 7/8/10/Vista/XP, Mac OS 9/10, and Linux. However, some hard drive adapters do not support all of the above systems, so check to make sure the adapter you choose will work with your system.