I use a Maxtor One-Touch External HD with my XPS 420 running Vista.  I removed it from my Dimension 8300 and plugged it into the 420 - have had no problems.

Marty,

I think the problems that most people have had is in using the Esata port to connect an external drive. My suggestion is to buy a good external enclosure that has both Esata and USB connections. Then buy the size hard drive that you want to mount in the case. Seagate and Western Digital are the two largest manufacturers (Seagate bought Maxtor). By buying an enclosure that supports both interfaces you can try the faster Esata connection and if it works - great. But if it gives you trouble the USB connection will positively work without any issues. Just be certain to select an enclosure that supports Sata 3Gb drives and has both Esata and USB interfaces. They are very common and very cost effective.

Hi.  Thanks for the info but I don't know what you mean by enclosure. 

Thanks again for the help,

Marty

Hi.  Thanks for the quick reply.  Are you using the USB port?  What size Maxtor are you using?  I read about people having larger drives being more of a problem but I don't recall details.

Thanks,

Marty

Thanks.  Going to check prices on Amazon this weekend.

Marty

It's a 3 year old 160GB version and I'm using the USB port.

just be aware when selecting a hard drive enclosure

that the fan is not too loud. 

I purchased an Addonics enclosure to fit my 4 year old

IDE 120GB Western Digital hard drive to USB. 

everything worked well. the hard drive formatted

and i was able to copy files onto this hard drive.

BUT.... the fan noise was much too loud.

with the quietness of my XPS 420 - i ended up

turning it off and only use it when i need to back

up files.  surprisingly, even the old hard drive is quiet.

additionally, i use two Western Digital externals using USB

connections.  no problems.  the transfer rates are

reasonable. 

joe

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@Marty52 wrote:

Hi.  Thanks for the info but I don't know what you mean by enclosure. 

 

Thanks again for the help,

Marty

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Marty,

By enclosure, I meant an external hardrive case with no drive. You then by the size and brand of hard drive that you want and install it in the external case. As pointed out above though you do need to be conscious of how noisy one with a fan for cooling may be. I have an Apricorn EZ-Bus that is very quiet (though not silent) and has both USB and Esata interfaces. The beauty of the driveless cases is that you can easily take drives out and put them back in.

For instance, If you have an internal drive go bad and make your machine unbootable, you can take it out of the machine and put it in the external enclosure to recover your data once you get your machine back up and running.

i went to newegg, and i was surprised at the number of external hard drives beeing manufactuered today.... banks,etc, are buying them. i have seen them at my bank, and the computer is built into the monitor...space saver. myself, i don,t like them, i have enough clutter on my desk.

look at the reviews here, and read. usually the hard drives that sell the best are the best.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=414&name=External-Hard-Drives

some more reviews-

http://www.pcworld.com/product/reviewfinder.html?page=1&id=9&subcatid=34&prod_mfr_id=&att_744=&prod_price=&sort_by=2

I too, connected an older model Maxtor One Touch (200GB) external drive and recently purchased a new Western Digital My Book 500GB external drive.  Couldn't beat the deal for $73 from Dell with the use of their promo gift cards.

Of course the new WD drive wants to immediately install it's own backup and recovery software which I immediately deleted and proceeded to format the entire drive.  Other than addressing that small issue I've no problems with either.  Both were immediately recognized (via USB) by Vista.

Hope this helps.