Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
external hard dive
- platty252 (Darren Dalton)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 2309
- Thank you received: 127
I have a lot of info on my old computer that i want to keep but i don't want to fill my new one with it.
I am looking for suggestions for an external hard drive. must be easy to set up and compatible with xp and vista.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- tanks_alot (Denis Coghlan)
- Offline
- Senior Member
-
- Posts: 442
- Thank you received: 0
If I was going for an external harddrive I would buy a portable one that runs off the power of the USB hub. This way you don't need any cables apart from the usb cable for it to run. Its small, lightweight and great for bringing over to friends houses and thiefing everything from their iTunes folder. I bought a 160GB Western Digital one in PC world about 10 months ago for 100 euro and it has worked without any problems.
Since memory is coming down in price I'm sure that the above price that I have mentioned has redced further.
WD 160gb Portable USB storage
Regards
Denis
Lead me not into temptation, For I can find it myself!
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- CJackson (Frank Farrell)
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 197
- Thank you received: 0
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Valerie (Valerie)
-
- Visitor
-

If you are not planning on using the old computer, you could also take the hard disk out and place it in a portable hard disk enclosure which you can plug into your new computer when you need it.
Valerie
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- suckers (matt lait)
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 162
- Thank you received: 1
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- paddykelly6 (Paddy Kelly)
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 22
- Thank you received: 0
Personally I prefer the bigger external HDs (eg Western Digital MyBook)that need to be plugged in as I have had problems with the usb powered ones not being recognised on some laptops. As far as I know this is caused by insufficient power being provided to the usb ports. Then again I havnt had one in over 2 years so maybe the newer models dont have this issue.
It also depends what quantity of data you want to store as the smaller drives only go up to 320GB.
I find www.komplett.ie to be decent price wise although delivery is 12.50 on most items.
Heres a link to their external HD section:
www.komplett.ie/k/kl.aspx?bn=10098
Paddy
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- platty252 (Darren Dalton)
-
Topic Author
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 2309
- Thank you received: 127
Computers and me don't see eye to eye and i haven't a clue how to use them to there full potential.
@ Dennis. I like the idea of plugging them in to a usb port. I have enough things plugged in all over the place.
@ Valerie. Can you tell me a bit more about the portable hard disk enclosure?
@ Suckers. Yes the hard disk will be destroyed once i am finished with it.
I will decide the weekend which one to order once i have done a bit of reading on all the suggested models and makes.
Thanks again, Darren
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Daragh_Owens (Daragh Owens)
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 1829
- Thank you received: 28
Don't go near a Maxtor with a barge pole, I use mine as a door stop and it is not even very good for that!
Daragh
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- adamireland (Adam Jackson)
- Offline
- Moderator
-
- Posts: 93
- Thank you received: 0

Please Log in to join the conversation.
- Valerie (Valerie)
-
- Visitor
-
You could put your 'old' hard-disk into an enclosure like these : www.komplett.ie/k/kl.aspx?bn=10095 . This way, you don't need to transfer your data to a new hard-disk.
An even cheaper way of accessing your data would be to, if your new computer allows it, put the 'old' hard-disk into your new computer as a s_lave. I am not a hardware specialist, but, apparently, it does not take long to do.
In any case, do organise to back up your data ... hard-disks can be temperamental ... we have 3 failures in 2 years



Good luck.

Valerie
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- suckers (matt lait)
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 162
- Thank you received: 1
ps if your selling the puter there is a free program (www.ccleaner.com/) which will 'overwrite' the H/D to militry spec.
suckers
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- JohnH (John)
-
- Offline
- Administrator
-
- Posts: 6067
- Thank you received: 857
I don't know if this would be of interest but here it is anyway:
www.lidl.ie/IE/home.nsf/pages/c.o.200808...ernalNetworkHDD500GB
I have found that the Lidl Targa brand of stuff is pretty reliable and, I think are guaranteed for two years!!! A bonus is that I found that Lidl (despite their many other 'shortcomings') never make any bones about goods returned, I had a stereo CD/Radio thingy which failed and without any sort of argument or even question they replaced it immediately.
Anyway, up to you - just saw it and was reminded of your question.
John
Location:
N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
ITFS member.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
- BJHillson (Brett Hillson)
- Offline
- Junior Member
-
- Posts: 81
- Thank you received: 0
If you have alot of space on your current PC/LAPTOP then you can always pick up a portable memory stick to transfer the files over these are ALOT cheaper and if you dont have one allready these are a great buy and all ways come in handy, I use them to transfer documents (I can rip all my work documenst at work onto a 1g disk) at work even transfering pictures etc you can get large storage ones at good value these days, you can get an 8g stick on ebay for 25 euro, I have even seen 2 g ones on ebay for under 10 euros
Please Log in to join the conversation.