Largest External HDD I Can Use With a Dimension 8200 1528

Hey Stew. I'm not congratulating myself. I'm just so excited to finally have my computer working correctly, once again (at least with the Maxtor external hard drive..other USB devices to be taken off the Dell USB controller next weekend, and put onto a PCI-USB hub).

I use my Maxtor OneTouch II for backups of my hard drive, and it also functions as my VCR, because I record TV programs to it's hard drive. It's got the storage and speed to hold hundreds of DVD-quality TV programs.

I couldn't back up my system, and that really worried me, as I use my PC for both my job and for many personal endeavors. I don't have time to swap 8 DVDs to back up the system. And I couldn't record any TV programs, or store other important files on the drive.

When I first bought the Maxtor 9 months ago, it worked perfectly for months, as did my 4 other USB devices (printer, scanner, webcam, flash drive). Then, they all started to have problems, first slowly, then almost all the time, especially the Maxtor drive.

With scanners, printers and flash drives, you use them infrequently. And a break in communications may not affect them (or be noticed by the user) unless it happens WHILE you are printing or scanning or using the device.

But with an external hard drive, the system is "communicating" with it almost constantly. And any "break" (or hiccup) in communications what-so-ever with a disk drive (whether internal or external) will cause the software (whether Windows OS or the Maxtor OneTouch software) to lose it's ability to communicate with the drive, causing system READ errors (posted by others including myself who are reporting USB controller problems) OR inability for the software to even function because it no longer detects the drive. Thus, the backup software wouldn't work, just lock-up.

People with "internal" USB controller problems will notice them more, if they have a USB disk drive connected to the PC's internal USB controller via one of the PC's USB connections. Again, because disk drives require almost constant "communication" with Windows OS and any software, like BackUp software.

Using a firewire connection, OR using a PCI card-USB hub, will get the disk drive (and any other USB devices) OFF the problematic USB controller, and fix the communications "break" issue. That's how I fixed this problem, and wanted to share this experience with others who have posted similar problems.

Gary ============= S.Lewis