If I transfer files over to an external hard drive, does that free up space in my computer's memory?
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I bought an external hard drive, thinking that if I move photos and music files over, that would free up space. I don't think it does. Or are external hard drives only used when working at different computers.
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Answer:
Your external hard drive is just another place to put data. If you do not delete the files on your main computer after you move them over to the external hard drive, it does not free up space. You need to delete the files for that strategy to be effective. And yes, you can take your external hard drive and hook it up to different computers. That is the beauty of an external hard drive. If you mean memory, as in RAM, then no. That will not help speed up your computer. Memory and hard drive space are two different things. - Bruno
Julie F at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source
Other answers
Only if you delete the originals. But then they would still need to be backed up.
Robert D
If you mean hard drive space, then yes. Move the files to the external, then empty your recycle bin. If you mean computer memory (RAM) then no.
Afraid of Flu
Well, if you move files over to the external hard drive and then you remember to delete the originals off of your computer, then, yes, you will gain hard drive space by doing that. However, bear in mind that there are two kinds of "memory" on a computer: storage space, like on your hard drive, and working memory, called RAM, which is separate and different, so, if you got the external hard drive and hoped that moving files over to it would increase the amount of RAM on your computer, no, it won't, they're different. Good luck!... ☺
Winning!
If you transfer files over to an external hard drive, it *will* free up hard drive space on your computer. You can use an external hard drive, when you want certain things to be kept in archive - or, in other words, you want to keep these files, but you do not want them taking up space on your computer. It's quite efficient to use! (if you have the money of course =S)
Vider
Understanding data on hard drive: Files on your PC will occupy space unless deleted. If copied from one location (hard drive) to another location (external hard drive)...without deleting the original, you will have have same data at 2 different locations. External hard drives are used for backing up (safety), and as you rightly mentioned, portability of data. So decide...
McNeal
Robert's got it. You'll need to delete the files on your computer after you copy them, and then you don't have a backup unless you copy the external drive to another external drive.
David W
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