ADDED STORAGE AND HOW TO USE IT

BEFORE WE GET STARTED . . . We will NOT be talking about your computer’s memory. Remember that the memory is dynamic and that everything in the memory is lost when the machine is switched-off. What we are interested in is the various parts of the computer which store information on a more permanent basis. Material to which you want to refer at a later date for editing, copying, printing or reproducing.

WHY DO WE WANT EXTRA STORAGE? You want somewhere to store your backups – off- line. (i.e. separate from your computer). You may want to keep separate copies for other reasons – e.g. to share, to show on your TV. You may want to make some of your information even more portable – e.g. to use on another computer. You should make a point of keeping extra copies of all your photo’s in case of catastrophe. What about sharing your holiday pictures?

INTRODUCTION: Your computer comes equipped with its own built-in storage capacity – i.e. its Hard Disk drive(s) (HD) and/or Solid State Drive (SSD). Your machine may also have built-in DVD/CD drive(s) and/or Memory Card Readers. It will certainly have some USB drives. However, you may still want additional storage – usually for use on a more temporary basis. This may come in the form of simply adding more of the above items, or else getting an external hard disk drive, a USB Hub for your flash drives (memory sticks), external DVD drive or memory card reader. We will be discussing all these alternatives, plus how best to use them.

HOW DO THEY CONNECT? With the exception of the built-in elements, all the added- on storage facilities connect to your computer using a USB port. The USB port and associated connector look like this . . . USB Hub USB Hub USB Cable USB Cable

WHERE DO I FIND THE NEW STORAGE? After you have plugged-in your additional storage unit it will be displayed via your File Explorer function. Installed C-drive Added External Drive (1 Terabyte) Plugged-in Flash Drive (64 Gigabytes)

USING ADDED STORAGE Once you have connected the new storage unit to your computer, the additional storage space it provides can be used in exactly the same way as the space on your installed hard drive (C- drive), or any of your libraries – e.g. Documents, Pictures, Music, etc. We’ll now leave the presentation and go to our computers to try-out what we’ve been talking about. This is what we’ll be doing . . . .

OUR OPERATIONS WILL INCLUDE: Plugging-in our added storage unit(s); Recognizing it using our File Explorer; Creating new Folder(s); Transferring different types of data: Copying; and Moving.