i'm gonna make the switch to ubuntu soon and i need extra storage so i want to know if a 500 gb maxtor external harddrive would be detected and installed automatically by ubuntu because i'm nervous about taking the linux plunge and i want to make it as easy of a transition as possible by having my hardware detected automatically. the reason i want to go with the maxtor is that i need 500 gigs, it's gotta be cheap, and it's got to be reliable. this maxtor drive fits those catagories but the one i'm really worried about is whether or not it'll work with ubuntu. i figure it will since it works with macs and pcs but still i need reassurance that it'll be easy as plug and play.
Yes it will be automatic, but only read access if it's NTFS. If it's NTFS, then you need to install ntfs-3g first before you can write to it.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=217009
Instal Ubuntu with windows still on the HD, and then test to see if the drive is recognized. There is no reason why it shouldn't be. It recognizes usb drives, so an hard disk should be perfect.
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Yes it will be automatic, but only read access if it's NTFS. If it's NTFS, then you need to install ntfs-3g first before you can write to it.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=217009
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If you have the Ubuntu liveDVD hook up the external drive, fire up the liveDVD/CD and you will see that the drive is identified.
Only fools or newbies jump to Linux. Set up a dual-boot machine first and once you have used Linux for a while you can make an educated decision on whether to "jump" or not. Dual-boot actually makes more sense in most cases.
You can install Linux to your external drive. You may run into some potential glitches that would not appear if you installed it on partitions on the hard drive, but that is an option.
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