Best Portable Hard Drive For Windows 7

Please see below on how to reformat your external hard drive on Mac and Windows. DISCLAIMER: Please keep in mind that reformatting will result in the loss of all the data on the hard drive so make sure you back up your data elsewhere before starting. How to Reformat in Mac. Step 1: Make sure your external hard drive is attached and mounted to. Enter a volume label (drive name) too — we used 'Windows 10,' though you can label this partition with anything. Click the Next button to proceed. Step 7: Click the Finish button to complete. Provides backup before the hard drives fail. Alerts you through email or desktop notifications. O&O DriveLed (Free to try, $29.95 to buy) O&O DriveLed from O&O Software is an early warning system that detects hard disk crashes when they are on their way. This is available for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Seagate Expansion 1TB Portable External Hard Drive USB 3.0 (STEA1000400) System requirements. Our latest top picks for best external performance drive (SanDisk's Extreme Pro Portable and Samsung's T7) are blazing-fast, great news if you're moving around large amounts of data.

• Best Portable Hard Drives Reviews
• Best Portable Hard Drive Mac
• Best Portable Hard Drive For Windows 7 32-bit

You might run out of storage on your Surface PC and need additional space to store your documents, music, videos, or other files. It is a good idea to pick up an external hard drive as it usually has a large capacity and cheap in price.

There are several types of external hard drives out there for you to select depending on your requirements. Speed, capacity, portability, and price are what we're going to discuss in this article. Read on to find out which external hard drive is the best one for your Surface PC.

How Many Types of External Hard Drive?

To help you pick up the right external hard drive, we categorized it into three different types:

• Portable SSD – The Solid State Drive (SSD) stores information in microchips like a large memory stick while the traditional hard drive stores data on a storage platter that's accessed with a mechanical arm. As the SSD has no moving parts, the information can be read much faster than the traditional hard drive.
• Portable Hard Drive – A portable external hard drive uses a traditional 2.5″ hard disk drive that's frequently used in a laptop computer. This is a perfect external hard drive for most users in terms of affordability, portability, capacity, and speed. It is also available in wide options of capacity starting from 500 GB up to 4 TB.
• External Desktop Hard Drive – A desktop external hard drive uses a traditional 3.5″ hard disk drive that's frequently used in desktop computers. The main benefit of this type of storage is the inexpensive and large capacity of up to 10 TB on a single disk. However, it requires its own dedicated power supply so it's not ideal for portability.

Featured Recommendations

1 Best Portable SSD for Microsoft Surface

SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD V2 | 1TB

Rugged Portable Storage with 1GB/s Read/Write & IP55 Rating

Having a super-fast portable SSD around is really handy when you want to offload your current project or document to make extra space on your Surface. This new version of SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD supports high-speed transfers up to 1050 MB/s read speed and 1000 MB/s write speed so you can directly work on your project without transfer back and forth to your Surface. It's also great for housing your active Steam gaming library, with that fast speed, your game will be loaded up in a snap.

With the rugged design and IP55 rating, this portable SSD can stand up to dust, rain, splashes, and spills. By using the latest NVMe SSD, it's really compact and portable easily fits in the palm of the hand or in any pocket. It compatible with both Windows and Mac computers and backed by a 3-year warranty.

• Available Storages
• Performance
  • Read Speed: Up to 1050 MB/s
  • Write Speed: Up to 1000 MB/s
  • Storage Type: NVMe SSD
  • Interface: USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s
• Product Features
  • Rugged Design - It is certified to stand up to 2-meter drops.
  • Compact. It's super portable easy to fit any pockets.
  • Shock-resistant & vibration-resistant - It built to survive an extreme environment and temperature.
  • IP55 Rating - for water and dust-resistant.
  • Built-in Hardware Encryption - It supports 256-bit AES hardware encryption with password protection.
  • 3-year limited manufacturer warranty
• In the box
  • SanDisk Extreme PortableUSB-C CableUSB-C to USB-A AdapterUser Guide

Samsung T7 Portable SSD | 1TB, Red

Ultra Portable and High-Speed 1050 MB/s from Samsung

The latest T7 Portable SSD from Samsung now two times faster than before with a read speed up to 1050 MB/s and 1000 MB/s write speed. When compared to the traditional external hard drives it's 9.5 times faster. Despite its slim and aluminum unibody, it's strong and has a shock-resistant bracket to secure your data even with drops from 6ft.

It supports Windows, Mac, and Android with the embedded app on the drive and on Google Play. The app lets you secure the drive with a password and managing drive firmware updates. Whether your Surface has only USB-A or USB-C port, this portable SSD comes with both types of USB-A and USB-C cables in the box.

Note To get the maximum speed of 1050 MB/s of the drive, your Surface needs to have USB-C or USB-A ports with USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps). For Surface devices with USB 3.1 Gen 1 (aka. 3.0), the maximum speed will be capped at 625 MB/s (5Gbps).

• Design & Portability
  • Dimension: 85 mm x 57 mm x 8 mm
  • Weight: 58 grams
  • All metal and unibody design
• Performance
  • Read Speed: Up to 1050 MB/s
  • Write Speed: Up to 1000 MB/s
  • Storage Type: NVMe SSD
  • Interface: USB 3.2 Gen 2
    Supports transfers speed 10 Gb/s, and compatible with USB 3.0/2.0
• Product Features
  • Advanced Heat Control
    It uses ePCM tech and Dynamic Thermal Guard to better control heat.
  • Shock-Resistant
    Solid State Storage together with aluminum unibody construction, your data is safe when falls of up to 6ft.
  • Password-Protection
    It comes with embedded software to help set up a password and get the latest firmware updates.
  • 3-year warranty
• Available Capacity
• Available Colors
  BlueGrayRed
• In the box
  • Samsung T7 Portable SSDUSB-C to USB-C cableUSB-A to USB-C cableUser Guide

2 Best Portable Hard Drives for Microsoft Surface

WD My Passport | 2TB

For most users this WD My Passport probably the best option for general purpose uses. It offers an overall perfect balance in design, size, speed, and affordability. This model comes in a wide range of colors and capacities, so you can pick up the right one for you. In terms of security, WD featuring 256-bit AES hardware encryption with provided WD Security software. Plus, the WD My Passport offers fast transfer speeds via USB 3.0 connections and also backward compatible with USB 2.0.

• Design & Portability
  • Dimension: 4.33 x 3.21 x 0.54 inch
  • Weight: 5.92 ounces
  • Available in multiple colors.
• Speed & Capacity
  • USB 3.0 compatible with USB 2.0
  • Capacity: 1/2/3/4 TB
• Tools & Softwares
  • WD Backup - automatically backup your photos, media, and documents.
  • WD Security - work together with built-in 256-bit AES hardware encryption.
• Comes with a 3-year warranty

Toshiba Canvio Basics | 2TB

The next external hard drive is from Toshiba that features a sleek and beautiful matte finishing that makes it sit well on the table. It is also equipped with a smudge-resistant finish that protects the device in case you drop it to the ground. It provides excellent added storage space to your Surface PC and any other device that is compatible with it. It is a bus-powered device, meaning that it doesn't require an external power adapter to operate.

• Design & Portability
  • Dimension: 4.3 x 3.1 x 0.55 inch
  • Weight: 5.28 ounces
  • Only available in Black.
• Speed & Capacity
  • Using USB 3.0 backward compatible with USB 2.0
  • Capacity: 500 GB, 1/2/3 TB
• Comes with a one year Toshiba warranty

3 Best External Desktop Hard Drives for Microsoft Surface

Seagate Backup Plus Hub | 8 TB

Seagate STEL8000100 Backup Plus Hub 8TB External Desktop Hard Drive Storage

• Design & Portability
  • Dimension: 4.65 x 7.8 x 1.61 inch
  • Weight: 2.34 lbs
• Speed & Capacity
  • USB 3.0 compatible with USB 2.0
  • Capacity: 3/4/6/8/10TB
• Integrated USB 3.0 hub
  • 2 x USB 3.0 ports on the front for connecting additional USB devices.
  • Each port is powerful enough for charging your phone or tablet.
• Tools & Softwares
  • Downloadable Seagate backup – easily backup your photos, media, and documents.
  • Mac Seagate NTFS Driver – allows NTFS can be read/write on Mac computers.
• Add-on Benefits
  • Includes 2-month complimentary membership to Creative Cloud Photography Plan.

WD My Book Desktop External HDD | 8 TB

WD 8TB My Book Desktop External Hard Drive, USB 3.0 - WDBBGB0080HBK-NESN

• Design & Portability
  • Dimension: 5.5 x 6.7 x 1.9 inch
  • Weight: 3 lbs
• Speed & Capacity
  • USB 3.0 compatible with USB 2.0
  • Single Drive: 3/4/6/8/10 TB
  • Dual Drive: 12/16/20 TB
• Tools & Softwares
  • WD Backup – automatically backup your photos, media, and documents.
  • WD Security – work together with built-in 256-bit AES hardware encryption.
  • Apple Time Machine compatibility
  • Downloadable Acronis True Image WD Edition for Windows.
• Comes with a 3-year warranty

4 Outdated and Out of Stock Recommedations

Samsung T5 Portable SSD | 500 GB

SAMSUNG T5 Portable SSD 500GB - Up to 540MB/s - USB 3.1 External Solid State Drive, Black (MU-PA500B/AM)

• Design & Portability
  • Dimension: 2.3 x 3 x 0.4 inch
  • Weight: 1.6 ounces
  • All metal and unibody design
• Speed & Capacity
  • USB 3.1 Gen 2 compatible with USB 3.0/2.0
  • Read/Write speeds up to 540 MB/s
  • Capacity: 250/500 GB, 1/2 TB
• Security
  • You have an option to enable password protection and AES 256-bit hardware encryption.
• Included Cables
  • USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable
  • USB Type-C to USB Type-A cable
• Comes with a 3-year warranty

SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable SSD - 480 GB

SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable 480GB SSD (SDSSDEXT-480G-G25)

• Design & Portability
  • Dimension: 2.98 x 2.98 x 0.42 inch
  • Durable design with a convenient metal clip
• Speed & Capacity
  • USB 3.0 compatible with USB 2.0
  • Read speed up to 430 MB/s
  • Capacity: 120/240/250/480/500 GB, 1 TB
• Security & Software
  • SanDisk SecureAccess – the software allows you to create a vault with password protection and 128-bit AES encryption.

Conclusion

SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable SSD - 480 GB

SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable 480GB SSD (SDSSDEXT-480G-G25)

• Design & Portability
  • Dimension: 2.98 x 2.98 x 0.42 inch
  • Durable design with a convenient metal clip
• Speed & Capacity
  • USB 3.0 compatible with USB 2.0
  • Read speed up to 430 MB/s
  • Capacity: 120/240/250/480/500 GB, 1 TB
• Security & Software
  • SanDisk SecureAccess – the software allows you to create a vault with password protection and 128-bit AES encryption.

Conclusion

Those are the top external hard drives that served a reliable job in a different type of purpose you will come up with. The traditional external hard drive offers a perfect balance of price, speed, capacity, and portability. While the portable SSD offers a much better reading/writing speed for more expensive. Lastly, the desktop external hard drive is recommended for a large repository that can store up to 10 TB per disk.

Every computer user stores MBs, GBs or TBs of files on their computers, and most of them keep and update the files for years. Some of the files may be less important, while the others are highly valuable. We store valuable information like photos, audio and video files, documents, passwords, account information, etc.

So what will happen if your hard disk crashes or fails? The one line answer is all your data will be lost. The S.M.A.R.T. monitoring software tools can help you in preventing data loss by letting you know about your hard-disks' health status in advance, and allows you to backup your files before your hard disk fails.

This blog post talks about S.M.A.R.T. and its key benefits, and takes you through the 7 best S.M.A.R.T. monitoring software tools.

What is S.M.A.R.T.?

S.M.A.R.T. stands for Self Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology. This technology, integrated in the hard disks, predicts disk failures. It lets you know about the permanent health status of the hard drives. Using certain attributes and parameters, it provides information about the current temperature, total number of hours, read errors, issues, health status and other things related to your hard disks.

Key benefits of S.M.A.R.T. tools

The key benefits found in most of the popular S.M.A.R.T. tools are as follows.

• Monitors the health status of hard disks.
• Predicts disk failures.
• Checks for disk problems.
• Gives detailed status reports.
• Provides backup before the hard drives fail.
• Alerts you through email or desktop notifications.

O&O DriveLed (Free to try, $29.95 to buy)

O&O DriveLed from O&O Software is an early warning system that detects hard disk crashes when they are on their way. This is available for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. The software provider allows you try the software before you buy it.

You can use O&O DriveLed for PCs and servers. Virtual piano keyboard download. The software works smartly on PCs and servers. The software is easy to install and use.

Active Smart (Free 21-day trial, $17.96 to buy)

Best Portable Hard Drives Reviews

Active Smart is a useful S.M.A.R.T. tool from Ariolic Software, which monitors hard drive status very efficiently. You can use the software free of cost for 21 days. It efficiently monitors the hard disk health status, and gives you important information such as current temperature, free space, and read-write errors, and so on.

CrystalDiskInfo (Free)

CrystalDiskInfo is a very helpful, easy to use S.M.A.R.T. tool from Crystal Dew World, which gives you all the necessary information about the hard drive health. This is a reliable software application, designed for the Windows operating systems. CrystalDiskInfo is popular for its easy interface. CrystalDiskInfo gives you the S.M.A.R.T. values and hard drive details in details.

HDD Health (Free)

HDD Health is an S.M.A.R.T. tool from PanteraSoft, which monitors your hard disks and give you alerts on impending failure. It monitors disk status and disk health. It shows current temperature, S.M.A.R.T. values and other information. The software is easy to install and easy to use.

Acronis Drive Monitor (Free)

Acronis Drive Monitor from Acronis is another popular S.M.A.R.T. tool that monitors the hard drives of PCs, servers and workstations. Most interestingly, it is absolutely free to use. You can download it and use it at no cost.

Your important files and documents on your hard drives are always protected with Acronis Drive Monitor. It automatically monitors the hard drives and prevents data loss.

To mention some of its key features, it automatically checks for problems in the hard disks, prevents data loss, gives weekly status reports and sends you email alerts and desktop notifications.

Ashampoo HDD Control (Free to try, $24.99 to buy)

Best Portable Hard Drive Mac

Ashampoo HDD Control is an S.M.A.R.T. tool from Ashampoo, which monitors and maintains your hard drives. It gives you all the necessary health status information of your hard drives. Ashampoo HDD Control offers constant hard disk monitoring, support for external USB drives, support for solid state drives, data recovery, adjustment of noise level, power management of your hard drives, and so on.

Active@ Hard Disk Monitor (Free to try, $5.99 to buy)

Best Portable Hard Drive For Windows 7 32-bit

Active@ Hard Disk Monitor is a hard disk monitoring tool that scans the hard disks for bad sectors and monitors the parameters in order to keep you well informed about the overall health status of your hard drives, and helps you to take appropriate actions before the hard drives fail. The simple UI lets you use the software very easily.