Usable with USB 2 and USB 3 without reformat? Could I, for example, write contents onto the drive using USB 3.0 and give it to someone with a USB 2.0 and would he be able to read/write then could we pass it back and forth using such procedures?
121412
you certainly can use both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0; the only difference is transfer speed.
516599
Yes you can use it if the drive is formatted using FAT32. However doing so has a limitation because FAT32 FS cannot support individual files greater than 4GB. Also you will see a degraded performance regardless of which hard disk you buy.
1669126
Yes, I've used it in USB 2.0 drives and it works fine, a bit faster than a USB 2.0 flash drive but of course not the speed of 3.0 if used in a 2.0 port. USB drives are generally backwards compatible with earlier USB standards.
96370
Thanks so this is just a format, and then it is plug and play only needs to be mounted with super user permission to write to the drive (something we do every day in Linux) I was concerned that it might have some sort of proprietary software interface and could not be used outside of Mac & Microsoft operating systems. The backup software I believe would not be Linux compatible, but Clonezilla does that task rather well... Thanks Linas Vepstas for your hands on response...MT
1947595
The drive is USB 3.0 based, and also 2.0 compatible, but the software that is delivered with the drive is complete trash. Just use it as a "normal" external drive with Win8 or 7, and you will have no problems. The DVD that comes with the drive is currently being used to keep the birds out of my fruit trees.
212814
I only have usb 2.0 on the computer I upgraded and it worked fine. most (maybe all) devices that work with usb 3.0 will also work with 2.0.
585185
USB 3 is in fact backward compatible with USB 2. You will find that using this device with USB 2 yields a rather sluggish display. This is ok for text, but poor for video. Using it with USB 3 is a far better experience.
1780210
Unfortunately, I'm not using USB 3.0 on the computer using the drive. I would imagine it does via USB 3.0, but it gave a "not supported" message using Disk Utility on my current system.
1653137
It worked fine for me on the lowly Windows 7 *Starter* edition (on a cheap mini Acer netbook), *but* I didn't install the Iomega *software* because Windows 7 was able to read and write to the drive without any extra software. I formatted the disks using Windows (the usual right-click menu thing) but I don't remember if I used FAT or NTFS or what, and I don't have the Zip drive (or the netbook) anymore so can't do further testing.
688139
Actually, this is a great question. This drive works very well on both UBS 3.0 and 2.0. You will not be disappointed. However, if you need a drive that is FAT32 compatible this Drive is not for you. It allows for the newer EXFAT format and the NTFS format. I use NTFS format. Works very good. I hope I haven't confused you. If so, just "Google" EXFAT32 for more information.
1314944
I don't have this device, but as a retired IT geek I thought I'd chime in and mention that many of these tablets can't read flash drives that have been formatted to NTFS on a pc. They tend to prefer FAT32 over NTFS. Most flash drives are formatted FAT32 by default, but if you reformatted it on a pc it would likely have defaulted to NTFS. Hope that helps.
1733285
I plugged in a crappy USB 2.0 key to test this - an old Verbatim that I would swear is slower than a floppy drive. It didn't slow down the read/writes on my super speedy USB3 Patriot Magnum at all. So, no, USB 2 devices won't slow down USB 3 devices.
1635276
Yes you can. USB 3.0, 2.0, and 1.1 all work using the same connector. You will not get 3.0 speeds, but whatever the lowest version being used. Using you as an example, a 3.0 drive with a 3.0 cable, but using a 2.0 port on your computer will drop that speed to 2.0
689786
FYI --- I answer this whole question about USB 2 and USB 3, how you can use a USB 2.0 cable with USB 3, and all of these issues in detail in my review here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RASVQKPFMCLG3/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
1669121
Yes. I tested the SanDisk Extreme 32GB USB 3.0 flash drive on a laptop running Windows XP that had only USB 2.0 capability, and also in the USB 2.0 ports of a Win7 desktop that is equipped with both 2.0 and 3.0 ports. The flash drive worked fine in all of the tests. As I understand it, the USB 3.0 technology is generally supposed to be backward-compatible, so that a 3.0 drive should work with all earlier USB versions.
1916788
This will work fine just like any other external USB drive. If you don't want it formatted as NTFS, it can be easily formatted as FAT32 or whatever your need is.
390777
In order: 1) No. To put it simply, format=erase. You'll have to move the files to something else, then move them back after formatting. 2) Not necessarily (see 3) 3) 3.5" drives require more power than USB can supply, so you must use an external power supply for these drives. MOST 2.5" drives will be adequately powered by USB, though some have reported that large, fast (ie: 250GB, 7200 RPM) 2.5" HDDs are occasionally underpowered over USB. This can also depend on the mfr of the external interface. Rule of thumb is that 3.5" will always require an external power supply, 2.5" usually will not.