Hi,Since my hd was getting more packed with massive scenery files, it was time to invest in an external hd.I transferred a lot of vfr photorealistic scenery- the UK, Germany, etc to a Toshiba HDDR169E03E 160 GB external drive.I got it in a clearance sale in a store. It was a bargain for 45$, so it was impulse buying.At home, I found the hd was the older FAT32 format, which meant that not all the scenery files could be installed here.Anyways, what I have noticed is that it takes a longer time to load fs9.1. It's frustrating to wait 4-5 minutes until the main screen shows up.I'm wondering hether the new hd is causing the slowdown.Eytan OrnsteinIntel Core2 CPU 2 GHZGeforce 8600GT 256MB2GB RAMWindows XP with SP3160GB internal hd-WDC WD1600AAJS 08PSAO

If that's an USB 2.0 disk you will have a problem if you install FSX or heavy duty sceneries/add ons on it.FAT32? You should be able to reformat the disk with the NTFS file system, but you won't notice any difference regarding data transfer.

If that's an USB 2.0 disk you will have a problem if you install FSX or heavy duty sceneries/add ons on it.

Yes it's a USB 2.0 disk. So you're saying that "heavy duty scenery" is hard on the hd.Is there a different kind of external hd that would lessen the problem?Eytan

Yes it's a USB 2.0 disk. So you're saying that "heavy duty scenery" is hard on the hd.Is there a different kind of external hd that would lessen the problem?Eytan

How fast does the HD spin? Could be causing a major slow down, along with it having to travel along the USB.Most X-hds I know are 5400 rpm, so they'll read and write pretty slow. Go find a faster internal drive like a Velociraptor at 10k RPM and you should be much better off on your load times. You pay for what you get, right!?

Yes it's a USB 2.0 disk. So you're saying that "heavy duty scenery" is hard on the hd.Is there a different kind of external hd that would lessen the problem?Eytan

The USB 2.0 interface is slow (max 480Mbps) compared to the SATA interface normally used for internal disks (most often max 3Gbps). If you have an eSATA connector you may connect an eSATA hard disk to your pc. Why not get an internal disk?

. Why not get an internal disk?

Yeah! Why didn't I think of that before?I'm going to look into it and check prices.Eytan

Eytan,Just to clarify the eSATA option I'd like to rephrase one sentence: If you have an eSATA connector you may connect an external eSATA hard disk to your pc.

Or you can put an internal HD and buy an enclosure for it.

Eytan,Just to clarify the eSATA option I'd like to rephrase one sentence: If you have an eSATA connector you may connect an external eSATA hard disk to your pc.