Hi everybody!

I have a 250 gig external hard drive. I use it for backing up important documents, which I know takes up very little storage. However, I also store large files, such as audio and video and games, and I am starting to run low on storage. I really would like to avoid buying another drive right away. My question is, if I use drive compression, how many more gigs will I be able to download? Also, are there any bad side effects? Would this have any effect on my internal drive, or slow down my computer? I would very much appreciate advice weighing the benefits against the negatives of compressing an external drive, and how much extra space I would have.

Thank you any and all.

(Dell Dimension 4550 ... windows XP ... pentium 4 / 2.53 ghz ... processor speed 2.46 ghz ... 256 RAM ... operating system version 5.1.2600 ... and the external hard drive is an IO Magic 250 gigabyte)

In my opinion, compressed volumes are more trouble than they're worth as far as saving space. Again, my opinion.

Have a look at this;

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907870/en-us

Note that it's still fairly recent (August 29, 2007).

I agree with Dan. To me its a pain in the butt!! Some people do like it and that is one of those things that if you like it go for it if not then just keep exploring and you will find another option.