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I have an external HD with USB 3.0 and a laptop with a USB 3.0 port. Can I connect the two safely to transfer data and watch films stored on the HD for instance? If so where can I buy such a cable to do so?

Dave Rowden
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  • I'm curious. What makes you think you can not plug a USB 3.0 hard drive into a USB 3.0 port? Furthermore, all USB 3.0 drives already come with a cable to connect it to a USB 3.0 port. Surely you must've had such a cable. We cannot tell you where to buy such a cable since we don't know your location (but either way that question would be considered off topic since it's too specific to one user). – slhck Sep 24 '14 at 14:57
  • This does not seem like a real question – Ramhound Sep 24 '14 at 14:57
  • USB and the how external hard drives work can be confusing with all the ports and stuff, particularly to those who don't work with computers a lot. Maybe someone mailed him a drive and expected him to know what do with it? – LawrenceC Sep 24 '14 at 15:02
  • @ultrasawblade If a user knows that a drive is USB 3.0 and that their laptop has a USB 3.0 port then I'd assume they know that they can connect it? (Why would it be different than, say, a USB 2.0 drive?) But maybe I'm just missing the big picture. – slhck Sep 24 '14 at 15:06

1 Answers1

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Yep.

Pick your favorite online tech store (i.e. such as where you bought the hard drive from) and search for "USB 3.0 Data Cable."

USB 3.0 on the device end looks different than USB 2.0 devices. The end that plugs into the computer ought to be colored blue to specifically identify it as a USB 3.0 cable (the port you are plugging it into will be blue as well).

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When you connect it, if it's a Windows PC, go to the Start Menu, then Computer, and your external HD should show up as another drive letter. You can then browse files and double-click them to play them. If you have problems playing them, download and install VLC Player.

LawrenceC
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