Storage Solutions Using a portable SSD as a regular drive

meetdilip

Adept

Is it going to be harmful if we use a portable SSD as a regular drive? For example, add a .vdi file to it related to VirtualBox and run Windows 11 from it. Not all the time, occasionally?

Or is it better to use it only to store files and backups?

 

gourav

Patron

No issue with it. External drives are also the same SSDs.

 

meetdilip

Adept

Thanks. I was worried about the fact that it is working through USB 3.0. Maybe not fast enough and all that.

 

Anuj333

Recruit

though you won't be getting the full advertised speeds on the ssd if you aren't using a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port. It will work though for normal workloads but don't load things like games on it if you were even considering that.

 

meetdilip

Adept

No games, simply Firefox, Bing, Edge etc.

To be honest I do not know whether I have a 3.0 or 3.2 port. My laptop is 2 years old. I am using the cable that came with the SSD.

 

Anuj333

Recruit

meetdilip said:

No games, simply Firefox, Bing, Edge etc.

To be honest I do not know whether I have a 3.0 or 3.2 port. My laptop is 2 years old. I am using the cable that came with the SSD.

Click to expand...

You are fine either way if you're just planning to use it for basic browsing and stuff. Though USB 3.1 or USB 3.2 would have made great difference in terms of speed but since your laptop is not much older than 2 years you must be having one of them. Check the specifications on the web by entering your laptop's model number to verify if you actually have a faster USB port and use that one for the SSD.