The EZ-Swap IDE Series (MRK-102FD, MRK-102FD-BK, MRK-102FD-SL) are not hot swappable. Removing or inserting the EZ-Swap while the system is still on may result in data loss or corruption. This is true for virtually any IDE device, not just ones using our EZ-Swap.

However, the EZ-Swap SATA Series (MRK-200ST-BK) is hot swappable since it uses SATA technology.

(ATA, AT Attachment or "Integrated Drive Electronics", IDE) A disk drive interface standard based on the IBM PC ISA 16-bit bus but also used on other personal computers. The ATA specification deals with the power and data signal interfaces between the motherboard and the integrated disk controller and drive. The ATA "bus" only supports two devices - master and slave.

ATA drives may in fact use any physical interface the manufacturer desires, so long as an embedded translator is included with the proper ATA interface. ATA "controllers" are actually direct connections to the ISA bus.

Originally called IDE, the ATA interface was invented by Compaq around 1986, and was developed with the help of Western Digital, Imprimis, and then-upstart Conner Peripherals. Efforts to standardise the interface started in 1988; the first draft appeared in March 1989, and a finished version was sent to ANSI group X3T10 (who named it "Advanced Technology Attachment" (ATA)) for ratification in November 1990.

X3T10 later extended ATA to Advanced Technology Attachment Interface with Extensions (ATA-2), followed by ATA-3 and ATA-4.


*Source: www.dictionary.com

Use the Disk Utility tool and follow the on-screen prompts. A brand new hard drive will first have to be initialized, partitioned, and formatted. If the hard drive in the NexStar HDD Enclosure (NST-250U2, NST-350U2, NST-350UF) will not mount on your Mac system, format the drive with a FAT32 or NTFS partition first through a PC system. Once formatted, connect the NexStar Enclosure to your Mac and run the Disk Utility tool. You should now be able to format the drive into a Mac partition and mount the drive.

If the LED on your NST-360U2 has stopped working, request an RMA within the RMA Center and specify \"360 LED Replacement\" as the problem. Use the \"Will fax\" option but you will not need to fax anything for approval. When you receive your RMA number, send just the metal housing to us. Do not include the circuit board, the cables, or anything else that came with your enclosure. We will replace/repair the LED and send it back to you. The enclosure will still function without the housing.

Jumper wire configuration:



DIP switch settings:

You can initialize your internal hard drive using a program called Drive Setup which is on the software install CD that came with your computer. WARNING: Initializing a drive erases all information on the drive. Before initializing your drive, backup all of your data.

1. Start up your computer from the software install CD.
2. Locate the Utilities folder on the software install CD and double-click it to open the folder.
3. Double-click the Drive Setup icon to open the program.
4. In the list of drives, select the drive you want to initialize.
5. Click Initialize.

To format your hard drive with Mac OS Extended format, a method of formatting hard drives that allows for more efficient use of hard drive storage space, follow the steps below:

1. Click Custom Setup.
2. Select the desired partitioning scheme.
3. Open the Type pop-up menu in the Volume Info area and choose Mac OS Extended Format.
4. Resize the volumes if desired.
5. When ready, click OK.
6. Click Initialize.

If initialization fails, do the following:

1. Choose Initialization Options from the Functions menu.
2. Click the checkbox next to "Low level format", then click OK. Choosing this option adds significant time to the initialization process.

The Win98SE drivers included with the NexStar 3.5" USB only enclosure (Model: NST-350U2) may not work with all Win98SE installations. Please use the correct drivers on our website:

Downloads Section

Check under External HDD Enclosures -> NST-350U2 -> USB Drivers for Win98SE Note: These drivers may also be used with Windows ME.

::Updated October 12th, 2004::

Yes. The NexStar 2.5" Hard Drive enclosure can function as a boot device, assuming your computer supports booting off a USB device.

To use the NexStar as a boot device, make sure you have a bootable partition on the drive and an OS installed. If you do not, boot off your Windows CD and install an OS onto the drive. Windows' installer will be able to provide a drive letter for the USB drive.

Please note, due to certain hardware and software limitations of Windows versions based on the NT system (Windows NT/2000/XP), it is not possible to boot Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP off a USB drive. This is partially caused by Windows reinitializing the USB bus during the boot up, essentially disconnecting the USB device and causing Windows to crash. Windows 98/ME are the only versions that will support booting off USB.

The problem can be one of many things. Windows has a tendency to write more than typical 128K of data to the I/O port for firewire. Actually, the size can sometimes rocket up to 512K and cause the firewire device to lock up and have delayed write errors. There are a few things you can try.

1. If your motherboard uses the VIA chipset, update the drivers if you have yet to do so. There is also a PCI Latency patch that should prevent the write delay errors: http://www.georgebreese.com/sites/georgebreese_com/net/software/#PCI
2. Microsoft has a Windows XP patch for 1394 that is available here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;329256 It is also a part of Windows XP Service Pack 2 if you have not already gotten that.
3. For Windows 2000, there is a Max 128K filter available as well:http://member.newsguy.com/~siccos/

*The links provided above are not explicitly or implicitly associated with Vantec USA. The information provided there in are not endorsed by Vantec, but only provided as a reference.

Virtually all heatsinks (with few exceptions) utilize copper, aluminum, or a mixture of both. Aluminum is by far the most popular metal used, and for good reason. Aluminum is lightweight (26.9815g/mol), a good heat conductor (237k (W/m·K)), and inexpensive. Copper is the other most popular material used. While copper is a much better heat conductor (401k (W/m·K)), it weighs almost 3 times as much (63.546g/mol) and is more expensive. Copper also takes a longer time to dissipate heat, though it absorbs much quicker.

A large, solid copper heatsink would be best at transferring heat, but the immense weight could literally rip the CPU socket off the motherboard (as they are usually mounted vertically). Most copper heatsinks are either not very large or consist mostly of fins. For this reason, manufacturers often design heatsink with an aluminum body, but with a copper base and/or fins. This minimizes the weight and cost, while still utilizing the effectiveness of copper at transferring heat. The copper quickly absorbs the heat from the processor, allowing the aluminum to draw the heat from the copper and dissipates it.