These days you can take it with you. Whether you want to back up life-or-death data, shuttle projects between home and office, or share favourite digital photos with your friends, the latest removable-cartridge drives offer nearly unlimited storage possibilities.

At the low end, drives like the Iomega Zip (www.iomega.com) and Imation SuperDisk (www.superdisk.com) offer cartridge capacities in the 100MB to 120MB range. The SuperDisk also reads standard 3.5in 1.44MB floppies. High-end cartridges range from the 1GB SyQuest SparQ (www.syquest.com) and the 1.5GB SyQuest SyJet to the latest Iomega Jaz, which can hold 2GB. (See A gig in your pocket, March 98, p74.)

Drives also vary by connection method. External parallel port drives are the easiest to install and the most portable, but they're relatively slow. SCSI versions ù both internal and external ù let you make fast backups, run applications directly from a cartridge, and play audio or video files. But they require a SCSI add-in card that is likely to cost $200 or more. The new internal EIDE removable-cartridge drives, meanwhile, offer a reasonable balance between performance and ease of installation. (Zip and SyJet drives are available in EIDE versions, with prices comparable to those of their internal SCSI versions.)

Prices vary considerably, starting at about $250 for the SuperDisk, then $400 for the Zip Plus or SyQuest SparQ 1GB, $500 for an internal Iomega Jaz 1GB ($570 for an external version), $540 for a SyQuest SyJet 1.5GB, and $950 for a Jaz 2GB. Cartridge prices begin at about $25 for the Zip and SuperDisk, jumping to $80 for the SparQ, $175 for the SyJet, $185 for the 1GB Jaz, and $200 for the 2GB Jaz.

If you opt for an internal drive, check to see whether you must add drive rails (unlikely) and to see if it's easier to mount the drive before attaching the cables.

Whichever product you choose, here's how to get your drive up and running.

1. Hook up a parallel port drive. Enter your PC's BIOS setup program (details vary by manufacturer) and make sure the parallel port is set to EPP mode.

Shut down your PC.

Attach the drive's cable to the drive and the PC's parallel port. (If you have a local printer, disconnect the printer cable from the PC, attach the drive cable to the drive and the PC's parallel port, and then plug the printer cable into the drive's printer port.)

Hook up the power connections.

Skip to Step 5.

2. Hook up an internal EIDE drive. If there's a free connector on the data cable between your hard drive and motherboard, set the removable-cartridge drive jumpers to "slave" (A). If this is not the case, set the drive to "master".

Feed the data and power cables through the new drive's bay, and connect them to the drive (B). (If the cables aren't long enough to reach the drive, you will have to mount the drive before you connect the cables.) If there isn't a free connector on the existing data cable, attach the cable that came with the removable-cartridge drive to the second EIDE connection on the motherboard.

Next, mount the drive (C).

Skip to Step 5.

3. Hook up an internal SCSI drive. If your PC doesn't have a SCSI card, install one. Shut down your PC, remove the cover, and follow the directions that came with the card.

Check the SCSI ID and termination on the drive. Internal drives typically require that you set jumpers (A) for both. You can usually go with the default jumper settings, but read the manual carefully just to be sure.

Plug a free power connector into the drive.

Hook up the ribbon (data) cable between the drive and the SCSI card (B). Make sure the cable's red wire is connected to Pin 1 on both the drive and the card.

Mount the drive (C).

Skip to Step 5.

4. Hook up an external SCSI drive. If your PC doesn't have an add-in SCSI card, you'll need to install one (A). Shut down your PC, remove the cover, and follow the directions that came with the card.

Check the drive's SCSI ID and termination (B). You can generally use the factory default SCSI ID. Most drives handle termination automatically, but be sure to check the drive's manual.

Hook up the data cable between the SCSI card and the drive, then hook up the power connections (C).

Go to Step 5.

5. Install the software. The final steps for installing the software vary by manufacturer; read the directions that came with your drive. Typically, you need to insert the cartridge that came with the drive, turn on the drive and your PC, and then run the setup program from a floppy disk that came with the drive.

If the installation software doesn't find your new drive, shut down your PC and double-check all your connections.

For external drives, make sure the power supply is connected to a live outlet. If your drive has an on/off switch, make sure it's turned on.

If you continue to have problems, select StartûSettingsûControl Panel, double-click the System icon, and click the Device Manager tab. If your new drive has an exclamation mark next to it, select StartûHelp, search for hardware conflict troubleshooter and follow the step-by-step directions.