New Hard Drive

qwertplaywert

Just got a new computer[new being subjective word,its a used Tobisha tecra A2]. However, the hard drive is only 20gb, only 13 of which are free[wouldnt even hold my music collection,nevermind other things]. Therefore I have begun looking for a hard drive to replace it, but was wondering, do I need any specific type of hard drive? Because I was searching around, their seemed to be ones of different sizes, eg 2.5 inches, 3.5 inches etc. What kind of one would work with my computer?

ethernet

Desktops use 3.5" drives. You need to know what interface your machine uses. If it came with a hard drive that size, it's fairly safe to assume it's a little dated In this case, you probably need an ATA/IDE drive. Newer machines use SATA connectors instead.

To be sure what you need, remove the computer's case and look at the connector to the hard drive. If you see a wide but thin ribbon cable, then you need an ATA/IDE drive. However, if you see a thicker but narrower cable, then it's SATA.

qwertplaywert

So if I need ATA/IDE I would need a 2.5 inch ata/ide hard drive, and sata i would need a 2.5 inch ata/ide hard drive?

Creamy Goodness

no, both ATA/IDE and SATA drives come in 2.5" and 3.5" dimensions.

if it's a desktop you'll want 3.5"
if it's a laptop you'll want 2.5"

since i'm not up on toshiba's if the machine you're referring to is a desktop or laptop.

AlmightyCushion

It's most likely a 2.5" pata drive you are looking for.

qwertplaywert

How can I tell if its a pata I need?


Btw its a Tosiba Tecra A2 Laptop, to clear confusment

gamer

most laptops use ide hds,theres ide and sata hard drive interface .sata data cables are about 2inchs wide.ide data interface,s are about 4 inchs wide.

qwertplaywert

Right I'll have a look now and report back

ethernet

Some old BIOSes limited the size of the hard drive you could use but that's another problem! There are fixes.

My bad. Didn't realise you were talking about a laptop. I think AlmightyCushion is on the ball. By the way, PATA (parallel ATA) is another name for ATA/IDE. SATA is the totally different looking one.

PATA (IDE/ATA)

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SATA

qwertplaywert

Question. If I replace my current hard drive with a new one, am I right in assuming I will need to reinstall my operating system?

uberpixie

qwertplaywert wrote: »

Question. If I replace my current hard drive with a new one, am I right in assuming I will need to reinstall my operating system?

Yes.

newbie2

you could opt for an external usb hard drive.

ethernet

qwertplaywert wrote: »

Question. If I replace my current hard drive with a new one, am I right in assuming I will need to reinstall my operating system?

You can clone your hard drive to the new one and everything should work just fine: OS, apps, docs, the lot. I use Acronis True Image but Norton Ghost does the job as well.