Hard Drive Question

BCB

I need to get a bigger hard drive for my PC,i currently have a 20GB which isnt very good for storing lots of photos and MP3`s,etc..when i get a new one how can i be 100% everything on my current hard drive will be on the new one?Do i have to save everything and if so how`s the best way?Also is there any other way whereas i can continue to download music whereas i dont need to get a new hard drive or is it essential i do get a larget capacity one..sorry im not great when it comes to this sort of thing so any help appreciated.....

garthv

Yeh you can leave your old hard drive in your pc and just hook a second one up.
It'll look like you have two drives ( a c:\ and an extra drive d:\ or maybe e:\ ) and all your files will be on your old hard drive and you'll have all the extra space of the new hard drive

BCB

cheers..how do i go about attaching the new hard drive then?

garthv

you need to set the jumpers on your original hard drive to master w/slave and then set the jumpers on your new hard drive to slave the hook up the ide and power cables and roberts your fathers brother

BCB

GaRtH_V wrote:

you need to set the jumpers on your original hard drive to master w/slave and then set the jumpers on your new hard drive to slave the hook up the ide and power cables and roberts your fathers brother

:eek: jaysus mate how the hell can i do that all sounds very complicated to me

formatman

If you need to keep the OS the same and software that is installed on the old hard drive , you can add the extra hard drive and clone the original using Partition magic, too many steps to mention in this post ...

If you are asking how to install a new hard drive you are better getting a shop or computer consutant to do it for you,

I can recommend a few if you want

Chalk

buy the hard drive first

its easier than it sounds and isnt that hard to explain once its sitting in front of you,
easier than wiring a plug tbh

BCB

cheers when i buy it ill post again and hopefully someone can show me how to install it...

Inspector Gadget

This all appears to be a bit of a new adventure for you, BCB, so I'll offer you a few hints in case they help.

1) If your computer is of the same vintage as that 20GB disk, then it's highly likely that it can't make full use of drives larger than 137GB (possibly 40GB, if it's _really_ old). The largest commonly-available size below that limit is 120GB, so if you don't want to buy a controller card as well, go for something 120GB or smaller.

2) You'll want a 3.5" drive for a desktop machine; the 2.5" ones are for laptops and are more expensive (largely due to miniaturisations costs).

3) The disks are called "IDE/ATA" because of the connectors they use and the "language" they speak to the rest of the computer. Examples of these drives can be found here:

http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?bn=10089&sortBy=p&minprice=&maxPrice=

(Remember, 120GB or less, unless you want to buy a controller card as well)

Also, avoid drives marked as "Serial ATA", "SATA" (the same thing) or "SCSI", as they will probably involve you having to buy a controller card to use them.


Do a google for installation guides - something like this ( http://www.sharkyextreme.com/hardware/guides/hard_drive_install/index.shtml ) shouldn't be too bad, but I'm sure there are more recent guides out there.

Hope this helps,
Gadget

ricey

iv 120gb hd now and its full if i waz u id try get the biggest hd
you can get cant hurt 2 hav the space!

Ruu_Old

if u dont want to mess with the inside of ur computer, get an external USB drive, just plugs into ur usb port if u have one. i'll post a link for it later.

bounty

BCB wrote:

:eek: jaysus mate how the hell can i do that all sounds very complicated to me

jumpers are just little plastic things that cover little metal prongs at the end of your hard drive

there will be a sticker on your hard drive, like this one



just fiddle about with them