Hey there,
I want to take out this little 3 gig hard drive and get something like a 10 or 20 gig. What should I look for? Im no Computer guru or anything I just want a decent hard drive that runs pretty fast.

Thanks for your help!!


Edit to ask, Should I keep away from buying used from ebay?

There are a lot of choices depending on what kind you're looking for (IDE, SCSI) and what you plan to use it for. Price in based on the type of interface, size, access time, cache size, etc.

What kind of system are we talking about?

I would probably avoid eBay for anything that has moving parts. :) Unless it's new, of course.

IDE, SCSI ?? whoa now Im really at a loss

the PC I am using here at home is a Compaq Presario # 5220  I dont know how many Mghz it has or anything.

I really want a bigger HD for more storage and fast access to loading pages and documents.

Buy a Western Digital / Seagate / Maxtor 5700 RPM hard drive.

You need to answer the following:
Do you have an IDE cable open?
What operating system do you have?
Can you format a disk?

Since all of your program files are on the slow 3 gig hard drive you are still going to have slow access problems.

Assuming you have a typical, fairly modern PC, you should look for an ATA-66 or ATA-100 IDE drive. The only real variables are capacity, speed, and manufacturer. You've already got a capacity in mind. As for speed, most drives today are 5400RPM or 7200RPM. 5400 is slower but runs cooler, 7200 is faster but runs hotter. You'll probably be happy with either one; but if you get a 7200RPM drive make sure to check that it's not too hot after a few hours of operation (it should be warm to the touch, but not painfully hot - like an AR after the first mag or two :) ). I wouldn't go faster than 7200RPM unless you are ready to buy extra fans.

There is just about as much contention about hard drive companies as about AR-type rifle companies :). There is no clear best choice. Everyone has stories about company X's drives failing after two weeks, or running fine for ten years... That said, my personal experience has been that Seagate and IBM drives tend to fail suddenly, and that Maxtor and Western Digital drives tend to run fine. (but I'm sure you'd be able to find someone who says the exact opposite =)

I wouldn't buy used. A hard drive has a limited useful life (say anywhere from 2-5 years), after which it will eventually fail. They are so cheap anyway you might as well buy new - the other day I got a 40GB 5400RPM drive for my mom for $70. (it was a Western Digital, from www.mwave.com).

This is a desktop system, correct? It has an IDE/EIDE, Ultra DMA/ATA-33 interface with an 8 gig drive, correct? If this is the case, you can get an additional drive for really cheap. I would keep the old one in for the OS, add the new drive as an extended partition (D:), and you should be cool. You have a lot of choices as your drive interface is very common.

Thanks to all those who helped!
Now I have a little more knowledge before buying. [beer]

Wow! All this talk of big storage space...3 gigs, 20 gigs.... I remember the first computer I used, my parents bought it, and were teased for buying a computer with a 20 Megabyte (1/1024 of what you're looking at) Hard Drive. nobody saw a use for one. but alas, times have changed, I'm running 160GB... and I am on the low end of storage space in my dorms, lots of people have over 200GB

I have had awful luck with hard drives in the past few years.  I bought a new Western Digital 13 gig drive, which crashed after about 6 months.  

They replaced it under warranty, and that one lasted about 11 months.  

I put in a new 30 gig Maxtor which lasted another 6 months.  

I replaced it with a 60 GB Western Digital a few months ago which is now making the dreaded clacking sound occasionally.  Fortunately I often Ghost my hard drive to the replacement drive that Maxtor sent me.

I don't know where you can buy a good hard drive anymore, they all seem to suck equally.

First thing you need to do is to research the capabilities of your machine a bit more.  If it was originally equipped with a 3 GB drive, odds are that the BIOS only allows IDE drives to natively use a maximum capacity of 8.4GB each.  If that's the case, make sure you buy a retail drive that bundles software that allows you to work around that limitation (you will end up with a number of virtual drives each < 8.4GB on that physical drive.)

One thing: do *not* buy an IDE drive from IBM.  Their design has had serious problems with premature failures the last couple of years and they are in the midst of a class-action lawsuit because of it.

What to look for?

Almost anything that doesn't say "IBM" on it.

Go 7200 RPM.


[b]larry_b[/b]:
Do you have any more info on that class action lawsuit?  My brother was one of the people swindled by IBM with a crappy drive and then a crappy replacement (from the country of TURKEY, no less) which died a month after being received.