in need of more hard drive space (1 Viewer)

[stella8h8chang]

Ok...for the past 5 years I have scrimped and scramped on 40GB for my old faithful desktop (crashed less than 10x in the last 5 years).

Now I've started recording all my study notes into sound files. Latin takes up 200MB on its own, just to give you an indication. So I am running out of space very very fast.

I noticed you can get 160GB for under $100, which looks rather good. Not being ripped off, am I? Or should I go bigger - I've seen 300GB drives. I'd like to know 2 things...

a) I'm wayyy too lazy at this point and time to start afresh with a new drive, installing every piece of crappy software. What would happen if I plugged my new drive to run as a second hard drive? Is this a good idea? I'm guessing I'll need another bracket (where can I buy one?) and a very good torch (to see inside my computer), and Google.

b) 160GB looks really generous. My stuff could get lost in that wilderness - partitioning I guess is the way to go? How big should I make the partitions? I'm thinking a 30GB one to backup my iPod video to and then just split the remaining into 65GB things? I've never partitioned before (I didn't see the point in splitting my precious 40GB, and besides the iPod doesn't fit as it is) so I need some advice... please?

P.S. I just pulled my case off. The stuff is quite old, but my dad says that maybe we can drill in a "side bracket" for the hard drive because there's lots of empty space in the sides. We can't put in a "double bracket" because my hard drive is set up perpendicularly. Good news though; there is a plug for another drive on the motherboard?

 

[sunny]

I noticed you can get 160GB for under $100, which looks rather good. Not being ripped off, am I? Or should I go bigger - I've seen 300GB drives. I'd like to know 2 things...

You can never have enough disk space. If a drive is within your price range and you don't feel too guilty then buy it. Just look out for price hikes for the highest available capacities. For example right now you might notice bigger price jumps between 400GB and 300GB drives, and smaller difference between 200GB and 300GB drives.

a) I'm wayyy too lazy at this point and time to start afresh with a new drive, installing every piece of crappy software. What would happen if I plugged my new drive to run as a second hard drive? Is this a good idea? I'm guessing I'll need another bracket (where can I buy one?) and a very good torch (to see inside my computer), and Google.

I take it you've already seen that you don't have more space inside your computer for another disk to be installed (unusual, since generic cases can take 2-3 cramped together). In that case, you can buy a bracket to convert one of your spare 5.25" bays into an extra hard disk rack. If you're feeling adventurous theres probably no problem in you jerry rigging something inside the case to hold the drive in place yourself provided you've take some precautions.

b) 160GB looks really generous. My stuff could get lost in that wilderness - partitioning I guess is the way to go? How big should I make the partitions?

Thats up to you. Nobody knows your usage pattern better than you do. You should be able to decide how you want your drive partitioned yourself. I recently replaced a 27GB and 80GB with a single 300GB, partitioned into 20GB for Windows, 10 for Linux, 15 for my work, and the rest for various files.

I've never partitioned before (I didn't see the point in splitting my precious 40GB, and besides the iPod doesn't fit as it is) so I need some advice... please?

Partitioning can be done in a million and one ways. If you're just going to add the new drive into your computer and keep your old as well, then you will be able to format it from within Windows relatively easily. Google is your friend.

Good news though; there is a plug for another drive on the motherboard?

Most (older) motherboards can connect up to 4 IDE devices (hdd, CD, etc). There should be two sockets, and the cable coming out of the socket should be able to connect to two devices.