I'm looking to buy another hard drive. advice?

Question

If I was to buy a 500GB harddrive, should I get internal or external?

If internal, is it possible to make it my default harddrive without losing any files I have on my current one?

uhh.. my comps like.. I don't know I got it back in December '05

What's more expensive?

internal or external?

Answer 1

Definitely go internal,external is just to slow except for backups or extra storage space.If you are unsure of how to transfer your old drive data try a program called Ghost.It will make an exact copy of your old drive.Personally I always like to start clean with a fresh install of the OS.Burn any data you want to keep to CD and move it to the new drive.You will end up with a faster running OS and loose any spy ware,ad ware and viruses that might exist on your old drive,not to mention a cleaner registry.Reset your old drive to slave,reformat it and use it for extra storage.You might want to think about partitioning off a gig or two on the 500 gig drive to store important info you need to handy and safe just in case your Windows gets trashed and you need to format and reinstall.

Answer 2

I would first like to counter what a person said about getting a Maxtor even though seagate bought them out. I would go with anything but Maxtor!!!!!! I have seen too many of their HD's burn out after 3 years!!! On the other hand WD has more than proved themselves!! 10 years and going strong!!!! OK I would say go internal the likely hood that you will have a power surge that will blow your internal HD is not too high. I have had a bunch of lightning strikes and only had either a modem or a nic fried. An internal would be faster and cheaper. Although if you want a portable HD get an external they are great fun!! it all depends what you want!

Rock On!!

Answer 3

Internal drives are almost always cheaper.

For example, a 300 gig fantom external costs $129.99.
A maxtor 300 gig internal costs $99.99

Same speed, same cache size. Big difference in price

Also, internals tend to be a faster then externals, especially on SATA drives and they develop bad sectors less frequently due to not being shut off and on on a regular basis.

I'm assuming you're talking about default as the drive you boot from. Programs like Norton's Ghost can copy everything on a drive to another without problems of installation, aka, if you just copy paste, programs won't work.

I don't really see why you would though, unless you're going to partion off part of the drive just for OS.

Answer 4

Consumer reports is a good place to check on hard drives...the good and bad points of each brand. Id suggest to make a complete back up disk , then make you're new hard (if replacing the old one)drive internal if space is there. Put in the new hard drive. Go through the steps to install it. choose as default. Then load what you want from you're back up disk. Id ask in some stores the same questions....if they think your going to buy there they can be more informative..ah again the power of the almighty dollar! Ask in different stores or friends that have done this. make sure you have a power surge protector.(has a fuse inside) And if you're really serious about you're computer...get a power conditioner ( it keeps the flow of electricity even) people don't realize slight wavering of current (60 cycle) can wear out and sometimes even cause damage to your computer.

Answer 5

That depends on your needs. Internal drives are usually a little bit cheaper and they aren't as prone to damage (i.e. kid looking for something on the counter). Externals are easier to use and you can take them anywhere.

You first need to decide a capacity. What fits your needs? Family Pictures? A lot of documents? Gamer? You need to decide that for yourself. I am a bit of a power user, and I've eaten though half of a 300GB drive already.

For the ease of use I recommend that you get an external drive. You can get whatever floats your boat but I like Seagates for their reliability and quietness, very high quality. Most Seagate drives require a power connection (to the wall) but this isn't so bad- many laptops and USB computer ports don't provide enough power any way.

I recommend any Seagate External USB drive. They are pretty affordable and work without drivers.

Answer 6

You can put an internal drive into your computer and install windows on it and copy files from your original drive to it and then open your computer again and rearrange the drives so the new one is your master. But you don't have to go through all of that. Only get an external drive if you want to use it on more than one computer.

Answer 7

YOU BETTER SEE HOW OLD YOU COMPUTER IS, IF ITS MAYBE 10 - 15 YRS OLD IT WONT SEE A 500 GIG IT MIGHT SEE A 200 GIG IS ALL, IF YOU DO I WOULD GO WITH AN EXTURNAL HD SO YOU CAN TAKE IT PLACES, MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE GOTTEN A 2.0 USB PORTS INSTEAD OF 1.1 BECAUSE IT WILL SLOW IT DOWN LIKE YOU WOULD NOT BELEIVE, SO IF YOU DONT HAVE A 2.0 PORT YOU WILL HAVE TO GO AND GET A PCI 2.0 USB CARD MAYBE AT WALMART OR MAYBE AT OFFICE DEPOT? HOPE THIS HELPED,,:-)

Answer 8

If you want to put your operating system on the new drive you should get an internal drive.

You can transfer all your files to the new drive.

What I would do is add the new drive and keep your original. You can run them both.

Answer 9

Yes you can make it your defualt but you would have to copy your files including operating system from your old drive to make everything run smoothly. Otherwise 500 internal is a good choice.

Answer 10

well you have to think about do you need to have such a large storage device external, since it will not be as fast as internal, u would only have that sort of drive if you need to connect it to other pc's/laptops.
i would get a 250gb internal SATA by western digital. and a 250gb external.