If I buy a bigger hard drive for my laptop, will it make my computer run faster or just increase the memory?

Answer 1

A bigger hard drive (or hdd) will not, by itself, make your computer run any faster. The rate at which data is transferred into your computer's memory may be faster than your old hdd so that may make a small difference to the speed at which applications or files are opened.

A larger HDD simply gives you more "cupboard space" to store applications and files.

To increase the speed of your laptop you should upgrade (in this order), 1) the memory. More and faster memory will allow applications to load much more quickly, 2) the processor. This will run your applications faster when they have been loaded to memory, 3) the motherboard. If you get as far as 3), you might as well buy a new laptop!

It is quite easy to upgrade these components in a desktop pc but not in a laptop. Consequently if you really need a laptop, always buy the highest spec you can afford.

Answer 2

It depends what the bottleneck in you performance is - if the problem is RAM for example, a bigger faster disk will not help.
It also depends on the hard drive - the impact of the hard drive on performance depends on the write time and read time of the disk, which is driven by the rpm of the disk, transfer speed, buffers etc. a larger but slower hard disk will not necessarily help performance. If your laptop does not have sufficient RAM to take advantage of a bigger, faster disk, you will also not get any benefit.
Where you can get improvements is that if you have more space on the disk you will get less fragmentation (you need to run defrag regularly) and you can have a larger windows swap file, which will speed up the laptop if you run concurrent windows.
Usually the best way to improve performance is to add memory - RAM - it will almost always improve performance.

Answer 3

Usually a hard disk doesnt give a significant boost to system speed unless u are running windows XP and u are running low on virtual space. So basically changing it will just increase the amount of storage space.

Go for RAM or or just compare prices for newer laptops if ur laptop is old. They are getting cheaper every day and upgrading a laptop is usually not a good idea.

Answer 4

The only way to increase memory is install more memory sticks, I noticed nobody has touched on the subject of disc compression, a method af gaining more storage space on your computer, like everything else if you have done this then you will notice a marked deteriation in performance replacing it with a bigger drive with a faster spin speed will actually speed it up

Answer 5

It may make the laptop run a little faster if your current drive is near full, but all it will really do is give you more storage space. The only way to increase the memory is to add more memory.

Answer 6

Generally no, but if your HD has little room on it, there will be no room for virtual memory - The is where the computer uses the HD as extra memory. This is very very slow. Extra ram will increase speed - Check the motherboard to see how much it will take!

Answer 7

2 things: never install something just to try-it-on. Next. to run a system faster you need more memory. Basically when your machine slows down, even on internet connection, you got a virus or spyware running all over the system.

Does your machine crashes?

It´s time to make way for a good anti-v (antivirus)

Answer 8

HDD increases the storage space. RAM and CPU contribute towards a fast running laptop.

Answer 9

Totally agree with Zenon - T. There are better and cheaper laptops about now. But if buying a Hard Drive try and get one that spins at 7200rpm. Most HD spins at 5400rpm.

Answer 10

If your laptop is running slow, and you are running windows XP Operating system, Have you run disk clean-up and Defrag these will recompile your system files enabling the access of data to be faster. The other advice about up-dating you memmory Etc. is all sound advice