i mean someone gave me 3 hard drives out of computers they had and i was wondering how do you know what are good ones and not so good ones.they dont know about hard drives either(the person that gave then to me)thanks.
2007-03-21 06:08:01 · 9 answers · asked by lori b 5 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Other - Hardware
one is 30.7 GB
one is 30.0 GB
one is 120.0 GB
2007-03-21 06:35:50 · update #1
Turn your computer off and take the side cover off of your computer.
Disconnect the hard-drive cables from your computer -- the wide flat gray cable with 50 wires, and the power cable with thick colored wires.
Connect the hard drive you want to test (power and flat data cable) -- just let it hang out the side of your computer.
Power the computer up and see if it boots. If it boots, then you have a good hard drive. You'd be suprised what some people leave on their old hard drives!
If it doesn't boot, then you can still see if the BIOS recognizes it, but that's a little too much to explain in this Yahoo.answer box.
Repeat the above for the other hard-drives.
When you are done, turn off the power, reconnect your hard-drive, and replace the side cover
.
2007-03-21 06:17:55 · answer #1 · answered by tlbs101 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I assume you mean how do you tell if a harddrive is good (operating) or faulty. Well, first I would look at the label on the top of the drive, and see if it is even worth it. If it is less than 10 GB, don't bother.
Then hook it up in your machine as a slave, and see if it operates.
Here are a few links.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mysuperpc.com/hard_drive_wd2500jd_label.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mysuperpc.com/harddrive.shtml&h=450&w=511&sz=49&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=ruSB8-4bFirUJM:&tbnh=115&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dharddrive%2Blabel%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den
http://www.pcmech.com/show/harddrive/43/
http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/archive/g0710/12g10/12g10.asp&guid=
2007-03-21 13:27:32 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
ok. most older hard rives comes with jumpers, get a hard drive without jumpers, the newer the better, i remeber in class, we had a 30 gb, i think it was 20, and it was called big foot!!
i actually lifted it, it was not even that heavy. it was flat, and wide. it was cool. and a good hard drive would be maxtor, like the kind im using.
2007-03-21 13:16:15 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Depend on the rpm if the rpm is over 7,500rpm it is really good below may cause the hard drive to slow down
2007-03-21 14:50:00 · answer #4 · answered by BK_1 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would do a search for the model numbers that are listed on the drive.
That will give you the specifications, then it is as simple as comparing the Cache, RPM and capacity.
2007-03-21 13:12:37 · answer #5 · answered by Bjorn 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
All hard drives are pretty much the same it just all depends on how they are format it! For more info just read from hte website below!!!
http://computersguide.blogspot.com/2007/02/allocation-unit-size_16.html
2007-03-21 13:15:52 · answer #6 · answered by dabedatiludlisi 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Format them and then scan them and check how much on the disk is bad sectors... scrap them if there are significant bad sectors (like... more than 1% indicated the drive is old and infirm) or if bad sectors are appearing.
Or if they make nasty grinding noises
2007-03-21 13:15:36 · answer #7 · answered by bambamitsdead 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
general rule:the more space the better.It should tell the size somewhere on the top label.It may take some looking but it is there...
2007-03-21 13:13:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Read reviews from newegg.com
2007-03-21 13:10:58 · answer #9 · answered by jeff c 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋