the computer upgrader - check drives

Check drives

Nearly all personal computer disk drives are IDE drives. IDE serve as the main information storage and retrieval devices on a computer. Included in this category are the hard drives for storing files and the operating system on, the CD-Burners and Zip drives to back up files and music, and DVD Roms, for playing movies on DVDs. If you don't have access to any of these drives, and would like to, it might be a good idea to pick one up.

The best way to make a decision as to whether or not you need a new hard drive is by comparing your usage to the size of drive you have. If all that you use the computer for is word processing and email, a 5-10 gigabyte hard drive may suffice. However, if you have a broadband connection and download music and video files on a regular basis, you will probably want at least a 30 gigabyte hard drive. In any event, if you have to regularly consider the size of a program before installing it, or have to delete files off your hard drive for space considerations more than once a month, you should probably upgrade.

IDE: Integrated Drive Electronics - just what you thought it meant eh? Basically a fancy name for "drive".

Hard Drive: This is the storage medium of your computer. The main drive ("C:\" on windows systems, "/" on Linux or Unix systems) is where your operating system will be located. If you are running Windows 98 or later, you will need a minimum of 1 gigabyte of space, and will probably want at least 5-10 gigabytes. Note that if you are storing or manipulating large media files, you may want to invest in a signifigantly larger drive, 30-60 gigabytes or more.

CD-RW: A CD-RW writes data onto blank CDs, thus providing a safe storage for data. Another common use is to make music cds, which most normal CD-players will play.

DVD-ROM: DVD-ROMs allow playback of DVDs on your computer, through software designed to play them. However, if your computer is under 400 megahertz, you may have difficulties with playback, unless you have an up to date graphics card, or a dedicated MPEG decoded card.

The hard drive is one of the most frequently upgraded parts of a computer. Its function is to store the user's programs, data, and operating system files. How much hard drive space one needs depends heavily on the individual user; however, it's also fairly easy to tell. If you are having to delete things off your computer due to lack of space, it may be time to invest in a new hard drive. Luckily, due to their strict adherence to standards, almost any computer running at least Windows 95 can upgrade their hard drive with minimal problems.

Nearly all computers will allow you to run two hard drives at once, you can keep your original data in place and either use the new drive for additional storage or install a new operating system on it. See upgrading your OS.

As for other drives, a CD-RW drive (A.K.A. "CD Burner") is an excellent upgrade, providing both an alternative to buying a larger hard drive, and a means of backing up important files. A DVD-ROM drive can turn your computer into a DVD player for half the cost of most commercial solutions.

Best of all, all of these drives tend to follow the IDE standard specification, which means that you can essentially just pick them up, put them in your machine (or have someone put them in for you) and you are done.

resource management group, inc. - terms of use and privacy policy

This website is part of a worldwide effort to make
the entire lifecycle of computer equipment more productive
and lessen the environmental impact of computer manufacturing and use.