I believe my hard drive is dying (springing noises and computer crashes) so I need to pick out a new one. Can someone break down the things to look for in a new drive? I run Win2k. tia Dustin
Any IDE 7200 RPM drive should do. Maxtor and Western Digital the most common ones on sale. I would Back up your important data right now. Buy two drives, one for data and one for the operating system and applications.
http://www.salescircular.com/ This will show all the electronics for sale in your state; a lot easier than sifting through the Sunday newspaper supplements.
Dustin, As previously stated, any 7200 rpm will do fine (the 5400 rpm's are about $20-$30 cheaper and not worth it). The key is to backup your data RIGHT NOW, as your drive can go at any moment. I've been in computers for a long time, had many hard drives fail over the years, and often they give no warning. When they do, as in your case, be very grateful, and act on it pronto. If, for some reason, you have no means to back up your data, then leave your computer running continuously (ok to turn off the monitor), as it will probably fail when you are turning it on.
IBM Deskstar is good. I used Seagate like 5 years ago. Spin is too noisy. After that, all my HDD has been with IBM. This is what I will do. Get a new HDD. 1) Remove the old HDD 2) Put in the new one. 3) Connect the old on to the 2 nd IDE cable. 4) Install W2K on the new one. 5) Hopefully when you are done, W2K will recognise you old HDD. 6) Then copy whatever you need from old to new HDD. Done Deal!
IBM Deskstar RULES! Seriously, I've used many many other hard drives. IBM is the most reliable. Try the 80GB Deskstar 120GXP. It retails for ~150. Also, you may need a new controller card if you don't support ATA133. The drive will work on older controllers, but you won't get awesome throughput. Get a Promise Ultra133 TX2. IMO, There is no other choice. Mike
Great advise. Back that puppy up now! IF it's making noise - don't even power down. It might not spin up again. Mike
I have already backed up everything important...now I'm just trying to get my mp3's on CD-R which doesn't seem to be working (I know, time for a new computer). If I hook up the new drive along side the old one, can I then remove the old drive after I copy my mp3's over?
I just found out that my CD-R isn't compatible with Win2k...doh! So can anyone answer my earlier question about removing the old drive after copying stuff over to the new drive?? Thanks