If I install a new hard drive, will I also have to purchase an O.S.? Or can I just use the system restore CD's that came with the original comp. to reload the O.S.? Any recommendations for HD's... are they all compatible? Cheap is OK 'cause it's a secondary (old) compaq presario for the kids. Thanks.
Maxtor 40GB HD $34.84, Aug 24 Code: 92923224 Maxtor 40GB 7200RPM Hard drive $79.84 - $15 in link - $30 rebate = $34.84 shipped free. Item 368121 $30 rebate Exp 8/30/03 heres a deal http://rebates.teg-online.com/officedepot/Rebate_Print_Frameset.asp?Item_Key=66056
Most, if not all, of the hard drive manufacturers now have a software program that allows you to copy over the contents of the old drive to the new drive. It's not very complicated if your computer savvy at all. Way better than using the restore CD.
If your existing hard drive is still running OK, why not just install a second hard drive without doing a complete re-install? This will be a lot less hassle. Runningbear
First off, use your System Resource CD to reinstall your OS. It's WAY better than using the CD from the OS. Secondly, I can't help but recommend the Western Digital Serial ATA Drive called the "Raptor". It only eats up 10 watts, and runs at 10,000 rpm with data transfer rates that are equal to that of a SCSI drive, yet there is no need for a controller card if you have one of the more recent motherboards that supports Serial ATA. ( I believe the Intel 875 and 865 chipsets support Serial ATA ). The "Raptor" is 36.7 Gigs and comes with an 8mb buffer which speeds thgings up bigtime! It costs $134.00 on www.newegg.com and is great if you do a lot of "reading" and "writing".
waggie945, I read a review that the Raptor runs a bit hot. Have you found this to be the case? Runningbear
Dear Waggie, I agree with everything you say waggie, but would like to add the following: $134.00 is a lot for 36.7Gigs. In most applications your would be better off staying at 7,200rpm disks and for the same money getting something like 150Gigs or more. You should of course get a type with an internal 8Mbytes buffer, on the average this improves performance already a lot. The post following yours points out that a 10,000rpm unit runs rather hot. I learned not too trust the mtbf figures too much as given by manufacturers - how can you check this. I had too many 50,000 and 100,000hrs mtbf units fail after less than 10,000hrs, especially if it are new gadgets. I strictly go by the temperature now (haha!, here we go again!) So ponder whether you really want a "little" raptor. waggie is correct though it is the "best", but I would only go for it if i really need it. Best regards, nononsense
I think, too, that 10-kRPM @ $134 is more than most would need. Most applications run in memory, so a faster drive makes no difference. Unless 'bronks' is running a disk-I/O-intensive data base server, I think he'd be fine with a standard 7200-RPM ATA IDE disk drive. Not much disk I/O with my trading work station set-up. I like the Seagate Barracuda's. They've been around awhile (field tested and stable), have good support, and come with a downloadable utility called 'DiscWizard' that will aid you with a smooth transition from old to new drive. I have four. No probs. You can get a 40-GB drive for ~$70-75 @ Dell, when on sale. Good luck!