my girlfriends pcs hard drive stopped working.... i need help about installing a new one.... (note: the other hdd stopped working completly, nothing on there was backed up) do we have to buy a certain type of hd? will i need any special software? thanks
Ok, i take it that your using an older computer, not a new comptuer, so you would need to buy an IDE Hard Drive. Depending on the age of the computer, as to what size it will support. What motherboard do you have ? No special software is needed, just the OS disc, and other software installed on the PC. Basically all you have to do is, un-plug the IDE cable and Power Molex out of the hard drive, unscrew it, and plug the other in the same way. CJC
Yes as punx777 you just need to fit the new as you to the the same position the old one was fitted.Also ensure the new drive is set to master.On the back of the new dive you should have some little pins with a little plastic plug covering one of the pins.On the top of the drive it should give some directions to indicate which is slave and master.Your bios should pick the drive up straight way once the power is on.Then it is a case of installing windows any hardware not detected by windows and your software.This is the harder part of fitting the new hard drive.Any problems get back to us and we will assist. Sorry forgot to say ide drive is the best type of drive to go for considering the age of your pc. _X_X_X_X_X_[small] Who is the man behind the mask A7V8X-X XP2800+,2x120gb,1Gig Ram Ati 128mb Graphics 2 x dvd Lite-on 411S NEC 2510A os windows xp sp1[/small]
so ill need to buy another disk of windows right (which sucks) is IDE a brand? does it matter if the drive is ntfs or fat32? or what...... (sorry i know very little about hds..... thanks alot
Assuming you have the packet of cds that came with your Dell, you wouldn't need to purchase another copy of Windows. You already own the license to the copy you were using, so you would just have to reinstall the OS. You may have to call Microsoft if you have a problem activating Windows (I think this is only on XP), but if you explain your situation they will give you a code to do this.
You might not have to buy another version of windows. But since it came with a dell, im not sure if they give you a copy of windows seperate or integreated everyting into a recovery CD. IDE is the interface. Western Digital, Seagate etc are the brand. The drive will come with no file system on it, but when you install windows, if your using 98 you choose Fat32, if your using 2k/XP you choose NTFS. Most of the old Mac's had SCSI hard drives apart from the PowerPC Mac's, which wouldnt go into your PC without a Controller Card. And most of those were smaller sizes, therefore you wont have much space. You are better off to buy a new hard drive that you will know that works. CJC
alright you have answered everything THANKS ALOT..... now, 1 more, on my 1 y/o hp..... (i regret buying an hp, DONT EVER BUY ONE).... there is 1 large (233g) and one small hd(13 g) the large is ntfs and the small is written in fat32... is that normal or what.... (sorry, im into more of the software side of computers... i know very little about hardware)
Yes and No. It wont harm the computer, but IMO i would convert it. I take it ur using either 2k or XP Click Start -> Run -> and type CMD Once the command prompt has opened type CONVERT Z: /FS:NTFS (Z: being the hard drive u want to convert, so if the Smaaller HDD is D:, change Z to D) CJC
I had an HP before I built my system and if it was anything like yours, then you really don't have two different HDs. Its actually one HD that is just partitioned into two where the "c: drive" is your main storage partition (the 233gb) and the "d: drive" (the 13gb) is set up by HP to be used as a recovery drive if anything should go wrong on your other partition. Anyway, that is how mine was. Unless you have already used the 233gb and really need the additional 13gb, I wouldn't mess with it, but then again, I'm not that knowledgable about the NTFS and FAT32.
if ur old hard drive is less yhan 3 years old their cud b a claim on (send it back to the manufacturer and they will give u a new hard drive) am i a genius
