Question: Installing new Hard Drive/ Looking for Advice

shadowq2 · 06-25-2008, 06:43 PM

Hello everyone!

I'm looking to upgrade from my 80 gig hard drive to 500-750 gig hard drive. I'm curious what steps I need to take prior to installing, such as identifying whether or not my current hardware would be compatible with a new hard drive. I believe, if I am correct, once you install the drive you just insert the Operating System disk into your dvd-rom and all things are good?

Anyway, I'm looking to purchase the below hard drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136073
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136218
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288

Is Seagate or Western Digital better over the other?

Current Specs:
OS: Windows XP Home Edition
Motherboard: MSI MS-7260
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
Memory: 3328MB RAM (4gig total)
Audio: Sound Blaster X-Fi
Video: Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTS

I appreciate your advice!

**Fox** · 06-25-2008, 06:58 PM

I would go for the Seagate, based on my personal preference, although I think that most failed drives are the fault of the shipping company rather than the drive manufacturer.

I will say though, that I've seen the WD 640 specifically mentioned as being a really excellent drive as far as both price and performance are concerned.

And yes, it is usually that simple as far as set-up goes. Since you have SATA, you can pretty much assume that even the most capacious modern drives will be compatible with your hardware.

shadowq2 · 06-25-2008, 07:08 PM

Thanks for your reply!

I'm new to the building and upgrade world of computers.. is there a major difference in 8mb/16mb/32mb cache? (Edit) I'm glad my computer is capable of using just about any type of hard drive out there.. I just recently obtained a copy of Adobe CS3 Master Suite and found out there wasn't much room left on my hard drive from having a few games installed and other business related files hanging around. To know I can upgrade makes me a happy camper, haha!

Again, I appreciate your advice!

craigwatanabe · 06-26-2008, 02:34 AM

The larger the cache the better. It's like a staging area for data so the read/write times are faster.

In your case are you upgrading because you have a lot of programs? Or are you going to use that extra storage space simply for data?

If it's for data, I'd leave your operating system and it's programs on the 80gb hard drive and use the larger hard drive as an internal back up drive for your data or massive iTunes collection.

Putting your operating system and data on the same hard drive is a recipe for disaster especially when you're talking storage as you describe. What if your OS crashes or becomes corrupted and you don't have the luxury (or late night computer geek friend) of data retrieval with another computer.

By using the 500-750gb hard drive as a secondary slave drive, who cares if you have to reinstall Windows, your data is on another drive that won't be reformatted and lost.

rockstat · 06-26-2008, 08:36 AM

My personal preference too is a Seagate. WD's work alright but have the highest number of complaints and failure rate is high as well. Seagate/Maxtor now one company, make nice drives. They basically use the latest technology on all of their hard drives so they crash less.

WD uses old technology on their cheap/reasonable drives but use the latest ones on their higher end ones such as the enterprise level.

**Fox** · 06-26-2008, 10:15 AM

Yep, that sounds pretty reasonable.

Also, from what I've seen on Hitachi, they make very respectable, cheap and large drives.

06-25-2008, 06:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
shadowq2 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 12 OS: Windows XP	Question: Installing new Hard Drive/ Looking for Advice Hello everyone! I'm looking to upgrade from my 80 gig hard drive to 500-750 gig hard drive. I'm curious what steps I need to take prior to installing, such as identifying whether or not my current hardware would be compatible with a new hard drive. I believe, if I am correct, once you install the drive you just insert the Operating System disk into your dvd-rom and all things are good? Anyway, I'm looking to purchase the below hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136073 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136218 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148288 Is Seagate or Western Digital better over the other? Current Specs: OS: Windows XP Home Edition Motherboard: MSI MS-7260 Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.0GHz Memory: 3328MB RAM (4gig total) Audio: Sound Blaster X-Fi Video: Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTS I appreciate your advice!

06-25-2008, 06:58 PM	#2 (permalink)
Fox Moderator, Microsoft Support Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 7,735 OS: XP Pro, CentOS My System	Re: Question: Installing new Hard Drive/ Looking for Advice I would go for the Seagate, based on my personal preference, although I think that most failed drives are the fault of the shipping company rather than the drive manufacturer. I will say though, that I've seen the WD 640 specifically mentioned as being a really excellent drive as far as both price and performance are concerned. And yes, it is usually that simple as far as set-up goes. Since you have SATA, you can pretty much assume that even the most capacious modern drives will be compatible with your hardware. __________________ Antec Neo Power 500W, ABIT IP35-E, Intel E2180@2.66Ghz, Corsair XMS2 2x1GB DDR2-800, PNY 8800GT, 320GB Seagate * lazy college student alert *- If I've inadvertently ignored a thread, please Let me know about it Have I helped you solve your problem? Donate to Techsupportforums Klart Skepp!

06-25-2008, 07:08 PM	#3 (permalink)
shadowq2 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 12 OS: Windows XP	Re: Question: Installing new Hard Drive/ Looking for Advice Thanks for your reply! I'm new to the building and upgrade world of computers.. is there a major difference in 8mb/16mb/32mb cache? (Edit) I'm glad my computer is capable of using just about any type of hard drive out there.. I just recently obtained a copy of Adobe CS3 Master Suite and found out there wasn't much room left on my hard drive from having a few games installed and other business related files hanging around. To know I can upgrade makes me a happy camper, haha! Again, I appreciate your advice! Last edited by shadowq2 : 06-25-2008 at 07:11 PM.

06-26-2008, 02:34 AM	#4 (permalink)
craigwatanabe Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 262 OS: xp	Re: Question: Installing new Hard Drive/ Looking for Advice The larger the cache the better. It's like a staging area for data so the read/write times are faster. In your case are you upgrading because you have a lot of programs? Or are you going to use that extra storage space simply for data? If it's for data, I'd leave your operating system and it's programs on the 80gb hard drive and use the larger hard drive as an internal back up drive for your data or massive iTunes collection. Putting your operating system and data on the same hard drive is a recipe for disaster especially when you're talking storage as you describe. What if your OS crashes or becomes corrupted and you don't have the luxury (or late night computer geek friend) of data retrieval with another computer. By using the 500-750gb hard drive as a secondary slave drive, who cares if you have to reinstall Windows, your data is on another drive that won't be reformatted and lost. __________________ A computer is only as powerful as it's user so build wisely.

06-26-2008, 08:36 AM	#5 (permalink)
rockstat Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Where ever I live Posts: 61 OS: XP_Pro-SP3/Vista_x64_SP1/Linux	Re: Question: Installing new Hard Drive/ Looking for Advice My personal preference too is a Seagate. WD's work alright but have the highest number of complaints and failure rate is high as well. Seagate/Maxtor now one company, make nice drives. They basically use the latest technology on all of their hard drives so they crash less. WD uses old technology on their cheap/reasonable drives but use the latest ones on their higher end ones such as the enterprise level. __________________ ________________________________________________________ A mistake on your side does not constitute to a delay on my side

06-26-2008, 10:15 AM	#6 (permalink)
Fox Moderator, Microsoft Support Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 7,735 OS: XP Pro, CentOS My System	Re: Question: Installing new Hard Drive/ Looking for Advice Yep, that sounds pretty reasonable. Also, from what I've seen on Hitachi, they make very respectable, cheap and large drives. __________________ Antec Neo Power 500W, ABIT IP35-E, Intel E2180@2.66Ghz, Corsair XMS2 2x1GB DDR2-800, PNY 8800GT, 320GB Seagate * lazy college student alert *- If I've inadvertently ignored a thread, please Let me know about it Have I helped you solve your problem? Donate to Techsupportforums Klart Skepp!