Chosing btw. External vs. Internal HD

[mataney]

Hello, I have a pretty basic question for you all. My 7 year old desktop with 10GB HD is finally full. I need to find a cheap and reliable solution since I do not know how to rebuilding computer myself. Not to mention that I have some important files on this HD that I simply cannot afford to lose like drafts for my undergrad final papers that are due in a week or two. So I am just wondering if buying an external HD would be cheaper in the end then taking my desktop for the professional repair? What about reliablity? Is it ulitimately better to spend a few bucks more and have an internal HD professionaly installed as opposed to USB connected external drive? I checked some local shops and they invariably asked for $100 in order to replace HD - never mind the fact that this computer is probably worth less than that. So I am wondering what is the most viable option for someone like me?

And if I decide to go ahead with the external HD, what should I be looking for? Can you make any recommendations for 60-120GB external HD?

Thank you all for your time,

 

[paparazi]

There are a few potential problems with either of these solutions and you should be aware of.
Firstly the external HDD:

Two problems:
1)The age of your motherboard may well restrict the size of hard drive that will be recognised (this would also apply to the internally fitted unit as well) a motherboard bios flash may well allow upto a 137Gig unit but you will need to check (it could be less)

2) Again the age of your setup signifies that your system has the older USB1.1 connections, this slow USB 12Mb/s interface will seriously effect hard drive transfer speeds so you will need to buy a PCI to USB2 card in order to get reasonable performance from this external device (they are pretty cheap so don't let that put you off too much)

Internal:
Firstly with reference to your comment: fitting an internal Hard drive can take as little as 5 minutes so really shouldn't cost more that $20 to fit as a slave to your existing 10gig unit.

1)The same hard drive size limitation may apply as previously mentioned.
2) Check to make sure the extra hard drive can be physically accomodated, that the power supply is powerful enough for the extra load and that internal cooling is up to the extra heat that will be generated by the additional HDD unit.
3) You may need an extra "Ultra" IDE cable

On ballance I would say an external hard drive "with a PCI to USB2 card fitted" would be you best bet, in my opinion.

It might be a good idea, if you have a friend that already own an external hard drive? to try it on your system just to see if the full hard drive size is detected.

Martin



We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[rvnguy]

shouldn't cost more that $20 to fit as a slave

He references the 'labor' only and not the cost of the drive, just for reference and clarity.

If you intend on up grading at some point, either the slave additional drive or an external unit would be transferable to your new system. Albeit the external would be easier as it can be connected to most any newer system.

Please, whatever you do, find a method to back up your important files as soon as you can.

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all

 

[SeanAIX430]

Like rvnguy said, asap backup the files you need. If they're just acouple of papers email them to yourself each time you work on them so that they will be on another disk somewhere, yahoo and gmail let you store one gig for free!
Papers will probably fit on a floppy disk too.

In regards to internal vs external there is a bit of personal preference and more importantly future plans. Will you be getting a new PC in the near future? It will probably have an internal HD will plenty of space, but that doesn't mean you should stop backing up. If you're in college odds are you can find someone local to install a internal for a beer.

I recommend you get an external hd-I really like the Lacie 160 g that I have. I just keep all my music and videos and backups on it, and only turn it on when I back stuff up, otherwise it does tend to get pretty warm. It is way easier to move files from one PC to another with an external HD though