Hard Drives Articles
More: All Categories
How to Replace a Hard Drive
Replacing a hard drive in your desktop or laptop computer is pretty simple. You just have to pay attention to a few details. Here's a step-by-step guide to replacing your hard drive...
Continue reading "How to Replace a Hard Drive"...How Long Do Flash Drives Last?
Flash drives are an increasingly popular form of portable storage. Some people predict that flash drives will replace hard drives in time, just as optical disks replaced floppy disks. But are flash drives as safe as other mass storage media for long-term archiving of irreplaceable data? Do flash drives ever wear out and have to be replaced? Are all flash drives created equal -- except for their capacities -- or are there differences in quality and durability to consider?
Continue reading "How Long Do Flash Drives Last?"...eSATA External Hard Drives
"I'm getting ready to buy an external hard drive for backups, but I'm confused by all the terminology when it comes to connecting the drive. Should I go for USB, Firewire, or eSATA? What are the pros and cons of each?"
Continue reading "eSATA External Hard Drives"...Completely Erase a Hard Drive
When you replace a hard drive, what do you do with the old one? Most people give their surplus drives away to friends or charities. Some just throw them in the trash. But what about all the data on that old drive? Even if you deleted files or formatted the drive, your data might still be readable. Here's how to securely and completely erase every last bit of data from your hard drive…
Continue reading "Completely Erase a Hard Drive"...External Hard Drive For Backups
"I'm planning to buy an external hard drive to use for backups. What hardware and software do you recommend for reliable and simple backups?"
Continue reading "External Hard Drive For Backups"...Is Your Hard Drive Dying?
How long will your hard drive last? Is it giving you subtle signs that a data disaster is looming? How will you know when it's time to buy a new hard drive? Here are some things you can look for...
Continue reading "Is Your Hard Drive Dying?"...Data Recovery
So you were working on that big presentation for the boss, when suddenly the power went out and your computer shut down. And when you restarted the computer and ran your software it said "Cannot open file; file corrupt" or some equally sickening thing. Now what?
Continue reading "Data Recovery"...Partition Managers
Partitioning your hard drive is like putting up a digital fence, splitting your hard drive into distinct sections, each for a specific purpose. It allows you to install multiple operating systems, or just keep different types of data in their own little containers. Here's the scoop on partition managers...
Continue reading "Partition Managers"...Hard Drive Backup Image
If you do everything just right, you'll end up with a perfect hard drive. Your operating system will be bug-free; your applications will play well together; your data will be neatly organized in folders; everything will be just perfect. And then it will change. That's why you need a backup image of your hard drive…
Continue reading "Hard Drive Backup Image"...Hard Drive Recovery Services
"My hard drive was making a clicking sound, and now it won't start up at all. Should I try to fix it myself, or send it to a hard drive repair service?"
Continue reading "Hard Drive Recovery Services"...Terabyte Hard Drives
"I've been thinking about buying a terabyte hard drive. Right now I have a 500GB drive. Are the terabyte drives as fast and reliable as smaller drives?"
Continue reading "Terabyte Hard Drives"...Solid State Hard Drives
"I'm checking out laptops, and some say they have a solid state hard drive. Is this a good thing? How does a solid state hard drive compare to a regular hard drive?
Continue reading "Solid State Hard Drives"...Partitioning Your Hard Drive
"I just got a new computer and I'm wondering about hard drive partitioning strategies. A friend told me to create a very small C: partition for a swap file, put Windows on the D: drive, and create several other parititions for different types of data. Is this a good idea?"
Continue reading "Partitioning Your Hard Drive"...External Hard Drive Security
"I want to backup my home computers to an external hard drive, but I'm worried about security. If the drive is lost or stolen, all my sensitive personal and financial data goes with it. Is there a way to password protect a hard drive, encrypt it, or protect it with some other security device?"
Continue reading "External Hard Drive Security"...Defrag Your Hard Drive
If you have noticed your computer running a little sluggish and slow lately, it might be time to defragment your hard drive. Your hard drive does need to be cleaned out regularly and defragmented in order to keep everything working better. Here's the why and how of defragging...
Continue reading "Defrag Your Hard Drive"...Converting FAT to NTFS
“A tech support guy told me my system is running FAT, and advised me to convert my hard drive to NTFS. I didn’t really understand his explanation… can you explain the difference and when it makes sense to convert FAT to NTFS?”
Continue reading "Converting FAT to NTFS"...Low Disk Space Warning
"Windows is giving me a warning that says 'You are running out of disk space on Local Disk (C:).' My friend told me this is not important and offered to disable the warning popup for me, but I'm not sure. Can I safely ignore these 'Low Disk Space' warnings?"
Continue reading "Low Disk Space Warning"...What is RAID?
"I've heard that a RAID hard drive is the best solution for automatic backups. What exactly is a RAID, and what are the pros and cons of RAID systems?"
Continue reading "What is RAID?"...Clean Hard Drive
Do you have a clean hard drive? If you're selling a computer or discarding a hard drive, you'll want to clean off your personal files first. Or maybe you're getting that annoying "low disk space" message. Don't ignore it, or your computer could soon begin to malfunction. Here's how to clean your hard drive and make sure your computer is running smoothly.
Continue reading "Clean Hard Drive"...What is a Terabyte?
"I just saw an ad for a Terabyte hard drive. What exactly is a terabyte?"
Continue reading "What is a Terabyte?"...Sharing A Hard Drive Online
"I have photos, MP3s and some Word documents on my hard drive. How can I share my hard drive online so that just certain people can access my files? My colleagues have Internet access but we do not share a computer network. Can I share my hard drive folders and files over the Inernet?"
Continue reading "Sharing A Hard Drive Online"...Hard Drive Recovery
If it hasn't happened yet, be sure that it will... you're working away on an important project and the computer freezes. You reboot, but instead of the familiar startup screen, you black screen with one of these ominous messages: DISK BOOT FAILURE... NO FIXED DISK PRESENT... ERROR READING FIXED DISK... NTLDR IS MISSING... or HARD DRIVE FAILURE. Don't panic just yet, there may be hope for recovery of that damaged hard drive.
Continue reading "Hard Drive Recovery"...Changing Disk Partitions
"I downloaded Cute Partition Manager and was just about to delete the restore partition from the D drive of my old computer. I just want to make sure that doing so won't mess up the info on the C drive. Drive D is formatted FAT32 and drive C is NTFS. I really could use the extra space, but can't afford to lose the files on the C drive..."
Continue reading "Changing Disk Partitions"...SATA and IDE Hard Drives?
"I want to install the hard drive from my old computer as the secondary hard drive of my new computer. The new computer is an HP with a SATA hard drive. My old hard drive is a Seagate Ultra ATA/100. How do I add this hard drive to my new computer?"
Fix MBR
"I was trying to fix a spyware problem and it seems I messed up my computer. Now when I start Windows XP, I get the 'MBR Corrupt' and 'Error loading operating system' messages. What should I do?"
Continue reading "Fix MBR"...Fiddling While Your Hard Drive Crashes
After reading about the sounds that a dying hard drive makes in Click of Doom, long-time reader MmeMoxie sent me a link to something absolutely hilarious. It's music based on the sounds of hard drive failures...
Continue reading "Fiddling While Your Hard Drive Crashes"...Hard Drive Makes a Clicking Sound
"My hard drive is making a clicking sound. It started recently and seems to be getting more frequent. Sometimes I hear a repeated click-whir sound and then the computer locks up. Does this mean my hard drive is going bad?"
Continue reading "Hard Drive Makes a Clicking Sound"...Add a Second Hard Drive
Adding a second hard drive to a computer system is an easy way to get around storage problems, and also a good way to protect valuable data. With the cost of hard drives dropping well below $1 per gigabyte, it makes good financial sense to increase storage capacity by adding a second drive. But what kind of drive? And are they easy to install? Read on for buying tips and installation help...
Continue reading "Add a Second Hard Drive"...Reformatting Hard Drive
If I reformat my hard drive, will my Windows XP cdrom act as a boot disk and allow me to reinstall all my programs?
Continue reading "Reformatting Hard Drive"...Hard Drive Crash
I have a Maxtor 160GB hard drive that has crashed and won't boot up. So I figured I would put in another hard drive and load up XP on it to boot and make my old hard drive a slave. After booting up, the old drive shows in My Computer, but Windows tells me it has not been formatted yet. I don't want to formate this drive because it has data I need. How do I get this data off the old hard drive and onto my other drive or a CDROM?
Continue reading "Hard Drive Crash"...Copying Old Hard Drive to New PC
"When I buy a new computer, how do I transfer everything from the hard drive on my old computer? I enjoy the Tourbus and appreciate all the information you provide."
If you bought a new computer, or just a new hard drive for your old computer, you'll need to transfer the files. Here's how...
Continue reading "Copying Old Hard Drive to New PC"...Removing Files from Hard Drive
"My computer is 5 years old and it freezes up and shuts down on me at times. So I am considering buying a new one. How do I get rid of any files on it before I donate it to a school?"
Since you asked this question, you probably already understand the fact that simply deleting files on your hard drive doesn't actually remove them permanently...
Continue reading "Removing Files from Hard Drive"...
