Low on Free Space!

Alright! A major thanks to all of you who helped me!

By the way, does anybody watch anime?
 
LAST questions. While searching for internal hard drives, I came upon Ultra ATA/100 and Ultra ATA/133. What exactly is the difference between these?

Also, why do hard drives cost more in a store? Some examples:

Best Buy
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...CategoryId=pcmcat33200050001&id=1069302880231

Circuit City
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Seag...35114/catOid/-12976/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

CompUSA
http://www.compusa.com/products/pro...00&product_code=335866&Pn=300GB_Hard_Drive#ts

Lastly, I just want to be 100% sure, that http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148139 is compatible with my Dell Dimension 4550 and Windows XP, before I make this purchase. To be on the safe side, I don't need to do anything beforehand, right? Like updating BIOS and all that, until some problems occur after I get the HDD, right?

I was also wondering why this 320GB drive is so cheap. I've browsed some drives with lower GB, but are about the same price, such as this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148061.
 
ATA 100 and ATA 133 run almost the same speed they move almost the same amount of data. ATA moves 33% more. Now the SATA 150 moves about 20% more data. The 133 sometimes have larger cache from 8MB to 16MB also called PATA. If you have a MOBO that is ATA 100 then get ATA 100 HDDs. If it's a ATA 133 then get HDDs rated at that level. Really doesn't matter you can put in ATAT 133 in ATA 100.

Bestbuy is expensive so it's not really the best buy after all. Do your homework. I really buy my drives at Office Stores like Stapes they get better deals on MAXTORs. Also note that Office Depot will match any stores prices too. Compusa has some sales when it does are also cheap.
 
The shops could be just selling Retail boxes of HDDs, instead of just the drive by itself. Think of it - a product just sold as is (with warranty of course) without any accessory is definatly going to be cheaper than one with a pretty box, suspended (foam) packaging and got gizmo's that you may or may not need...
 
I always figured large mass retailers sold everything at rip-off prices, your best bet for cheap computer parts(that aren't cheap in quality) would usually be a specialized store, newegg has a very good reputation(although they don't ship to canada :().

That HDD is definitely going to be compatible with your motherboard. However, as it was said; it is OEM, so it doesn't come with any cables, however your dell MIGHT have some expansion cables, the IDE cable definitely, the 4 pin power connector you may have to buy a splitter for(they're about 5 bucks at a local comp shop).
 
Sake said:
is http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144237 more worth it? Since it is ATA133, but it has 20GB less than the Seagate one. Is a ATA100 and ATA133 having that big a difference?
Click to expand...

Absolutely not. The interface is technically faster, but mechanically, the drive itself is not. Sadly, current hard drives (Even SATA) don't come close to saturating the throughput ATA-133 offers, and still shy of even ATA-100.

It would be a little like a road with a 130mph speed limit, but your car only registers 60mph. Even if the speed limit were 100mph, it wouldn't really make a difference.

And just to mention it, even though it is hardly worth considering, drives do occasionally 'burst' data. This is where ATA-133 might be useful, but the performance it offers for typical and even unusual use is negligable.

Also, should I get a service net replacement plan?
Click to expand...
If you get a seagate, they usually have a 5-year warranty. In this case, no. Most other drives have a 3-year warranty which I would consider plenty. If you buy a drive with a 1 year warranty, you may want to consider buying the extended service agreement... However, you might want to compare the extra money it costs against how much it would cost to get the same size or even bigger drive with a longer warranty from the manufacturer. Storage is very cheap these days and the difference of 50-100GB is often just 20 to 30 dollars.
 
Alright! I went ahead and bought the Seagate Barracuda, without a plan. I'll post here when it arrives on how things go. :stickout:

Thanks for all the advice and support! Wish me luck! :angel:
 
Dont worry about plans for seagate.. like Rick said, they already have 5 yrs Return To Base warranty.. and too tell you the truth its damn fast.. From me in Australia to international shipping to Seagate USA (to get replacement drive) then back here took about less than 2 weeks.. or maybe it was 1 i forget.. free shipping too.. :D
 
2 weeks isn't that fast... but since it's international shipping, I guess you could say that. I'm guessing it'll take less than a week for shipping in the states. :blush:
 
Jinkies! I had a dream last night and God asked me: "If you install a program which requires Windows XP, do you install it on your new HDD (Doesn't have Windows XP) or old HDD (Has Windows XP), or does it not matter?"

Thanks! :giddy:
 
Well thats entirely up to you. If you prefer everything in one place, then keep them all with your OS drive.

Although a technique some of us use is to partition our primary hdd, one side being windows the other for programs etc, so in an event of a reformat its slightly faster to get things running and keep some of settings without much loss etc. But the drawback of this is you have to clean up and maintain your hdd more constantly, to get rid off orphaned folders/files, and some programs do install themselves on the default c:/ drive..

But seeing as you already have a working system, i would suggest strongly against it right now (partitioning the OS drive) unless you have the time and patience to reinstall everything.. Of course, if you do wish to partition your new drive, you can do, since there is still nothing there..

Just make sure you keep all your data on the new one, so its safe incase of a major system problem..
 
Okay, so I guess it doesn't matter if the program needs Windows XP, I can still install it on my new hard drive, which doesn't have Windows XP, and it should still work.

Thanks!
 
Yeh, well basicaly think of it this way, XP is the "Big" program that runs all the "smaller" programs. Those smaller programs dont have to be in the one place, for example, you have your windows games (solitare, freecell etc) somewhere in the c:\windows folder, but your other programs are in the c:\program files folder. Yet theres still some more (probably just freestanding applets) on your desktop..

So the programs and files can be at any place on your computer, whether different folder or drive etc, but as long as windows knows where it is and can get to it then it'll work..
 
Yea I got the same pc as you do. Last year I upgraded the memory by taking out my 256 and adding two 512 chips. I also went from the standard harddrive which I think it was 40 up to a 160 harddrive. I recently purchased a 300 GB harddrive off of Ebay too. which helps me a lot. I switch my burner to a Plextor 716A. But Im considering replacing that because I think I burned it out. I do heavy duty burning.
 
Rick said:
You technically won't HAVE to copy anything but your own personal stuff... Maybe your music, documents etc. The things you'd like to keep. Then you can delete / format everything on your old hard drive since you'll have what you wanted on your new one.

If you are aiming to keep your current configuration and everything the same, then reinstalling Windows is not what you're looking for. There's not really a good way to reinstall Windows and keep all of your settings, programs and so on short of a tremendous amount of work or 'cloning' one drive to another. The problem with cloning is it requires special software and you won't get that minty fresh feeling from reinstalling Windows.. Because you won't be. It makes and exact copy of your drive and dumps it on the new one with all your existing problems etc.. Cloning may also require some basic knowledge of partitions and formatting.
Click to expand...

Am I the only one in this forum who has heard of, and used, "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard" in XP?
 
Yay! It arrived. I don't have time to install it today, but I'll update when I do (most likely tomorrow morning).
 
Yay! I installed the new hard drive and I've only encountered one problem so far. The new drive's "Total Size" is shown as 298GB, but I bought a 320GB hard drive.

Also, I was wondering, is there any way I can save files to my new hard drive, but still have the files show up on my desktop? I'll almost always save new files to my desktop first, then sort them out later on. For example: I'll download a video from the internet to my desktop, I'll watch it, then I'll put it somewhere in my "Program Files" a few days later.

Transferring files from one hard drive to another via cut + paste is sooo slow, lol.

Will files I download to my new hard drive from now on run faster, or just open faster? For example: If I move my Mozilla Firefox folder to my new hard drive, will my browser run faster, or will it only open faster?

Lastly. This isn't totally off-topic, but I thought it'd be stupid to just make a new thread for it. How come the names of some files that I download are blue and some are black?
 
Sake said:
Yay! I installed the new hard drive and I've only encountered one problem so far. The new drive's "Total Size" is shown as 298GB, but I bought a 320GB hard drive.
Click to expand...
That's normal. 320GB is 320,000,000,000 Bytes, which isn't how Windows reads size. It goes by bytes, so 1GB is technically 8^10, which is 1,073,741,824 bytes as opposed to how HDD companies rate by 1,000,000,000. You can see how it adds up to about 20GB.
Sake said:
Also, I was wondering, is there any way I can save files to my new hard drive, but still have the files show up on my desktop? I'll almost always save new files to my desktop first, then sort them out later on. For example: I'll download a video from the internet to my desktop, I'll watch it, then I'll put it somewhere in my "Program Files" a few days later.
Click to expand...
Not sure what you mean. You want them to physically be on the large drive, but show up on your desktop? Use shortcuts if so.
Sake said:
Transferring files from one hard drive to another via cut + paste is sooo slow, lol.

Will files I download to my new hard drive from now on run faster, or just open faster? For example: If I move my Mozilla Firefox folder to my new hard drive, will my browser run faster, or will it only open faster?
Click to expand...
Your new drive isn't faster than your old one, it might even be slower due to the large size. They're the same technology(I think) and the only reason it would run faster if at first it wasn't as cluttered as the other one. I suggest you don't put any 'program files' over, as they are in the registry and it would be a pain to get them to work properly. Simply use your new drive as a mass storage drive.
Sake said:
Lastly. This isn't totally off-topic, but I thought it'd be stupid to just make a new thread for it. How come the names of some files that I download are blue and some are black?
Click to expand...
What?
 
To clarify: I mean is there any way to save files to my new hard drive, but still have the files show up on my desktop, without the use of shortcuts?

Sometimes when I download something like an anime episode, the title will be something like "blah blah - 1." But the text shows up as blue, opposed to the black color of every other file.

Wow, I'm starting to experience major lag on my computer now. Now whenever I'm downloading something and doing anything on my computer, it just lags really badly. I just tried to play a video while downloading at the same time and the sound was choppy... bleh. This has never happened before...
 
Sake said:
To clarify: I mean is there any way to save files to my new hard drive, but still have the files show up on my desktop, without the use of shortcuts?
Click to expand...
Without shortcuts they will only show up exactly where you put them. I don't know why you'd want them to 'show up on your desktop', sounds kinda odd to me.
Sake said:
Sometimes when I download something like an anime episode, the title will be something like "blah blah - 1." But the text shows up as blue, opposed to the black color of every other file.
Click to expand...
That is weird, I don't know[/quote]
Sake said:
Wow, I'm starting to experience major lag on my computer now. I just tried to play a video and the sound was choppy... bleh.
Click to expand...
Has the video ever worked properly? What else are you doing? Which HDD is it streaming from?
 

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