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Sooner or later, your hard drive will fail, and you'll have to get a new one. But if you're a heavy computer user, you'll probably fill up the new drive long before it expires on its own. That means you'll have to replace the existing drive or add a second one. You'll be pleasantly surprised when you go shopping: Hard drive capacity and speed have increased dramatically since you bought your computer, and prices have dropped almost as fast.
Some questions you should ask yourself include:
Do I want to replace the existing drive or add another? This is a judgment call. If you have an older computer with a low-capacity drive (40 gigabytes or less), it's probably better to replace it with a new, 180-gigabyte drive. You'll never miss the original 40 gigs. If you've filled up a newer, larger drive, you won't want to give up that capacity, so it's better to add a new one.
If you do replace an existing disk, you'll have to make arrangements to transfer the contents of your old disk to the new one. This process can be done in a number of ways, including 'slaving' the second drive (your original drive is considered a 'master'), and copying directly over to the new drive.
How big a drive should I buy? The answer is simple: Get the biggest drive you can afford. Hard disks are like closets. You'll always fill them up, no matter how large they are. Up to a certain size (currently about 200 gigabytes), the cost difference among drives of different sizes is relatively small. At the very least, you'll want to double or triple your existing drive capacity.
To add or replace a drive, you have to know what kind of drive controller your computer uses. On a PC, you're most likely to have an IDE or SATA drive. If you have a Macintosh, you'll need a drive designed for an SCSI controller.
Look at your hard drive and write down the name of the manufacturer and the model number -- if you have any doubts. Supplied with this information, a dealer can recommend a compatible drive. All other things being equal, you'll have fewer problems adding a second drive made by the same manufacturer as the original.
Can I tell how well a drive performs? You'll find a lot of technical gobbledygook in hard drive specifications. Most of it is only of great interest to electrical engineers. Basically, the speed of the drive is the most important factor, and the best measurement of that is "seek time." Hard disk speeds are constantly improving, but look for a drive with a seek time of 10-12 milliseconds or less. Let the engineers argue about the other stuff.
Should I get an internal or external drive? This depends on your computer and your requirements. PCs were originally designed for internal expansion. They're likely to have room for additional drives inside the case, and most don't have built-in connectors for external drives. On the other hand, Macintosh computers were originally designed with compact cases and the expectation that users would add external drives. It's still easier to add an internal drive to a PC and an external drive to a Mac, although you can buy compact PCs and big, boxy Macs today. If you want to share a drive among two or more machines, you'll need an external unit, regardless of the type of computer you have.
Should I install the drive myself or have a technician do it? Installing a new drive in a PC can be tricky, and there is always a risk of damaging components if you aren't careful. Have a dealer do it if you're not an accomplished tinkerer. Most stores charge $60 to $100 in addition to the cost of the drive. Adding a hard drive to a Macintosh is easier. External Macintosh drives plug right into the computer's SCSI port, or into the back of another SCSI device attached to that port. But you'll still have to figure out how to attach a gadget called a terminating resistor and run software that identifies the drive for your computer. If in doubt, get an expert to do the job right the first time.
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