HELP!!! Upgrading Hard Drive!!!

[roanjohn]

I am in a crossroad.........My hard drive is fast approaching zero!!!

I have a fairly new computer I purchased a few years ago......2.6 Ghz, 512 RAM w/ only 80 GB so buying a new one is not an option.

Now I need help and suggestion on which path I should take. Internal HD or external??

I want to hear some experiences and etc.......

Thanks for helping me out :-)

Ro1

[Jon]

Internal. If you don't have USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394 (FireWire), an external will be abysmally slow. And while you have the cover off, get some more memory. Your photoshopping will appreciate an extra 512 MB.

[s00pcan]

Well you could get both and use an internal external drive. (My firewire card has a port inside it) Just kidding.

[roanjohn]

Internal. If you don't have USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394 (FireWire), an external will be abysmally slow. And while you have the cover off, get some more memory. Your photoshopping will appreciate an extra 512 MB.

True!! a 512 MB on my memory would be great too!!

But I do have USB 2 and Firewire...............should I still choose internal??

Ro1

[Penguin_101_1]

I have a network drive. That is where I store pics so that they can be on any computer. Of course my network has 5 computers. I have one that I am thinking of building because my Linux box died. (taps playing in background :( )

[Jesper]

I just bought an 160 GB harddisk and a casing with USB 2.0 connection. My internal 80 GB disk was getting full. Note I got the casing and the disk separately.

I'm going to use the external one mainly for backing up my data, i.e. I put all my older digital photos and other data on it. I also make backups of all my photos on DVD+R's. I don't have the external HD switched on all the time, which minimizes wear and hopefully keeps my data safe for a longer time.

So it depends on what you plan to do: if you only want a disk to backup or store data on that you don't need to access every day, get an external one. If you need a lot of disk space for everyday use, get an internal one.

Another advantage of an external disk is that you can easily connect it to another computer and transfer large amounts of data quickly.

[PacAce]

I am in a crossroad.........My hard drive is fast approaching zero!!!

I have a fairly new computer I purchased a few years ago......2.6 Ghz, 512 RAM w/ only 80 GB so buying a new one is not an option.

Now I need help and suggestion on which path I should take. Internal HD or external??

I want to hear some experiences and etc.......

Thanks for helping me out :-)

Ro1

Unless you have a very good reason for going external, you should stick to using internal drives first. Performance of the drives will be a heck of a lot better when they're installed internally and running at Ultra133 speed. That's 133 MB/sec which is a lot faster than 50 or 58 MB/sec of USB2 or FW, respecitively. And if you are using PS or doing any kind of video editing you want as much through-put as you can get out of your disk drives.

Only reason I can think of for going external is if want one that's transportable for use with a laptop or another non-networked machine, or if you need a backup drive which will only be hooked up when doing backups.

[roanjohn]

Thanks guys!!!

So internal it is then I guess.

Now I will have to figure out how to install that in my computer.....YIKES!!

............and maybe I'll add 512 mb of memory space too..........as somebody had suggested.

Ro1