AU Computer Gaming Club

Hardware - Hard Drives

Mazinger - Nov 13, 2005 - 06:24 AM
Post subject: Hard Drives

I'm thinkin' about buying a new hard drive, and I was just wondering if I needed to buy a certain type of hard drive for my computer, like types of memory.

Bandit - Nov 13, 2005 - 06:51 AM
Post subject: RE: Hard Drives

Just learn the difference between SATA and IDE. Other than that buy whatever. It is all rather subjective.

T-BirD - Nov 13, 2005 - 07:08 PM
Post subject: RE: Hard Drives

The brands I've had the best luck with are Seagate and IBM. I've had quite a few Maxtor and Western Digital drives fail, but then again, I own far more of them...so the law of averages no doubt took effect. I'd look for a high amount of cache (8mb or more), and a minimum of 7200rpm (unless it's a laptop drive). Nowadays, if you have the motherboard for it, I'd go for a SATA drive.

Bandit - Nov 13, 2005 - 10:05 PM
Post subject: RE: Hard Drives

T speaks the truth.

fastbilly1 - Nov 14, 2005 - 04:24 AM
Post subject: RE: Hard Drives

Ive never had luck with Seagates, always dying on me. Then again most recently Ive had 3 Western Digitals and a Samsung die on me in the span of a week...

PhukFace - Nov 14, 2005 - 01:42 PM
Post subject: RE: Hard Drives

ah yes the dreaded seagate drives, although i still use one. Embarassed

for my cigarbox computer though. i use WD other than that.

Bandit - Nov 14, 2005 - 05:53 PM
Post subject: RE: Hard Drives

Segate does offer a 5 year warranty.

Mazinger - Nov 15, 2005 - 01:34 AM
Post subject: Right, right.

What about data on the old hard drive, and Windows? Can that somehow be transferred?

Bandit - Nov 15, 2005 - 04:28 AM
Post subject: RE: Right, right.

um yes.

Do you know anything about building a PC or how they work? I'm serious I'm not trying to be mean or anything. But that last question just set off alarm bells in my head that are screaming don't let this guy just go out and buy whatever. The next step is to advise you in person or find someone I trust to handel it.

So 1. Do you need some help?
2. Any volunteers?

vandyl - Nov 15, 2005 - 06:12 AM
Post subject: RE: Right, right.

No, not helping - I'll give guidance, but actual on-site assistance is gonna cost.

As far as brands, I stayed away from Maxtor and seagate since the introduction of the 7200rpm drives - always used Western Digital and they've never let me down - however, I've had a maxtor (friend of mine offered the 160gb 7200rpm 8mb drive for 30 bucks, said he didn't need it) for about two years now and it's rock solid, so I guess maxtor's QC has picked up.

SATA > EIDE (but only if your mobo supports SATA) - I recommend western digital, and suggest caution in maxtor

Mazinger - Nov 15, 2005 - 06:14 AM
Post subject: Dee dee dee...

That's fine, I got a friend that showed me newegg.com, where I can buy one, as for installation I think he can help with that also. I think I was told to get one with IDE cables instead of one with ATA, I'm not even sure if what I just said made sense. I'll just have to wait till the zero hour of purchase to consult with him though.

T-BirD - Nov 15, 2005 - 08:52 AM
Post subject: RE: Dee dee dee...

vandyl proves the old adage of "Your mileage may vary" - nearly every Western Digital drive I've ever owned has failed on me...and I've owned quite a few. Wink

I guess unless a model has a universally proven bad record (such as a certain model of IBM drives several years back), just buy for performance and cross your fingers. ...and no matter how good the reputation of your drives is - frequently back up your critical data.

Bandit - Nov 15, 2005 - 01:10 PM
Post subject: RE: Dee dee dee...

No ATA is not the magic word you are looking for. IDE is. The 2 magic words that are in your case the opposite of each other is SATA and IDE. SATA is a small (1cm) cable with very flat connectors with no visiable pins on the end. IDE is a ton of pins with a very wide flat cable (inches).

If you comptuer has IDE.
1. It most likely has 2 large flat cables. These cables can support 2 IDE devices each. One is the Master and one the Slave. (CA banned this terminology)
2. The Master Slave relationship is controled by who is on the end of the line(the master) and the jumper on the back of the drive. A jumper is a small rectangle connector that connects 2 pins. Usually an array of 6 pins of which only 2 are connected. The Drive should have on the top a sticker that explains Master and Slave positions with a picture.

If your old hard drive isn't completely dead you can save your data and even save not having to re-install. You have to hook up a CD drive, the old hard drive, and the new hard drive to the IDE cables in your computer. Either find a linux guru to copy your image over for you or go get Norton Ghost. Boot up with Norton Ghost as the boot disk and follow the directions. MAKE SURE you know which IDE cable is going to wich hard drive. Norton only knows your drives by their posisition on the IDE chain. The IDE number will be on the motherboard where the cables connect to it. Simply copy one image to the other drive. Then for simplicity sake put everything back the way it was without the old hard drive and boot up. Everything should work like it did.

The next step is wiping the old drive but I won't explain this untill you have performed the above operation to completetion for your own safety.

PhukFace - Nov 15, 2005 - 01:18 PM
Post subject: RE: Dee dee dee...

technically IDE is Ultra ATA 100 Wink

Bandit - Nov 15, 2005 - 01:28 PM
Post subject: RE: Dee dee dee...

No wrong. IDE is a cable format. Ultra ATA 100 is a protocol on the cable but lets not confuse the guy with details.

T-BirD - Nov 15, 2005 - 03:52 PM
Post subject: RE: Dee dee dee...

ATA 33, ATA 66, ATA100, ATA133 - all they are is maximum transfer speed ratings. I *think* (and I haven't kept up with this for about 2 years now) that IDE drives normally stop at ATA 133, whereas SATA drives begin at ATA150.

PhukFace - Nov 15, 2005 - 04:33 PM
Post subject: RE: Dee dee dee...

Code:

heheh edited for ignorance... Embarassed

vandyl - Nov 19, 2005 - 12:37 AM
Post subject: Re: RE: Dee dee dee...

Bandit wrote:

No wrong. IDE is a cable format. Ultra ATA 100 is a protocol on the cable but lets not confuse the guy with details.

Thank you bandit. ^_^

As far as the speeds that T-Bird talked about, it's good to note that most IDE drives max out at UATA100 speeds, even the uata133 drives - that max speed is only burst, not sustained. Trust me, I've run the benchmarks.

But all that is some techbabble designed to confuse you - in short, buy a drive of a brand that we've mentioned and you should be just fine. Stay away from nonames and generic. If in doubt, friggin ask us.

Stick - Nov 21, 2005 - 09:03 PM
Post subject: RE: Re: RE: Dee dee dee...

I've been buying only Maxtor for some time now. No reason, I just like the colors on the package more. And, I liked the idea of having matching brands in the case, whatever.
No problems, EVAR

Though 2 days ago I just ordered a new one from New Egg and got a different brand. Hitachi, I think? Anyway, there's an article on tomshardware comparing some of the IDE and SATA drives, and this one was lauded for being quiet, which is nice.

Mazinger - Nov 28, 2005 - 10:46 PM
Post subject: The Battle Continues...

I'm using a HP Pavilion 6745c, if that helps any. So I'm supposed to look for a certain type of port on the back, eh?

Bandit - Nov 28, 2005 - 10:56 PM
Post subject: RE: The Battle Continues...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... t=Property

Buy one of those.

fastbilly1 - Nov 29, 2005 - 12:37 AM
Post subject: RE: The Battle Continues...

Ill agree to the Diamondmax. Thats the second drive in one of my desktops, been using it very heavily for five years, nary a hiccup.

Mazinger - Dec 01, 2005 - 01:12 AM
Post subject: Guy On Tactics

What about upgrading my current hard drive, or is just getting a new one the exact same thing?

Bandit - Dec 01, 2005 - 01:34 PM
Post subject: RE: Guy On Tactics

how would you upgrade a hard drive without replacing it? OR Ok fine.

if you want more help.... open your case find the hard drive tell me its model and maker.

jokeyxero - Dec 01, 2005 - 08:10 PM
Post subject: RE: Guy On Tactics

the only hd upgrade you could do without replacing it is putting a faster motor on it and changing the firmware to adapt to that new speed. in which case you'd probably need an EE degree.

kurtmax_0 - Dec 02, 2005 - 01:24 PM
Post subject: Re: RE: Guy On Tactics

jokeyxero wrote:

the only hd upgrade you could do without replacing it is putting a faster motor on it and changing the firmware to adapt to that new speed. in which case you'd probably need an EE degree.

And a clean room..

PhukFace - Dec 02, 2005 - 01:29 PM
Post subject: RE: Guy On Tactics

or this

http://www.hackaday.com/entry/1234000840067578/

just build your own clean room.

and in all actually falshing the firmware isnt that hard at all, heheh, flashed me firmware on my dvd burner(411s) with the 811s
firmware and now it burns twice the speed..

"Superstar!"

vandyl - Dec 05, 2005 - 01:57 AM
Post subject: RE: Guy On Tactics

yeah but harddrive improvements are not as susceptible to flash upgrades. The platters and head limit the capacity

"upgrading" a harddrive is replacement or partnering - it's not like a driver upgrade.

PhukFace - Dec 05, 2005 - 01:39 PM
Post subject: RE: Guy On Tactics

yeah thats why i included the link there.

Mazinger - Dec 12, 2005 - 05:18 AM
Post subject: Burning The Barn To Get Rid of The Rats..

Since I am currently down to 1.98GB of free space on my hard drive, and still having to do endless salvos of Windows Updates downloads, I've been thinking about formatting my hard drive, but if I do so I think that'll wipe away 3-4 months (total estimated time: 3 years or more) of Windows Updates. So what the question I'm trying to convey here is, if I choose to format, will I have to start over again with the Windows Updates, a simple answer will suffice, none of that 'Techie of Mt. Olympus' guff.

kurtmax_0 - Dec 12, 2005 - 04:20 PM
Post subject: Re: Burning The Barn To Get Rid of The Rats..

Mazinger wrote:

Yes. I believe it *is* possible to put windows updates on a CD. But i've never taken the time to bother, so you will have to google or ask somebody how.

Bandit - Dec 12, 2005 - 05:48 PM
Post subject: RE: Re: Burning The Barn To Get Rid of The Rats..

1. Make sure your Windows is legal.
2. Go to Windows update and click validate.
3. Go to Windows Update and click express. Click through the dialogs.
Repeat setp 3 untill it says there are no more updates.

~30 minutes will have passed if you have a cable connection to the net.

vandyl - Dec 14, 2005 - 04:33 AM
Post subject: RE: Re: Burning The Barn To Get Rid of The Rats..

Yeah, it really takes little time to get the necessary updates - but make sure the first thing you do, before connecting your computer to the 'net, is an installation of your favorite antivirus software.