My 20GIG hard drive is nearly full

PoorOldSpike · 07-02-2008, 05:36 PM,

My 20GIG hard drive is nearly full and I need a new bigger one but I'm totally computer illiterate. Do I just open the case, unscrew and remove the old one, then screw the new one in its place?
Will the new one have to be formatted (if thats the word) and my Win XP Home installed on it? Is that easy to do?
And how do I transfer all my games and pics and stuff from the old one to the new one?
(PS I posted this in the Tech Help section yesterday and had one reply, the guy said i should find a PC savvy guy to do it for me, but there aren't many geeks in my neck of the woods)

kineas · 07-02-2008, 06:41 PM,

I guess you will be able to use your old and new hard drive together.

Yes, you will need to format it.

If you plan to remove the original be prepared for an awful lot of work...installing winxp again, backing up and restoring data etc.

Try to buy a book on this or just google around, e.g. http://www.basichardware.com/HowTo_Insta...Drive.html

RedDevil · 07-02-2008, 09:54 PM,

really adding a new HDD is not as complicated as it seems, but I'd suggest getting one of your neighbor's Kids to come over and set it up for you and give him some candy and few bucks LOL

pity you're across the pond, and not nearby, I'd do it an a few hours time for you :)

Chipmunk · (This post was last modified: 07-02-2008, 10:27 PM by Chipmunk.)

Or you could get an external hard drive. They just plug into your USB port and are ready to go. I bought a 500GB one last year for £75, probably cheaper now.

Regardless of whether you get an internal or external one though you will keep your existing one so there will be no need to transfer everything.

Fubar · 07-03-2008, 08:46 AM,

If you keep your OS on your old HDD then XP should just detect and format your new HDD for you. Just remember to set the jumper settings on the new drive to slave so it knows which drive to boot up from. If going for a fresh install then make sure you have all your drivers for any hardware you have installed and then get ready for a long evening of disc swapping and restarting.

Stryker · 07-03-2008, 05:21 PM,

Mick,

Buy an external USB drive... it just plugs into your USB port, it has it's own power supply so you'll need an extra plug socket.

You can buy them from amazon, PCWorld, Novatech... or google search "external USB drive".

It'll likely work from the box, or come with a CD.

Once it's on and working, you can open "my documents" to navigate around and drag-and-drop files onto your new disk from your old, free'ing up space.... if you have problems, PM me and give me a number I can call you on - if you live close enough I could pop round and help.. I'm in Hertfordshire

cheers

Paul

Iwo Jim · (This post was last modified: 07-06-2008, 12:34 AM by Iwo Jim.)

I replaced my 40 with a Seagate 120GB couple of years ago it was simple instructions walk you through every step, including transfering data and OS to the new drive

PoorOldSpike · 07-08-2008, 04:53 AM,

Thanx guys, I bought a 120Gb external HD today from the shop for £55 (80 dollars) and just plugged it into the back of my PC and it seems to be working fine, I might have been able to get one cheaper or bigger elsewhere but I couldn't be bothered shopping around.
I plumped for the external because it just plugged in and saved me the trouble of having to rummage round inside the case trying to fit an internal one..:)