It seems like the End is near for my Hard Drive. It's already approximately 10 Years old (I needed to use my old Hard Drive because when I bought my current Computer, somehow Windows 10 was so extremely bad that it killed the completely new Hard Drive). I've never bought a Hard Drive myself, so I need to know what's important to know about it before I buy one. Also is there a Company that someone can recommend, so I'll really get a very good Hard Drive? I hope for a lot of Help because I also need my Computer to find a Job
What do I need to take into consideration when I want to buy a new Hard Drive?
- Thread starter Firestar97
- Start date
I'd strongly suggest moving to SSD if you haven't already. I don't have any HDD's on my PC at all these days since I've replaced them all with either m.2/NVME or 2.5" SATA SSD's.
They needn't be expensive...I paid £95 (GBP) for a 1Tb Crucial MX-500 SSD (m.2 drive that looks like a RAM stick and plugs into a special slot on your motherboard). I have two m.2 or NVME drives, the rest are SATA, they look like smaller versions of the 3.5" HDD's and plug into the same cables used for your current HDD.
The Crucial SSD's (SATA and NVME) come with free software to clone your old hard drive onto it if you need or prefer to do it that way. It takes around 10 minutes or so (depending on HD/SSD size) for the cloning to complete but it means you don't lose any data or have to start from scratch installing everything again. Moving up from HDD to SSD will make more of a difference than any other hardware upgrade for the price.
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Wow, this Software sounds great. I thought I would also need a external Hard Drive to get all important Files on the new Hard Drive
Nope, it clones direct via a Windows interface so no mucking about in the bios or MSDOS screens. You can use an external drive too if you wish...the software gives you both options. All you have to do once the cloning is complete is to switch the PC off, unplug your old HDD, put the cable for that into the SSD if it's a SATA drive then reboot with the cloned SSD in it's place. If it's an NVME drive, you need to select it as the boot drive in your bios settings and you can leave the old HDD in there for storage or doing other stuff.
The very first thing you need to do is BACK UP YOUR DATA on something. Then BACK IT UP AGAIN on something different.
Then the question you have to ask is do you need storage space, speed, or reliability?
You only get to pick two
If your PC is about 10 years old, you probably have a SATA 2 controller which will top out at about 280 Megabytes per second in real-world useage. Just about any SSD (solid state drive) made in the last few years will be not only able to make use of it's full potential - but actually be limited by it.
I'd pick up a WD Blue 500Gb SATA 3 SSD for about $60 online. They are not the best drives - but for a 10 year old machine they are more than adequate. If you want to spend a bit more grab a Samsung - they will generally perform better if you take that SSD to a newer, more modern PC if you upgrade later.
I would avoid replacing your system drive with another traditional HDD (hard disk drive) as they are simply too slow these days. If you have never used an SSD based system before - you will probably be amazed at how much faster the computer seems.
Having said that - HUGE hard drives are available for really quite cheap these days - and as long-term large storage they are very useful for putting stuff on that doesn't need to be fast. Movies, photos, music, etc - plonk all that on a 4Tb drive for next to nothing.
Your 10 year old system may not be able to boot from such a large disk though, so make sure it's just used as a storage drive and not the one you attempt to install the OS on
Whatever you do - don't buy a used or even a reconditioned hard drive or solid state drive. Your data is worth more than any savings. And keep backing everything up!!!
Best of luck to you!
Then the question you have to ask is do you need storage space, speed, or reliability?
You only get to pick two
If your PC is about 10 years old, you probably have a SATA 2 controller which will top out at about 280 Megabytes per second in real-world useage. Just about any SSD (solid state drive) made in the last few years will be not only able to make use of it's full potential - but actually be limited by it.
I'd pick up a WD Blue 500Gb SATA 3 SSD for about $60 online. They are not the best drives - but for a 10 year old machine they are more than adequate. If you want to spend a bit more grab a Samsung - they will generally perform better if you take that SSD to a newer, more modern PC if you upgrade later.
I would avoid replacing your system drive with another traditional HDD (hard disk drive) as they are simply too slow these days. If you have never used an SSD based system before - you will probably be amazed at how much faster the computer seems.
Having said that - HUGE hard drives are available for really quite cheap these days - and as long-term large storage they are very useful for putting stuff on that doesn't need to be fast. Movies, photos, music, etc - plonk all that on a 4Tb drive for next to nothing.
Your 10 year old system may not be able to boot from such a large disk though, so make sure it's just used as a storage drive and not the one you attempt to install the OS on
Whatever you do - don't buy a used or even a reconditioned hard drive or solid state drive. Your data is worth more than any savings. And keep backing everything up!!!
Best of luck to you!
Words from a proper expert...not a compulsive fiddler like meThe very first thing you need to do is BACK UP YOUR DATA on something. Then BACK IT UP AGAIN on something different.
Then the question you have to ask is do you need storage space, speed, or reliability?
You only get to pick two
If your PC is about 10 years old, you probably have a SATA 2 controller which will top out at about 280 Megabytes per second in real-world useage. Just about any SSD (solid state drive) made in the last few years will be not only able to make use of it's full potential - but actually be limited by it.
I'd pick up a WD Blue 500Gb SATA 3 SSD for about $60 online. They are not the best drives - but for a 10 year old machine they are more than adequate. If you want to spend a bit more grab a Samsung - they will generally perform better if you take that SSD to a newer, more modern PC if you upgrade later.
I would avoid replacing your system drive with another traditional HDD (hard disk drive) as they are simply too slow these days. If you have never used an SSD based system before - you will probably be amazed at how much faster the computer seems.
Having said that - HUGE hard drives are available for really quite cheap these days - and as long-term large storage they are very useful for putting stuff on that doesn't need to be fast. Movies, photos, music, etc - plonk all that on a 4Tb drive for next to nothing.
Your 10 year old system may not be able to boot from such a large disk though, so make sure it's just used as a storage drive and not the one you attempt to install the OS on
Whatever you do - don't buy a used or even a reconditioned hard drive or solid state drive. Your data is worth more than any savings. And keep backing everything up!!!
Best of luck to you!
Take Asp's advice, he knows his stuff...As I've mentioned in my Post, only the Hard Drive is that old and the Rest of the Computer is relatively new. The Hard Drive that came with the Computer doesn't work anymore thanks to the great Work Microsoft did with Windows 10.The very first thing you need to do is BACK UP YOUR DATA on something. Then BACK IT UP AGAIN on something different.
Then the question you have to ask is do you need storage space, speed, or reliability?
You only get to pick two
If your PC is about 10 years old, you probably have a SATA 2 controller which will top out at about 280 Megabytes per second in real-world useage. Just about any SSD (solid state drive) made in the last few years will be not only able to make use of it's full potential - but actually be limited by it.
I'd pick up a WD Blue 500Gb SATA 3 SSD for about $60 online. They are not the best drives - but for a 10 year old machine they are more than adequate. If you want to spend a bit more grab a Samsung - they will generally perform better if you take that SSD to a newer, more modern PC if you upgrade later.
I would avoid replacing your system drive with another traditional HDD (hard disk drive) as they are simply too slow these days. If you have never used an SSD based system before - you will probably be amazed at how much faster the computer seems.
Having said that - HUGE hard drives are available for really quite cheap these days - and as long-term large storage they are very useful for putting stuff on that doesn't need to be fast. Movies, photos, music, etc - plonk all that on a 4Tb drive for next to nothing.
Your 10 year old system may not be able to boot from such a large disk though, so make sure it's just used as a storage drive and not the one you attempt to install the OS on
Whatever you do - don't buy a used or even a reconditioned hard drive or solid state drive. Your data is worth more than any savings. And keep backing everything up!!!
Best of luck to you!
If I can really only choose 2, I think I should choose Speed and Reliability because I do mostly use my Computer to play Games. If there are too many Files that aren't important for Software, I can still save them on a external Hard driveThen the question you have to ask is do you need storage space, speed, or reliability?
You only get to pick two
Then backup your data, make sure it's a good backup, purchase the SSD of your choice, download the Windows Media Creation tool from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 - use that to create a USB installer on a flash drive that does NOT contain your backup - and once it's been created, shut down and open up your PC, swap over the HDD for your shiny new SSD, plug your USB stick in. It is helpful for some people to disconnect all other drives attached to the system - but just remember to plug them back in later! Power on and go into the BIOS / UEFI setup and set the machine to boot from USB first, THEN the SSD. Save settings and restart.
Make sure Windows Setup boots from USB and installs to your SSD. Once setup is complete and the PC restarts - make sure you unplug the USB drive before it tries to set itself up all over again
Once Windows is all installed and updated and happy - some manufacturers offer an SSD Tool for download to help maintain your drive and update it's firmware and create a secure erase utility boot USB etc. It's not absolutely necessary to use this but updated firmware can be useful. I've had drives where performance absolutely stunk with certain types of files to the point I was sure the drive was faulty - but a firmware update fixed that issue.
Enjoy the new system and good luck!
Make sure Windows Setup boots from USB and installs to your SSD. Once setup is complete and the PC restarts - make sure you unplug the USB drive before it tries to set itself up all over again
Once Windows is all installed and updated and happy - some manufacturers offer an SSD Tool for download to help maintain your drive and update it's firmware and create a secure erase utility boot USB etc. It's not absolutely necessary to use this but updated firmware can be useful. I've had drives where performance absolutely stunk with certain types of files to the point I was sure the drive was faulty - but a firmware update fixed that issue.
Enjoy the new system and good luck!
2 things: Is it a SSD and how large is the storage.
Is there a fast way to automatically compare Hard Drives to each other like a Website or something?
I've planned to ask here what's the best one of the Hard Drives I've found, but I would need to send 10 Links that need to be compared and I think no one wants to compare so many Hard Drives.
Also what does it mean if there's a Number and then Unbekannt (Unknown) behind it? Is that just a Translation Error in the Description?
I've planned to ask here what's the best one of the Hard Drives I've found, but I would need to send 10 Links that need to be compared and I think no one wants to compare so many Hard Drives.
Also what does it mean if there's a Number and then Unbekannt (Unknown) behind it? Is that just a Translation Error in the Description?
Comparisons are a bit pointless really...all you need to make a decision is the capacity and price. If you're still talking about hard drives rather than SSD's, there's not much to chose between them performance wise...where as any SSD will be many times faster than what you have already...the really fast ones with large capacity are the most expensive, obviously...but even the slowest SSD is a whole world of improvement over a hard drive.
The best all rounders are from Western Digital, Crucial, Samsung...others...but a general rule of thumb is to go for well known and trusted brands. I like Crucial SSD's...they're not the fastest but they are relatively cheap and very reliable...more drive for your money as it were.
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As others have noted, it is time to switch to the new Solid-State Drive (SSD) technology. A SSD is plug-and-play for most systems, offers much higher performance and SSD is becoming so competitive in price with HDD it is difficult to justify buying a HDD.
I thought SSDs are a Type of Hard Drive. Of course I mean SSDs
I tried to early adopt SSDs and that was a mistake.
However, last year I gave them another try. Large size, cheap price even for a quality brand and very fast. I'd not be too worried about the limited writes because that number is well beyond the lifetime your computer is likely to be around and sometimes even more than your own lifetime.
Go for the SSD.
However, last year I gave them another try. Large size, cheap price even for a quality brand and very fast. I'd not be too worried about the limited writes because that number is well beyond the lifetime your computer is likely to be around and sometimes even more than your own lifetime.
Go for the SSD.
Just remembered because of your Mention of a Mistake: What is it like with Windows 10 now? I was still using Windows 7 because Windows 10 killed the other Hard Drive when it was still very new (it didn't work to reinstall a OS onto it). Of course I want a safe Computer but I also don't want a completely new SSD going to Waste. It makes me so angry that they already ended the Support for Windows 7 and also mentioned that Windows 10 will be their last OS. My Opinion is that they just should let Windows 10 die and start completely new
Comparisons are pretty straight-forward: Capacity vs. budget with performance of the drive being a secondary modifier. The (speed) performance of even basic SSDs is much higher than most HDDs. Stick with big brands you have heard of and compare reviews. San-Disk is my brand of choice but the technology is evolving rapidly, not so much getting a lot better but, capacity and speed keep increasing and costs keep coming down. Today, I can get a 1 TB San-Disk Extreme SSD at Best Buy for $140 USD and a San-Disk Ultra 1 TB SSD on Amazon for $115.
I've found a Article where they've mentioned what's the fastest Speed a SSD can be, so hopefully I can order one in a few Minutes
Edit : one of the SSDs I've found has way higher Speed, so it seems like 550 isn't the fastest
Edit : one of the SSDs I've found has way higher Speed, so it seems like 550 isn't the fastest
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You seriously need to consider moving to 64 bit Windows 10. I know some geeky types don't like it (for reasons) but running on Win 7 will cause you no end of issues if it isn't doing that already.
I'll buy this one. Impressive how cheap it is even though it has 1TB Space and is way faster than anything I've found during my Search.
Edit: and I think I'll get this one as a External SSD to try to get the old Files and then safe Stuff like Photos on it.
Ok, I hope the Problems that caused the other SSD (at least I think it was one because it's a very good PC that I've got only approximately 3-4 Years ago that can run all Games without Problems) to die, are now solved. I'll try to get Windows 10 on it
Edit: and I think I'll get this one as a External SSD to try to get the old Files and then safe Stuff like Photos on it.
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Finally ordered it. I've needed so long because I've decided that I can also finally buy new Shoes if I pay so much Money anyways (I have a relatively small Shoe Size so I decided to buy them online because I don't want to search multiple Times for Hours in a Shop and then get only disappointing looking Shoes)