HDD Swap - What would you do?

[WhiteD3]

Hiya,

I've run out of space on my 40GB (OS & data) drive on my main PC (runs Vista). I've got a 250GB (OS only) in my HTPC (Runs XP MCE) that's only got about 6GB used.

Would you attempt to swap them or just buy a bigger drive?

Oh, I thought I'd try a poll...never done it before so if it doesn't work.......

[gumby190]

By a new drive or format the 250GB, use it for storage.

Move all the unecessary files off the 40GB drive & just use that to run your OS.

[LR V8]

as what gumby190 said.....

Reformat the 250 and slave it off the 40. Having the OS and not much else on the 40 will make things a lot quicker when it comes to defragging.

I'd move data such as music, videos & pics onto the 250, but leave programs that I use a lot on the 40... such as firewall, anti-virus, ms office, firefox and favourite games - things that might operate a tad better sitting next to the OS.

oh.... burn to cd/dvd anything critical prior the above, just in case Mr Murphy drops by....

good luck,

Pete

[RonMcGr]

By a new drive or format the 250GB, use it for storage.

Move all the unecessary files off the 40GB drive & just use that to run your OS.

Gumby190 is spot on.
I have two drives, one for the computer and computer opperating files, the second for storage.

Why?

Simple, if the thing crashes, by second HDD with all the important files, is still okay and can be fitted to another machine.

I also regularly back up my files on DVD's.

Cheers,

[incisor]

me personally, i'd be ditching the 40, they are usually way slower drives than the 250 and most boxes slow their bus to the slowest attached device...

whether you can see or need the speed increase is the next question..

[abaddonxi]

How old is the 40?

Get a new one.

Cheers
Simon

[tracker]

buy a external hard drive 120+ gig about $120.00.use it to back up and save all files so when the old 40 dies you lose stuff all.I have a seagate which I use for both laptops and it works well.

[100I]

as what gumby190 said.....

Reformat the 250 and slave it off the 40. Having the OS and not much else on the 40 will make things a lot quicker when it comes to defragging.

I'd move data such as music, videos & pics onto the 250, but leave programs that I use a lot on the 40... such as firewall, anti-virus, ms office, firefox and favourite games - things that might operate a tad better sitting next to the OS.

oh.... burn to cd/dvd anything critical prior the above, just in case Mr Murphy drops by....

good luck,

Pete


buy a external hard drive 120+ gig about $120.00.use it to back up and save all files so when the old 40 dies you lose stuff all.I have a seagate which I use for both laptops and it works well.
Just buy an external case for maybe $50 (disclaimer, I suffer from CRAFT) and you have the rest.
All my 'stuff' is now on the exo and the 40 is just basically OS.

[WhiteD3]

Overwhelming feedback is buy a new one. I really don't want to have to install 2 new OS. Especially the HTPC machine, temperamental beast it is.

Cheers.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Its a good excuse to get the whole new system...its what I need to do also...

want some advice?:angel:

[dmdigital]

For less than 50c per GB I'd be ditching the 40GB for something new and faster.

[5teve]

take the advice from pedro, then ignore everything he suggests buying and buy anything else! :D you know you wont have problems then!

My 2 cents would be buy a new one... and if its possible with vista.. ghost it over.. saves reinstalling and im assuming the install is fairly new being vista.. unless its an XP upgrade then reinstall from fresh..

why is your htpc temperamental? mines on 24/7 for weeks! oh you said you MCE didnt you :p

personally i'd stick with my hitachi's but they seem very hard to find over here.. good job i have several spares..

Thanks

Steve

[WhiteD3]

why is your htpc temperamental? mines on 24/7 for weeks! oh you said you MCE didnt you :p



It's fine as long as I don't touch it. I tried to upgrade to Vista 6 months ago and had all kinds of trouble with video and tuner drivers. Finally went back to MCE in disgust and its stable as is. Just have to be careful with MS software updates.

Cheers.

[disco2hse]

What 5teve said.

Get a bigger drive and clone all the OS, apps, data, etc. onto it. Ghost is good and there are other apps you can use. Dump the 40 and use the 250 for back up of your home directory stuff, or the OS if you prefer.

I bought a 500Gb sata drive for $180 a couple of weeks ago. Cheap as.

Hell, at that price go the whole hog and get two drives and set them up as a RAID :D

Edit: Oh by the way. Didn't vote because none of the options matched the suggestion of cloning onto a new and larger drive.

[Utemad]

If you're running a 40gig hard drive in a desk top then how old is the machine? Obviously good enough to run Vista but it sounds like it is time to upgrade the lot.

Regardless of the age of the rest of the system the 40gig drive must be nearing the age of imminent failure especially if it is a cheapy. Although my wifes 20gig in her desktop is still going but it is rarely used.

[WhiteD3]

If you're running a 40gig hard drive in a desk top then how old is the machine? Obviously good enough to run Vista but it sounds like it is time to upgrade the lot.

Regardless of the age of the rest of the system the 40gig drive must be nearing the age of imminent failure especially if it is a cheapy. Although my wifes 20gig in her desktop is still going but it is rarely used.

The box itself is 10yo but has been constantly upgraded. Near new MB with a gig of RAM, DVD drive, cordless mouse/KB, lovely Asus 21" flatscreen.

As all I use it for is email, MS Office and the net, 40GB's been fine but the kids don't like giving me access to their (much better) PC to transfer vid from the DV camera, and there just isn't the spare space on the 40GB to do movies.

I don't have Ghost so I think I'll just pony up for a 250GB drive and reinstall from scratch.

Cheers.

PS...If you think the 40GB is old hat then you'd hate my 2nd drive, the original 4GB that came with the PC. Works a treat.

FYI I run an automated backup to the data drive of my HTPC (all 3 PCs are networked) every few days, just in case....

[Rovernaut]

Format the lot and install only Linux.:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

[WhiteD3]

It's done, finally. I didn't count but I reckon its taken 10 hours.

Only time will tell if I've managed to resurrect SWMBO's files, programs, links, Facebook, Yahoo chat thingy, etc, etc.

Sadly the one bonus I was hoping for from this was that Movie Maker would recognize (and not lock up whn connecting to) my Sony DV camera. No such luck.

[Utemad]

I did my hdd format and reinstall last weekend. The only things I lost were my Firefox favourites. Not such a bad thing as there was an awful lot of crap in there.

I should also add that my on screen volume indicator that comes up when I press the volume buttons (it is a laptop) on the front doesn't come up anymore.