Need some help on comp hard drive upgrade

okaaaaay, if i haven't said so before, i'll say it now, i know ABSOLUTELY nothing about computers. it's a miracle i can turn on/off a computer.
okay, onto the important stuff. my laptop is old. 3-4 years?...something like that. it's running out of hard drive space and i need more. i don't wanna buy a new comp. i HATE vista. hate it. hate it. hate it.
my friend said that if i want to put in more hard drive space, they are gonna tear my comp apart to put in more room. his exact words, "not good". i am better off buying an external drive. good idea?

 

external you can take anywhere.. but I mean chances of them failing on you is lot higher than if you stick it in your nice pc/laptop...

but yea.. you're gonna need to crack that thing open and see if there's even room to add-on? oh but then they said put in more room... how are they gonna do that??

 

ummmm...he said something about opening it up and restructuring the whole thing cause the hard drive space on laptops are usually set. so they have to make it bigger. something like that. i think. i stopped trying to understand after about a minute cause he started using computer lingo i didn't understand.

 

hahah if he's hooking it up for free then have him 'restructure' it then..

 

i really wouldn't know if he is telling me the truth or not.

i dunno. i don't trust him. i mean, he's one of those guys where u always wonder if he actually knows his stuff or just pulling stuff out of his ass.

 

get external. 500 will run you bout 120. External enclosures you can get for free. but with external u can bring stuff around. INternal is not worth it. You're tied to your laptop. If laptop is 3-4 years old its old and if it tanks you're likely getting a new laptop, not worth getting new hard drive for laptop.

 

here's basic video for installing hard drive...
http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/260/how_to_install_a_hard_drive_into_a.html

I guess the most cost efficient thing to do is buy yourself a harddrive enclosure which you can put your old hard drive in and it'll act as an external harddrive..

then pop a new harddrive inside your laptop..

cause either way you're gonna need to back up those files right? or how much space is in the original harddrive?

 

well if and when it does tank and she decides to get another laptop, she can buy another enclosure and put the hdd that she bought to use... =/

 

external enclosure? -what? no idea what u are talking about. please feel free to explain. i like the whole part about getting it for free. "but with external, u can bring stuff around" --> again, what? -what?
please remember, computer idiot queen here. i know nothing about computers. nothing.
and also....NOOOOOOOOO...my computer will NEVER die. NEVER. isn't ignorance bliss? hehe. if it dies, i will cry. i don't have anything backed up. i will lose EVERYTHING. the thing most important, are all the songs...

it cant be that easy...can it?
i have...100GB i think. i think.

 

yea.. it's pretty much that simple.. unscrew back, lift and wa.lah..

so I mean you should jus open the back and see for yourself.. jus don't lose any screws in the process.. -lol

 

lee-lee, dont worry if your laptop is 3-4 years old. my laptop im using is also that old, but if you take care of it, and not use it for games or whatever, its still good.

now, about that extra harddrive space, make your way to pacific mall, go to PCgate, and get a harddrive enclosure, and a harddrive. or you can drop by tigerdirect for the harddrive itself. 500GB is around 100 which is really good.

and now get one of your friends who has knowledge about hardwares to put it together, and help you format the thing.

total, you can get 500GB external harddrive for like... 130...

oh and a bonus on harddrive enclosures, if you can get one with a fan, and made out of aluminum, its gonna reduce the heat thats gonna come out of the thing.



and you might consider buying a 3.5" or a 2.5" HD, if youre not moving it around, go for the 3.5 inch HD, because its cheaper.

 

yea, but since 2.5''ers are more expensive and laptops aren't as easily fixable as desktops in the long run I dont find it beneficial to get a new laptop drive because if a new laptop is purchased you'd always get a hard drive with it. and since its not a necessity that the drive be in the laptop, the most bang for buck would be with external with 3.5''.

 

yea but I mean 2.5s are lot smaller... so if you want max portability in the long run.. 2.5s be the way to go...

that and when she gets her 40gb PS3 for $399.99... along with Rock Band... she can just upgrade the PS3 with that drive...

 

buy a new laptop with a xp configuration, i think there are still some online vendors that gives you that option, if your not a gamer and all that you should be able to get a pretty reasonable priced laptop or you can wreck your laptop by taking it apart cause you said you don't know anything about computers and still have to buy another one lol, depends on where they place it though, if they place it in a spot that is inconvenient, that would suck. And yea you can go external and all but external are not really reliable for pure storage, only for backup, my external needed to be reformated less than a year cause of a problem.

 

if ur laptop is working fine just get an external hard drive. its the cheapest and will work a charm. all u need to do is plug it into the usb and put the power plug in and ur gd to go. its the easiest option. also, u can backup all ur files on an external in the case of an event and u are able use ur files on other computers whereas the internal one causes a lot of hassle and is probably more expensive.