Install a WD Hard Drive in Your Desktop

Upgrading your desktop computer with additional storage is easier than you think. If you find yourself needing more storage space on your computer, it's surprisingly simple to add an additional hard drive to increase your computer's capacity. Just follow these easy steps on how to install a WD Caviar Blue, Caviar Green or Carviar Black internal hard drive in your desktop. Brought to you by Western Digital - www.wdc.com.

6 Tell-Tales Signs That You Need To Reformat Your Hard Drive

So you've noticed that your trusty computer has stopped being so trusty, and is now more concerned with crashing and not cooperating than performing your requested tasks. What can you do about it? You want your computer to run like it was brand new, but you don't want to have to go through the process of buying a new one, and you're not sure about when you should use that R word... Reno? Nope. Remove? Nope. Reformat? That's the word.

Here's 6 tell-tale signs that you need to reformat your hard drive.


Startup takes longer than a couple of minutes- Startup shouldn't take longer than 2-3 minutes even on a slightly older machine, so when it starts getting into the 5-10 minute range you may want to look into reformatting as an option to get your PC back in shape, or you can try doing some startup tweaks to get a faster startup if you don't want to reformat just yet. If you PC seems to hang (pause) at the Windows loading screen or any point during startup a good reformat should fix the hang, because it usually sorts out startup problems like hardware configurations and the sort.

Shutdown takes longer than a few minutes- Again, your shutdown shouldn't take more than 5 minutes, and that's being generous. Maybe your computer has to use the extra time to shutdown all the virus processes on your PC, but I dunno.

You've discovered viruses and spyware that you can't get rid of- Maybe your anti-virus program is crappy, or you've been infected by super viruses that just won't go away. A good reformat will get rid of all your bugs, so don't hesitate to use that as an option when you're knee-deep in viruses.

Half the time your programs and files end up not responding- When you can't hardly operate any programs without them not responding, or your computer particularly seems unstable something in your Windows installation probably got corrupted. It can easily get corrupted just over time with use and driver updates, they don't make OSes to last forever in a perfect state.

Windows errors on startup and shutdown- If you constantly receive Windows errors on your startup and shutdowns, then it may be a good idea to reformat. When everything is running smoothly you shouldn't get errors, errors only typically show up when something has gone wrong. Especially if you get the infamous Blue Screen Of Death, if that shows up, chances are it's only going to get worse, so better reformat now while you still have time.

Your computer begins playing Mozart- Back in the day when your computer dies it'd start playing classical music, if your computer does this, you can probably try reformatting, but I don't think it'll work. You can think of it as your computer's funeral music.

Remember to back up all of your important information before you reformat, make sure you don't forget those important pictures of your girl either that you'd regret losing. ;)

Hard Drive Enclosures - The Basics

Hard Drive Enclosures (also known as Caddy's) are rigid cases that Hard Disk Drives "sit" inside. They are designed to support standard Hard Disk Drives of all types and sizes and once installed inside the enclosure, the enclosure can be connected to the computer via USB, Firewire or e-SATA.

Enclosures are often used to house hard disk drives salvaged from an old PC but they can also be used in conjunction with new disks (You'll need to format the new hard drive once in the enclosure before it shows up on your PC). The benefit of using a new disk is that you will typically buy a hard drive with a larger storage capacity than any hard drive you salvage. Salvaged hard drives are effectively "free" and the motivation for using a salvaged Drive is often to recover data from the drive (particularly if it was removed from a failed PC) and then to put the drive to good use as a back-up by using it in an enclosure.

Because enclosures are external devices they are portable and can be used on multiple PC's or used to transport large amounts of data between say work and home. The smaller enclosures used to house HDD's from Laptop PC's don't even require an external power supply because they draw all of their power from the USB connection. Larger enclosures will have their own independent power supply. Key benefits of Hard Drive Enclosures are:

Flexibility of Connection Type: Enclosures give you the freedom to connect your hard drive to your PC in a variety of ways. USB is the most common but you can now buy enclosures with Firewire or e-SATA connection options. Typically USB is the default connection and Firewire and/or e-SATA available in addition to the default USB connection.. Enclosures with dual connection options like this are referred to as Combo Hard Drive Enclosures.

Interface: Most new hard disks are now SATA (Serial-ATA) disks but if you are looking to use a hard disk salvaged from an old PC it's probably going to have an IDE interface (also described as ATA or PATA). The IDE interface is pretty easy to distinguish as it has 2 rows of 22 Pins along the connection interface. A SATA Hard Disk will have to simple plastic looking connectors. Ensure you buy your hard drive enclosure with the right interface.

Back Up: External hard drives can be used to back-up selected files, folders or for creating a ghost image of the main hard disk installed on a PC. In the event of a failure of the main hard drive the a ghostedback up can then be used to get you up and running again in no time at all. Some enclosures come with "back-up buttons" and software that make this easy. If you buy a hard drive enclosure without this feature and you don't want to manually manage the backing up of files you could consider popular software solutions like Acronis True Image .

If like many the use if the external hard drive is to copy or back-up selected files then its simply a matter of selecting the external drive as the target drive to save to or dragging and dropping files onto the external drive.

Security: If you have sensitive or financial data then it makes sense to store this on the external HDD. Because this drive is independently powered it can be turned off when not in use and this then removes it from the threat of any virus, or Trojan horse software. It also gives you the freedom to physically remove the enclosure and store it securely away from the PC

Archiving: Whether you are downloading music and videos from the Internet, saving Digital photo's from your camera or digitizing your old record collection today are rapidly accumulating very large amounts of data and when all of this data is stored on your primary PC's drive it can cause problems with access speeds, increase the need for defragmentation of the Hard disk etc.  Enclosures allow you to move or duplicate this data onto an external hard drive thus enhancing the performance of your primary drive.

Running an alternative Operating Systems: If you ever fancied having a "play" with Linux but don't want to install it on your PC then you could install it on a hard drive in an enclosure and run it from this. You will need to tweak you Motherboard BIOS settings if you want to boot from the external hard drive as well as the primary drive installed on your PC but it's not that hard

Using External Hard Drives

This drive is usually internal; however, different requirements arising out of evolution of computer systems, new threats and changing environment have lead to the invention of external hard drives. They are popularly used as an extra memory in addition to the internal hard drives.

The reasons for their invention and immense popularity are many. A ready internet access exposes computers to various security hazards like Trojan horses, viruses and spyware. It is extremely important to guard the data against these threats. At times it is not possible to do that with the help of firewalls and anti virus system also.

Also, a lot of times, a computer has multiple users putting any sensitive information in the computer at great risk of corruption and loss. Apart from this, there is an increasing demand for storage space due to multimedia uses like MP3, Videos, photo files and so on. All these take up a lot of space on the hard drive. External hard drives were invented keeping these requirements in mind.

An external hard drive consists of a hard drive and its own casing or enclosure. It sits outside the main computer tower in this enclosure. The enclosure is slightly bigger than the hard drive, and at times contains a cooling fan. This portable encasement allows the user to store information on a hard drive that is not inside the computer.

The external hard drive is connected to the computer through a high-speed interface cable, usually with a plug and play interface. The interface cable allows the external hard drive to communicate with the computer to transfer the data back and forth. The most common types of interfaces are USB and Fire Wire.

A portable or external hard drive is quite a useful and has various advantages:

1. Safety from Internet Threats: It allows the user to back up or store important information which can be compromised by online or offline activities away from the main internal hard drive. Sensitive documents, large music files, DVD images, movies, and even backup of the contents on main internal hard drive, can be kept safely on an external hard drive.

2. Portability: It is portable and operates on a plug and play basis. Any computer with USB or Fire Wire capability can recognize the external hard drive as a storage device. The drive can be accessed like a normal internal hard drive. It is easy to transfer huge files from one location to other or between your desktop and Laptop. All it needs is to plug in the interface cable to quickly reconstruct a working environment.

3. Security: If there are multiple users of your computer system, external hard drive can keep all your important and sensitive documents safe. You only need to can plug in the external drive and make all your data and programs available. When finished, simply unplug the drive and take it with you or keep it in another secure location.

4. Segregation of Information: You can buy several hard drives and swap them in and out of the same enclosure, using one for multimedia storage, one for imaging, one for backup, one for work, and so on.

5. Data Recovery: They are ideal medium for recoverig the data from a broken or damaged computer or internal hard drive when a separate hard drive is required to store the recovered data.

6. Strong Casing: The outer casing on the external hard drives as compared to their non existence in other portable media gives them better protection from damage, age, weathering, and corruption, than CDs, DVDs, and Flash Drives.

Though overall there are more advantages than disadvantages of using external hard drives they are not completely fool proof:

1. Corruption: External drives are subject to data loss risks that are similar though lesser in proportion as internal hard drives: viruses, worms, data corruption, etc. due to their direst access to the computer they bypass anti virus installation and firewalls.

2. Failure prone: They are notoriously failure prone due to human mishandling (scratched, cracked, bent, misplaced). External drives are easily damaged, lost or stolen due to their portability and small size.

3. Storage: Where can one store external hard drives -- a safety deposit box, a glove compartment, a purse? Its proper storage should be in a climate-controlled environment. They are vulnerable to degradation by the environment (oxygen, heat, sunlight, humidity, liquids, and dust).

Weighing the pros and cons against the specific requirement can help one decide whether to use an external hard drive or not.

How to Install Internal Hard Drives : IDE Hard Drive Connectors

Learn how to connect IDE hard drives, and other tips for installing hard drives on computers in this free video. Expert: James Adams Bio: I have been working with computers since my high school days, almost 10 years ago, when I took a Novell Netware 4.11 class. Filmmaker: Brian Seegmiller

How to Install a Primary Hard Drive

In this tutorial we learn how to install a primary hard drive. The primary drive is your main drive, not a secondary drive. Installing a secondary drive is similar but you will have to configure your drive differently. Be sure to have your documentation handy at all times.

Learning how to install computer components like a hard drive is not hard, but proper preparation is the key to making it a smooth experience.

Before beginning you should completely shut down your computer. Also be sure to switch the power supply switch into the off position and pull the AC cord from the wall outlet.

1. Remove the Case and Set Your Drive Jumper

The first order of business is to open your computer case so that you can install the hard drive. The method of doing this varies, but most modern cases use a mini-tower design and have side panels that are screwed onto the chassis.

You will need to find the panel that sits above the motherboard and remove the screws in the back to slide the panel out. If you have an older computer design, you may have to remove all of the screws in the back and then slide the chassis out.

Next you must configure your hard drive. To install hard drive components properly you will need to set your drive jumpers. On the back of your drive you will notice pairs of metal pins pointing to various positions. There will be a jumper over the pins in one of these settings.

Consult your documentation. Basically, if you are installing the first and only drive you will set the jumper to "Cable Select." (If you were installing more than one drive, you would choose "Master" for the main drive.)

2. Insert the Drive into Case

Once the drive is configured you are ready to insert it into the case. Examine the design of your case to see what your options are here.

Inside your case there is what is known as a drive bay. Some of the new-fangled case designs offer a removable version of this drive bay or cage. If you have that, consider yourself lucky. It's much easier to know how to install computer components when you don't have to poke around in the case the whole time.

If you have a removable bay, then remove it now. Align the mounting holes on the drive bay with the mounting holes on your hard drive, and then screw them together. When you are done, insert the drive bay back into the case and screw it back on.

If, however, you don't have a removable bay, then all is not lost. Just insert the hard drive into the drive bay, align the mounting holes together, and screw it on. It's not that difficult; it's just a bit of hand and eye coordination.

3. Attach All Cables

Of course to install hard drive components, or any other components for that matter, you will need to attach cables somewhere. In the case of the hard drive you will need to attach an IDE cable from the motherboard to the motherboard, and then attach the power cable.

First, install the IDE cable to the motherboard. For your added convenience the IDE cable is color-coded for you. It is usually blue at the bottom and also has a red stripe on the side. This cable is to be inserted into the motherboard at the IDE0 (Primary) or IDE1 (Secondary) connector.

As an added check, make sure that the side of the cable with the red stripe lines up with the back of the motherboard labeled "Pin 1." Once you're done, connect the other end of this IDE cable to the hard drive. Connect the black controller and be sure that the red stripe is aligned with "Pin 1" on your hard drive.

Finally, plug the four-pin connector from your power supply into the back of your hard drive, and you're done!

4. Close Up and Power Up

Now it's time to close up and power up. Restore the case panel you removed earlier or slide the computer chassis back into the computer case.

Screw it back on, flip the power switch to the on position and attach the AC cord. Turn the computer back on.
At this point your system BIOS is going to detect that a new hard drive has been attached.

You may have to configure the BIOS to properly detect the hard drive or at least supply some specific settings. As we always say, consult your documentation and follow their instructions. Much of our tutorials on how to install computer components apply across the board, but you still need to tweak some settings depending on your manufacturer.

Conclusion

Learning to install hard drive units is not hard from a mechanical standpoint. It can be done very easily.

However, it's more than an installation. The drive unit needs to be properly configured. Jumper settings need to be set properly, and then afterwards the BIOS must detect your new drive. Afterwards, you will then need to format your drive and install your operating system.

As you can see, beyond the basic installation there are a number of additional details. That's why we encourage you to have patience and follow these tutorials step by step--and as always, read the instructions!

Recovering Images From a Virus Infected External Hard Drive

Images taken on our camera become a part and parcel of our lives. We ensure to save them in the safest places possible. Memory cards, computer hard drives, and numerous other places are potentially safe. We can recover them whenever we wish to turn back time. To ensure we never face a situation where all our pictures are gone, we take a large number of back up copies. Some of us though, have the misfortune of either losing the back-up or not having one at all. This is heart-wrenching. Instead of losing hope, you should use a utility tool to perform image recovery.

We often save pictures on external hard drives, since their storage capacity is high. These drives are connectible to the computer. The main danger to these drives is due to the numerous computer virus. These can easily get transferred from the computer to the external drive.

You may come across a situation where you face a virus attack on the external hard drive where you have stored your images. Once you have stored them in a secure location, you seldom keep the originals. This could have serious repercussions.

There are a number of ways to ensure that you do not face virus attacks:

* Never download scrupulous mails.
* Always have an up-to-date anti-virus on your system.
* Never connect any external virus infected device to your computer.

After a virus attack:

* Images from the infected system should not be mailed pr transferred to anyone (the virus could attach itself to it).
* Use the anti-virus to scan and remove the virus.
* If this doesn't work, format the drive.

In rare cases, formatting does not delete some computer virus. Since the drive was formatted to rectify a virus attack, first ensure that there are no traces of the virus. This can be done using a virus scan tool. If any virus is still left, delete it.

After this use an image recovery software to retrieve all the images. The software scans the drive and performs a digital image recovery. This is possible because these software are programmed to penetrate the file system and salvage data no matter how many times the drive has been formatted.

Ultra Stackable External Hard Drive Enclosure

Visit tiger.tv for complete specs, pricing, and availability on the Ultra Stackable External Hard Drive Enclosure. Just add a drive and go! Ultra's new portable, stackable external hard drive enclosure features a USB 2.0 and E-SATA interface and supports 3.5-inch SATA HDDs. That's right -- you can use one, or use more -- just stack them up! The Ultra 3.5-inch external hard drive enclosure supports Windows XP, 2000, ME and Mac 9.0 and above. Built-in 30 mm cooling fan keeps the drive running at maximum performance while protecting it from excess heat. This easy to use external hard drive enclosure is easy to use -- it's hot swappable, Plug and Play. Lay it down, stand it or stack it! No matter how you use the Ultra portable, stackable enclosure, it will meet and exceed industry standards. Comes with external power supply and USB cables.

The Benefits of Having an External Hard Drive

People amass an enormous amount of data on their computers these days. We are constantly downloading music, uploading digital pictures and video, plus all the various programs we install on our systems. Add in all the documents and spreadsheets and our computer gets filled up pretty quick, even with the larger size drives currently installed.

As your drive reaches its capacity, you lose the ability to store more data or install more programs. Not only that, but your computer system may start acting sluggishly. You have a couple of choices, delete stuff or add another drive.

It probably isn't very realistic to start deleting all of your important files, so getting a larger hard drive is the best option. You are not very excited about the process of tearing apart your computer to see if you have room inside for adding one. You may not even have a clue as to where to start. Don't worry, you have another option that makes adding extra hard drive space a breeze. Your best option is adding an external hard drive.

In fact this is one of the best benefits of having an external hard drive.

There is no tearing apart your computer. All you typically have to do is buy one that plugs into the USB port on your computer. No muss, no fuss, just plug it in, power it up and let your computer recognize it. Some external hard drives even come with utility software that will help you transfer files from your full hard drive to the external one.

Another very important benefit of having one is for backing up your data files, music, pictures, video and whatever else you wouldn't want to lose if your computer crashes. There are two types of computer users, those who have lost data and those that will. It happens to everyone and usually at the worst time. External drives have become so inexpensive that it is wise to have more than one for backup protection.

External drives have become quite sleek and compact. They are small enough to store in a safe or small lockbox for safety and security. For the cost, size and amount of data they can hold, it is the best way to back up all of your critical computer files.