A hard drive with mounting brackets attached.
An important part of performing computer upgrades is making sure that the new component you've purchased is compatible with your computer. Otherwise, you have to deal with getting a refund or replacement from the company. You need to check a few different aspects with your computer set-up to determine the exact type of hard drive that you can use.
Instructions
1. Turn off your computer. Remove the power cord from the back of the computer. Take the cover off by sliding a side panel off or removing the screws on the back of the computer.
2. Check the available physical connections for a hard drive. Most modern computers use SATA, IDE or both connections. The IDE cables are long, gray ribbon cables with a red or black strip down one side. SATA connections are red cables with a small, black connector on the end.
3. Examine your current hard drive usage. As long as you are using the NTFS file system, which is standard on Windows operating systems from 2000 on, you are not limited by disk size.
4. Establish a budget for your hard drive upgrade. Select a balance between a high hard drive speed, such as 7200 RPM, and the hard drive capacity.
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