Need a new Hard Drive...options??

[vrbaba]

So I have a 120, and 40 GB drives installed. 120 is the primary with the OS (Win XP Pro) installed.
I def. need a new hard drive to store all the media i have and will get...at least 250Gb.

Whats the easiest/best for me to do?

1- Get a regular drive...copy all the data on the 40gb drive to it? How feasilble is that since i will need to remove the primary drive and hook up the new one to copy first.

2- Get a Raid drive?? Dont have much clue about it...but know that Abit IS7 MB supports it. Is this more expensive and how much? Will I not need to remove any existing drives?

3- Get a EIDE PCI connector and install three hard drives? Is this slow? install headaches? etc...

Thanks!

Raj

 

[powerMarkymark]

If you have the room for the hard drives in your case then a PCI IDE controller is your best option.

Easy to set up and no it is not slow.

 

[airfoil]

IMO, forget RAID, unless you're willing to buy 2 250gb drives. Get one, use that for storage, after moving files off the 40 gb to it. Then buy an external case for the 40 gig drive and use is as a backup. You wont need it all the time so it can stay switched off or disconnected.

 

[vrbaba]

Yes, I have additional slots for hard drives. I dont really need the third (40gb) drive...but dont care either way.
How easy it is to remove the primary drive and install the new drive? (since i cant boot anything up) Will the copier that comes with the drive be able to transfer everything without windows boot up? And hope nothing screws up when I put my original primary drive back in?

 

[airfoil]

Why not leave the OS on the 120gig and think about reinstalling it on the 250 gig drive when the need to reinstall actually arises? Leave the 250gig drive as one single partition (you must have XP SP1 or 2 for the OS to see more than 137 GB of that 250)

You cannot just copy an installed OS to another drive - to do this you must use a program such as Norton Ghost. Depending on how clean your current installation is, I'd say it's better to perform a clean install if you do decide to use that 250 gig drive for the OS.

 

[vrbaba]

dont want to use the new 250 for the OS...just want to create a partition on it.
I guess the procedure is...ge tthe drive, pop out the current 120...copy the 40 on the 250 as a slace...and then put back in the 120 as primary?
simple enough ?

 

[chuckywang]

bump, cause I need the storage.

 

[vrbaba]

ANy recommendations for a new drive?
I was looking at the Maxline Plus II 250GB. But some users said it has a high failure rate.

Anyone using a 250GB/200GB and is satisfied with it, or anything I shoud stay away from?

Thanks