Basic Troubleshooting

Computer problem? Try the tips below as a start, if you're still having problems call us at 403-861-6575

  1.   Rule numero uno: Relax. Many computer problems appear more serious than they really are. Yes, it may look like your hard drive has crashed and all your data from the last three years is irretrievable. But there are a host of problems that keep you from reaching your data that can be fixed, sometimes in a matter of minutes.

    That's not to say catastrophic data loss does not happen — it does. Don't assume the worst, but rather...

     

  2. Prepare for the worst — back it up.
    When a serious problem occurs, be ready for it. Back up your important data. Most applications can be reloaded from CD so there's usually no need to back them up. Focus on your documents.

     

  3. Make sure there really is a problem.
    Can't start your computer? Check the basics.

     

    • Examine the cables, connectors, and power cords to make sure they're seated properly.
       

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    • If you're using a power strip, or better yet, a surge protector, make sure it's on and that it works. Remember that a surge protector may not be working because it is designed to self-destruct. When a electric jolt is too much, your surge protector fries, saving your more expensive hardware.

       

    • Try plugging a lamp or radio directly into the electrical outlet to make sure there isn't a power problem.

       

    • Check to see if your monitor is on and the controls for brightness and contrast are not blacking out the screen.

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  6. Know your computer.
    When you call the Help Desk at     (403) 861-6575, you may be asked specific questions about your computer based on the problem exhibited. It helps to know any of the following:

     

    • Brand and model of your computer — look for it on the front or the back of the computer case unit (e.g. Dell OptiPlex GM+ 5133).

       

    • Type of microprocessor and speed — sometimes indicated on the front of the computer unit (e.g. Pentium 4 2.6 GHz).

       

    • Operating system (e.g. Windows 98, ME, XP, 2000, Vista, Mac OS X, etc.)

       

    • The total amount of RAM (Random Access Memory) determines how many programs can run simultaneously on your PC. The more RAM the better. On the other hand, too much ram on an older PC is an unnecessary overkill. RAM is measured in megabytes (e.g. 256 MB of RAM), on older machine and in Gigabytes (1GIG=1024 MBs) in newer PCs. If you want to take full advantage of most of today's Internet and multimedia applications with all their complexity and visual richness, you want to have at least 2 GIGS of RAM.
       

    • Size of hard drive(s) in gigabytes and amount of free space. To find this out, double click on My Computer. Right click on your C: hard drive. A menu should appear. Select Properties. A screen will indicate hard drive size and show a pie chart of used versus free disk space. Mac users: control-click on your hard drive and select "Get Info..."

       

    • Peripheral devices. (e.g. Zip drive, local or network printer, modem, scanner, etc.)

       

    • Size and manufacturer of monitor. (e.g. 17-inch Sony Trinitron color monitor)

       

    • Purchase date and warranty information. Is it still under warranty? If it is, the manufacturer may fix it for free.

       

    • Application manufacturer, name and version of problematic software. (e.g. Microsoft Word XP); also what other programs were active when you experienced problems?

  7. Look for clues and write them down.
    What tipped you off to the problem? Sometimes it's an error code or message displayed on screen. Be sure to write it down — it may describe the problem and how serious it is. Not all error messages appear on your monitor. Some computers play a series of beeps upon start-up to indicate a hardware problem. Count the number of beeps and any significantly long pauses between beeps.

    Other times you get no warning — everything just freezes. Message or no message, be sure note what was going on when the problem occurred. Were you starting your computer? Were you on the Windows desktop? Were you in a particular application?

     

  8. Think about what changed recently on your computer.
    Try to pinpoint when the trouble first started. Did the problem coincide with any recent changes?

     

    • Have you changed any of your system settings?

       

    • Any new software installed or updated?

       

    • Any new parts put into your computer?

       

    • Any peripherals been added or removed recently (such as a printer, Zip drive or external hard drive)?

       

    • Has anyone else been using your computer recently? How did he or she use it?



     

  9. Determine repeatability.
    Try to duplicate the conditions in which the problem occurred. Does the problem occur every time? Has it occurred intermittently over the last week or month? Does it happen when you do a specific action?

     

  10. Reboots can do wonders sometimes.
    System crashed? A simple reboot may clear up the problem. Go to the Start Menu (or Apple menu) and select Shutdown. Didn't work? It's time to try a forced reboot — with, unfortunately, no way to save your work — by pressing the keys CTRL-ALT-DEL (Mac: CMD-CTRL-power) simultaneously.

    If that didn't work, you have no choice: you have to turn the computer off with the power switch. Wait 10 seconds and then reboot.

    If the computer starts up, launch the applications you were using when the crash occurred. Some programs, like Microsoft Word, make timed backups of your work and may bring up recovered files. Save these files under different names and compare them to previous saved files.

    If the computer does not start up (or, it does, but the operating system and/or applications crash continually), call the Services Help Desk at (403) 861-6575 to arrange for service.

     

  11. Scan for Viruses.
    Use the latest virus scan update to scan for those pesky viruses.

     

  12. Stumped? Call the Services Help Desk at (403) 861-6575.  We are ready to assist you with your computer problems.

 

Symptom: The system's fan is whining loudly.
Solution: A loud fan can be the result of a number of minor problems. The common cause is dirt. A dirty fan, clogged with dust, is highly inefficient and works harder to handle its cooling duties. As the fan struggles to cool the system, it produces the whirring sound. A quick cleaning should do the trick. If the fan is new and you're still hearing a loud whirring, your problem may be "ambient heat." You need to operate your PC in a cool environment. Many PCs get louder as they get hotter, with the fans spinning faster to keep the system cool. Be certain your PC is clean and cool and you'll run trouble-free.

 Symptom: Your PC spontaneously reboots.

Solution: A long-standing mystery solved! If rebooting occurs in a PC that you've just built, try re-seating your CPU's heat sink. Make sure you're using the proper thermal gel and spread it evenly between the heat sink and the processor. If inadequate amounts of gel have been applied or low-quality gel has been used, the system will reboot as the CPU heats up---and builds in the uneven "pockets" created by the uneven gel. Also: check to see if you've removed the protective sticker on the bottom of the heat sink (don't laugh---it happens!). And by all means, make sure your motherboard supports the CPU you're installing. If these steps check out and you're still experiencing spontaneous reboots, your problem may be one of the following: Overclocking: We do not recommend overclocking. Memory Timing: The fix? Go into your BIOS and set your memory on "Auto" or at a more conservative setting and see if the reboot problem goes away. Outdated BIOS: Make sure you have the latest BIOS for your board. You can determine if your CPU is supported by browsing the BIOS updates of the motherboard's manufacturer. If you're running a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition and notice that it's only supported with the latest BIOS updates, you may have located the problem! Inadequate Power: If you've made significant component upgrades---with the exception of the power supply---your power supply may be overstressed or failing due to heat or age. Finally, if you've migrated your OS and other files from machine to machine to machine, it may be time for a clean install.

 Symptom: Your Optical Drive (CD or DVD) Runs Slower and Slower....

Solution: Again, the villain may be dirt, since optical drives rarely "slow down" on their own. Optical drives either work---or they don't, so a mechanical problem is ruled out. What most likely has happened is that your dive has accumulated a layer of dirt or dust. Here's the fix: You'll need a can of "spray air" (available everywhere). Eject the disc tray and spray into the drive with short bursts---and be sure to spray at an angle so the dust will be expelled out of the drive. Do not spray continuously or turn the spray can upside down (doing so could introduce moisture into the drive. Repeat this process a few times, then try test the drive.
Symptom: I have four pieces of RAM installed and I'm pretty sure that at least one is bad. What's the best way to test RAM for errors?

Solution: Since you have four pieces of RAM, you can install just one DIMM in your motherboard at a time and run the machine until it crashes. This isn't a completely reliable way to test RAM, though. As an alternative, download Memtest86 (www.memtest86.com) and create a bootable CD. Memtest86 does a fair job. It runs several test patterns through the RAM. If a piece of RAM passes these tests, swap it with another DIMM and continue your tests. Even better than Memtest86 is Ultra-X's RAM Stress Test Pro 2, which is a self-booting diagnostic plug-in card. This card uses a comprehensive set of test patterns to assess your memory, and we've found that it finds bad pieces of RAM that other testers miss. Keep in mind that it may not actually be a stick of RAM that's bad. The problem may in fact be a bad DIMM slot. If all four pieces of RAM pass the test, you may have to rerun them in each individual slot on your motherboard. Finally, your motherboard's BIOS usually sets RAM timing by reading the SPD setting on the module. If the SPDs are set too aggressively (we've seen this), it may cause problems. You should consider going into the BIOS and manually tweaking settings such as your CAS latency to a more conservative setting.

 Symptom: Sometimes when I play games for a long time, my computer just randomly crashes to the desktop.

Solution: Random crashes in games can be the result of a few different problems. Typically, it's a heat issue, a driver issue, or a problem with the game. The first thing you should do is check for a patch for any of your games that are crashing. It seems like common sense, but frequently we receive complaints from people trying to run games that have been patched three or four times. Once you've updated your games, you need to update your video card and chipset drivers. Get you video card driver from the company that manufactured your card's chipset, either ATI or nVidia. You should also check for newer drivers for your motherboard's chipset whenever you update your video card drivers. Outdated motherboard chipset drivers are one of the main causes of general system instability. If you've updated all your hardware, but are still having problems, you may have a heat issue. Open your case and look at your AGP card. Is there another card right below it? If there is, you should consider moving that card to another slot. A card directly below a high-end video card can disrupt airflow enough to cause overheating issues with today's top-of-the-line video cards. If freeing the neighboring slot doesn't alleviate your problem, try adding a fan that fits into one of your PCI slots and exhausts hot air from the bottom of your PC.

 Symptom: My new Athlon XP system is telling me that my brand-new Athlon XP 3200+ is only any Athlon 2200+!

Solution: It sounds like your motherboard's bus speed is set incorrectly. You see, you probably bought and Athlon XP 3200+ that runs on a 400MHz bus (which is actually a double-pumped 200Mhz bus). For the motherboard to recognize the CPU as a 3200+, the CPU has to run at 2.2GHz, or 2,200MHz. The CPU reaches that speed only if the motherboard is set to an 11 multiplier and with a 200MHz bus. So, 11x200=2200. If your motherboard's front side bus is set to run at 166MHz, the CPU would boot at 1833MHz. It's no coincidence that this is the same speed at an Athlon XP 2200+. To correct this, reboot your machine and go into the BIOS by hitting DEL or F2 during boot. Look for the section that lets you change the bus speed. Hopefully we're right and it's set for 166MHz. Increase it to 400MHz, save the settings, reboot and you should have a 3200+.

Symptom: My optical drive has suddenly slowed to a crawl reading discs, and it refuses to read some discs.

Solution: Optical drives usually don't expire gradually; most simply stop working without so much as a death rattle. It's much more likely you drive's lens has accumulated a layer of dust.
Get yourself a can of compressed air at the local geek emporium, and eject the disc tray. Spray into the drive with quick, short bursts at an angle (so the dust is more likely to be expelled from the drive). Do not spray continuously or with the can upside down, because that could introduce moisture into the drive. Give the dust a minute to settle, and spray the innards again.

Symptom: I just bought a new PC, and now my Pocket PC refuses to connect via the USB port.

Solution: This is a common issue. You'll have to buy a new Pocket PC. Just kidding. This problem occurs if you plug your Pocket PC in before installing ActiveSync. Check the Device Manager by right-clicking My Computer, selecting Properties, clicking the Hardware tab, and then selecting Device Manager. If you see an Unknown Device entry, delete it by right-clicking it and selecting Uninstall. Restart you PC, install your Pocket PCs drivers from the manufacturer's disc, and plug it in again.

PC AUDIO AND MP3S

Symptom: I'm only getting sound out of one speaker.

Solution: This usually happens when the mini-jack coming out of your speakers us not fully plugged into the soundcard input slot. Reversed polarity of a speaker can cause some of the weirdness as well, so make sure the positive terminal on the actual speaker is connected to the positive terminal on the subwoofer (or wherever the speakers connect to the amplifier), and vice versa for the negative terminals. One final possibility: Pet owners should routinely check speaker cables for teeth marks and replace the cables when Mr. Bigglesworth eats through the outer layer.

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Symptom: The remote control for my PC speakers suddenly stopped working the other day. I installed new batteries but it still won't work. Is it dead?

Solution: Probably not. It sounds more like a sleeping remote. To wake it up, simply remove the batteries and press every button on the remote in a sequential order. Then just replace the batteries and your remote should work again.

Symptom: Sometimes I'll rip a worn CD, only to find later that some tracks have skips in them.

Solution: This is a common problem, and can be easily fixed. Go to www.exactaudiocopy.de (don't worry-the site is in English). We've brayed about Exact Audio Copy before, and here's why: When Exact Audio Copy rips audio it double-checks that data for accuracy, and if it detects any discrepancies between the original and the rip, it will extract the data again and again until it has determined that the result precisely matches what's on the disc. If the error correction is unable to compensate for a flaw in the disc and the data is irretrievable, Exact Audio Copy will let you know, sparing you from unpleasant surprises later. Oh, and did we mention Exact Audio Copy is free? Life is good.

Symptom: My Creative Labs Jukebox Zen Xtra keeps crashing. Is it broken?

Solution: If a single bit in an MP3 file is out of place or errant for any reason, it can make many MP3 players lock up or crash. You'll know this is the case if your player crashes on the same track every time. If so, you'll have to remove or re-encode the track. If an errant track is not the problem-you'll know this is the case because it won't crash on the same song/s-you may be able to rehabilitate your player be reformatting the drive. You'll find instructions at the Creative Labs web site. Go to Support, click Portable Audio, and select "Troubleshooting the Nomad Jukebox 3 as a Standalone Unit" (also known as Solution ID #7392). Reformatting will delete the contents of your player, of course, so make sure you have all your music backed up before you go for it.

Symptom: I can burn audio CDs and listen to them on my PC, but my portable CD player and car stereo can't recognize them.

Solution: Commercial CDs are literally stamped from extruded masters, creating pits and lands that CD players have been designed to read. Burned CD, however, create darkened areas that mimic the pits and lands of commercial CDs. As you've noticed, not all players-especially older ones-can deal with these kinds of discs. But all is not lost. Your best bet is to burn at a slower speed, 4x or below. This creates slightly more prominent differences between the burned and non-burned areas. If you have a Plextor burner, though, you have an even better option. The bundled Plex Tools includes VariRec, which allows you to subtly alter the burning strength of your optical drives laser. By experimenting with various discs and burning strengths, you will almost certainly find the right combination for your CD player. VariRec is supported by both Nero and Easy CD Creator. We've used it to make audio CDs playable on otherwise uncooperative boom boxes.

PC BUILDING TROUBLESHOOTING

 Symptom: I just built a new machine and am experiencing totally random crashes. What are the possible culprits?

Solution: Random crashes are always hard to diagnose, so let's cover all the bases. The first area to check is your drivers. Make sure you have the latest drivers for all your hardware, especially the motherboard chipset drivers. You should also make sure you've downloaded all Windows Updates. Next, consider your power supply. If you're running a midsize 300-watt PSU, and upgraded to a late model Pentium 4 CPU or Athlon FX, or are just running several hard drives and PCI add-in cards, you should upgrade your power supply to a 400 watt or thereabouts model. Inadequate power to your components can cause the entire system to lock up at worst, or just cause certain components to malfunction or stop working. The final consideration is cooling. Ideally, you should have a decent size fan in the lower front of your case sucking in cool air from the outside, and a large exhaust fan above your AGP card pull air out of the case.

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Symptom: I'm building a new PC and have the motherboard mounted inside the case. When I push the AGP card all the way down in the slot, the end of the metal tab on the slot cover hits the bottom of the case, preventing me from inserting the AGP edge connector all the way.

Solution: Even though every ATX motherboard and ATX case should be exactly the same dimensions, there are still small variances that can create problems when transplanting your hardware into a new environment. It's fairly common for the video card to not quite fit, and when this happens the solution is to simply bend the end of the metal slot cover away from the board ever so slightly. This will afford it the extra millimeter or so of clearance the card needs to fit all the way down into the slot. But be careful!

 

WIRELESS (WiFi) NETWORKING TROUBLESHOOTING

Symptom: My wireless laptop will not connect to my wireless router. It can't even see it!

Solution: Usually Wi-Fi connection problems are the result of configuration errors, incompatible firmware, or interference with another router. It's easy to fix firmware issues-all you need to do is download the latest firmware for your wireless router manufacturer's web site. If you've installed the firmware update and still can't connect, your next step is to temporarily disable WEP or WPA. If you can connect to the router when security is disabled, check all your WEP settings. You need to use exactly the same key on your router and any machines that connect to it wirelessly. Also make sure the Authentication Type on each of the PCs matches the setting on the router. Troubleshooting interference issues is more complex. First, you should move your router off of the default channel. Most routers shipped today are set at channel 6 be default, and the sheer traffic can create a lot of interference. You should also uncheck the field that says, "Automatically connect to non-preferred networks"-there is no advantage to the feature and it can cause your computer to behave erratically if you're in the proximity of the other networks. If you're still having problems connecting, there may be a hardware problem on your laptop. Check Device Manager and make sure there isn't an exclamation point beside your Wi-Fi card. You should also try connection to another router that you know works properly. Finally, try connecting to your network using the same settings, but a different brand of Wi-Fi card.
If all else fails, contact your router manufacturer's tech support line. You may actually have a faulty router.

Symptom: My broadband connection feels like it's downloading really slow.

Solution: Sadly, there isn't much you can do to improve your broadband connection's performance without spending more money to upgrade your existing service. Sure, there are a whole lot of products out there that claim to "improve your broadband speed" but we don't know of anything that actually works.
If your performance is significantly slower than the advertised claims of your provider, you should complain to your ISP. For services advertised as full-speed, we expect a minimum of 50kB/s download speeds and prefer to see our speeds top out over 100kBs. If you are paying for a high-speed broadband connection, but are seeing less than 50kB/s downloads, you should switch ISPs!

Symptom: I can't see the other computers on my home network from my laptop. What can I do to make it work right?

Solution: First, you need to make sure that each computer you want to connect to belongs to the same workgroup. Open the Start Menu and right-click My Computer. Go to Properties, then Computer Name. If your workgroup name doesn't match, you can change it by clicking the Change button. Some versions of Windows only show the computers that actually have shared folders or printers, so make sure you have at least one folder shared on every computer you're trying to connect to. The next step is to disable your firewall. By default, most firewalls block the ports used by Windows networking, keeping even legitimate users-like you-from connecting to your machine. If all your machines use the same workgroup and your firewalls are disabled, and you're using a wireless router, your problem could be the router. If your wired machines can all see each other, but a wired machine can't see a wireless machine, it's almost certainly the router's fault. Barring a firmware update that fixes the problem, there's no easy way top connect your machines if this is the case. Check with your router manufacturer for a newer version of the firmware. If that doesn't work, you may need to get newer hardware. Here's one last tip: You can try to connect to your computer's specific IP address instead of its name. To find the IP address, go to the Network Connections control panel, right-click your network card, and select Status. The IP address is on the Support tab. Once you have the IP, you can go back to your other computer and put //IP.address.here/ into Explorer. If you have shared folders on the PC you're trying to connect to, they should pop up immediately.

HARD DRIVE TROUBLESHOOTING

Symptom: I just got a new Serial ATA hard drive, but when I try to load the image of my current drive onto it, the drive-imaging software doesn't recognize my new hard drive.

Solution: This is a problem that has vexed us as well, and it comes down to the fact that most drive-imaging software programs don't recognize Serial ATA controllers and therefore won't let you image the drives connected to it. We've tested practically every imaging program on the market in the Lab, and the only one that successfully moved an image to a SATA drive and made it bootable was Symantec's (formerly Powerquest) Drive Image 2002.

Symptom: I just plugged in a brand-new hard drive but it's not showing up in Windows XP.

Solution: All brand-new hard drives are sold unformatted and thus don't show up in Windows until they've gone through the formatting process. To get up and running, connect the drive, boot your PC, and at the Windows desktop right-click the My Computer icon and select Manage. Click Disk Management in the left-hand tree, and every drive connected to your system will show up. Simply right-click your new drive and select New Partition. Then follow the steps to get your drive up and running.

Symptom: My system crashed, and when I rebooted, my RAID array was no longer working properly.

Solution: RAID arrays can stop functioning for several reasons, but it's usually a case of a cable coming loose or something in the BIOS being reset. Serial ATA cables easily come out of their drives, so check them first. If everything is connected properly, you should also check to make sure that the ports your array is plugged into are set to "RAID" rather then "IDE." Because these ports often double as either standard IDE ports or RAID ports, they must be set in the BIOS to one or the other. Be sure to check here first if your array suddenly disappears.

WINDOWS XP TROUBLESHOOTING

Symptom: My computer is acting odd. Loads of windows open all the time, and I'm getting a bunch of popup windows that don't look like Internet Explorer windows.

Solution: Your problem is most likely caused be incoming Messenger service messages. In a networked corporate environment, Messenger is used to send time sensitive messages about server outages, and software updates, but there's really no reason to leave Messenger running at home. To disable it, go to Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, and then Services. Scroll down to Messenger, right-click it, and select Properties. Change the Setup Type to Disabled and then press OK.
Note that this Messenger service is different from Windows Messenger. You can disable this service and still receive instant messages!

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Symptom: A couple of days ago, my computer began behaving very oddly. The disk runs a lot, even when I'm not using the computer, and my browser home page is reset to a site I've never been to before.

Solution: This sounds like a classic case of spyware infection. There are a couple of things you can do. You can purchase a good spyware clean up program ($60 - $140) install it and clean your machine that way. Be aware that spyware may not be the only thing affecting your pc. Adware, Trojans, Worms and even viruses may be causing these same symptoms. It is not unusual for a computer to have been infected by two or three different types of malware at the same time. If you feel that you are not up for the task, give us a call (807-474-6692) we'll have all the tools to restore your system to like-new condition again.

Symptom: My e-mail frequently stops working-it often stalls when receiving and sending. And no matter how many times I change the e-mail settings, it reverts to "localhost."

Solution: There's an outside chance the problem could be a virus, but the most likely culprit is your antivirus program or your spam filtering program. These apps work by situating themselves between your mail program and your e-mail server, then taking a look at every piece of mail you receive. But if one of these programs crashes or needs input from you, it will hold up the e-mail download and your mail program will think the connection has died. If this happens, just restart your antivirus program and spam filtering program and try downloading messages again.

Symptom: I keep losing menu options in Microsoft Word.

Solution: Our bet is that you really like to use them-dashes. The default keyboard shortcut for an them-dash is Ctrl+Alt+the numpad Dash, but people often mistakenly press Ctrl+Alt+ the Dash on the primary keyboard, which is the default keyboard shortcut for "Remove item from the menu." After you call up that shortcut, your cursor will change to bold minus sign and the next menu or shortcut you click will disappear from Word. The solution? Don't use so many them-dashes! Alternately, you can remap the them-dash shortcut to something a little more convenient. Go to Tools, Customize, Commands, and then click the Keyboard button. Then, under Categories, scroll down to Common Symbols and click Em-dash in the right pane. Change the hotkey to whatever you'd like. We like Ctrl+M. To get back the menu items that you've lost, go to Tools, Customize, Commands, and drag the elusive commands back into place.

Symptom: I keep accidentally e-mailing my friend at her old address because the program created a shortcut for me.

Solution: This is an easy fix. When you're typing the name into your To: field, scroll up and down until you get to the one you want to delete. When it's highlighted press the Delete key and it will be gone forever!

Symptom: I get a ton of spam every day.

Solution: There are a couple of really good, free anti-spam utilities available today-SpamPal (www.spampal.org) and Popfile (popfile.sourceforge.net). They use slightly different approaches, but each can reduce your spam intake by up to 99 percent. SpamPal analyzes every e-mail you receive and compares the path it took across the Internet with the servers and IP addresses of known spammers. It's very effective right out of the box, but if you frequently receive e-mail from countries where spam is known to originate, such as China, Russia, and Taiwan, or from webmail services like Yahoo, which are frequently abused by spammers, you may see a lot of false positives.
On the other hand, Popfile uses a technique called Bayesian filtering to determine which letters are spam based on the content of your e-mails. Every time you mark a message as spam, the contents of the message are added to the database. This is highly effective once the filters are fully trained, but it can take several weeks of flagging each incoming message as spam before you start seeing greater than 90 percent accuracy.

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An Inside Look at Hard Drives
 What you need to know before you buy your next hard drive
 


 

  • Hard Drives - Bigger is Better
  • But Size (GBs) Does Matter and So Does Speed (RPM)
  • When 2 Drives Are Better than One

Purchasing a hard drive (HDD) is an important buying decision. That’s because all your data is saved on it. If you buy a low quality hard drive it may crash on you and you’ll lose all your games and all your digital data. In the end, though, hard drives are all about capacity. And, far more often than not, your biggest hard drives are the costliest. However, once the new models hit the market you will be able to purchase the earlier generation models for less cash. Additionally, the higher-performance (7200-rpm) drives are usually pricier than the more pedestrian (5400-rpm) drives at the same capacity.

Choosing a Top-Notch Hard Drive
 

  • Capacity - We recommend at least 60 to 80GB; but the more the merrier!
  • RPMs - Go for 7200RPM - it gives you faster read and write speed.
  • Interface Speed - To get the max from your HDD the interface speed must match the interface speed of your PC.
  • Seek Speed - Not a huge deal. It’s how fast drives can pick a particular piece of data. 8ms or lower is an exceptional seek speed, but 8ms to 9ms is just fine.
  • Buffer Size - Go for at least 8MB

Bigger is Better
It’s generally a smart move to purchase the biggest hard drive capacity your budget will bear, even if you won’t need all that drive space right away. Of course, larger hard drives cost more than smaller ones, but the cost per GB doesn’t work out byte for byte. For example, the difference in cost between a 60GB and an 80GB HDD isn’t much, but a huge HDD could cost quite a bit more. Hard drives are able to handle larger amounts of data all the time. And it’s a good thing, because programs are getting more complex, graphics-intensive. You can now hold an amazing 400GB of data on a single drive. For those of you who hoard vast amounts of digital media or edit videos this ever-burgeoning hard drive capacity is a gift from cyber heaven. The proliferation of extra-large hard drives takes away some of the mystery out of HDD shopping. However, determining what size hard drive you need is a subjective matter. It really depends on how much data you need to store. Some folks can get by with 60GB on a desktop; others prefer the huge hard drives ranging from 120Gb all the way to 250GB or more. Size requirements, of course, differ for notebook computers. Before you get too involved in the GB numbers, though, you will need to check your motherboard’s manual or with your computer manufacturer to see how big a hard drive your PC can support. We recommend that you start off with at least an 80GB hard drive.

The Need for Speed
The speed of a hard drive is expressed in revolutions per minute (RPM) and it refers to how fast the computer can read data from the hard drive. We recommend that your hard drive moves at a clip of at least 7200 RPM. At less than 7200RPM your data-intensive applications, such as games, might slow down because it takes too long access the data.
You need at least 5400 RPM for fast data read and write speed. High RPM is especially critical if you use your computer for multimedia or video applications. Faster RPM doesn’t make much difference for word processing or surfing the Net.

Secondary Considerations: Interface and Seek Speeds, as well as Buffer Size
Secondary considerations that taken together should have an impact on your buying decisions include Interface Speed, Seek Speed and Buffer Size.

Interface Speed
Interface speed is measured in ATA/100 or ATA/133. There isn’t much noticeable difference between the two values. To get the maximum performance from your hard drive, its interface speed must match the interface speed of your PC. If not, you must install an interface card that matches the speed of the new drive.

Seek Speed
Average seek speed is how fast your drive can find a particular piece of data. This should not be a huge factor in your hard drive buying decision unless you need to copy large folders full of many small files, which makes it necessary for your PC to assemble small, scattered bits of data.

Buffer Size
The buffer is a memory cache on the drive. This cache is a repository for the temporary storage of data awaiting the next likely request of your computer’s CPU. Because random-access-memory (RAM) is much faster than mechanical rotating storage, the buffer can speed up performance. Most new desktop hard drives have buffers of at least 2MB, which is perfectly acceptable for most uses.

Other Considerations:

  • RAID
  • SATA
  • Moving Data to Another Drive

RAID!! What is it? Do You Need it?
In case you are interested, RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. Simply stated, RAID allows you to use more than one hard drive to ratchet up your disk speed or retain a backup of your data in case a drive fails. In either circumstance, you will need more than one identical drives, and it’s not particularly easy to configure them. More and more systems use RAID 0, which can markedly increase system speeds for reading and writing data. If you want to go for RAID you will need to choose a couple of drives that match the storage capacity you’re looking for. Now that you can purchase 120GB hard drives for less than $100, you can easily go for the RAID advantage. Making this decision easier is the fact that most new motherboards support Redundant Array of Independent Disks.

Take Serial ATA Seriously?
Serial ATA, known as SATA is definitely the way to go if you are building your own PC from the ground up. Even the most inexpensive mobos support SATA, and if you go with a SATA drive your PC system will be easier to set up. Plus, you’ll have a much easier time moving your drive to a future PC. Now if you want to boost the storage capacity of an older PC, choosing SATA is not such a simple proposition. In order to use a SATA drive you’re going to have to add a SATA controller card, which can be costly. However, many of the new SATA controller cards have built-in options to add RAID support to your system. If you’re a video editor or the kind of person who stores tons of digital data, it just might be worth your while. In the alternative, it’s a wise choice to simply add a second parallel ATA drive. Some manufacturers are adding new wrinkles to SATA technology to enhance hard drive performance. For example, Seagate’s Native Command Queuing (NCQ), which requires a native Serial ATA drive, accompanies one of its 160GB hard drives, improves performance by packing good aerial density, meaning it has more data than ordinary into a small space. NCQ allows the drive to master multiple outstanding commands simultaneously and utilizes an internal queue that can store up to 32 commands at once to allow the drive to quickly reorganize the commands so they can be written and read more efficiently. This particular Seagate drive with NCQ also uses 8MB of cache to help overall performance by caching sequential data hits.

Moving Your Data to Another Drive
When it comes time to add a new hard drive to your older PC, the new addition will almost always be faster than your existing drive. However, if all you do is install the new drive on your PC, you’re going to maroon your operating system on the slower drive. In committing such an act of abandonment, you will forfeit some of the benefits of upgrading. So, make sure you use the newer, speedier hard drive as your boot drive. Hard-drive upgrade kits generally include software that will clone your existing drive to the new one, thus turning your faster drive into your boot drive.

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The 13 Easy Steps to Installing a Primary Hard Drive
 

Believe it or not, all it takes is a Phillips screwdriver to install your primary IDE hard drive into your desktop PC. Simply follow this illustrated 13-step guide and it’s mission accomplished! Please make sure you consult your user manual and other manufacturer-provided documentation while you complete the installation - you will need to refer to instructions at certain points in the operation.

1. The first step is obvious! Power down your PC! And for safety measures make sure you have unplugged all your power cords.
 
2. Next locate all the screws and/or clamps that hold the computer case and/or panels together..
3. Now it's time to gain access to the interior of the computer case. Simply remove the case or the panels that hold it together.
 
4. If your PC happens to have a removable hard drive bracket, now is the time to remove it! It’s specially designed to be removed without hassles, and its absence will make this simple installation project even easier.
 
5. Now it's time to leaf through the documentation that came with your hard drive, along with any included diagrams, for instructions on how to set the jumpers on the drive. If you're the type of person who hates to read the instructions, bury your impulse to neglect this crucial step. If your system has but a single drive connected to the cable, use the “Cable Select” option; this will suffice in most cases when there is only one drive. If another drive exists it will be connected to the same IDE cable, using the “Master” setting.
 
6. You're almost halfway done! Wasn't that easy. Now the fun begins! Slide your hard drive into the drive bay, then fasten it down. Some cases employ a system in which slide rails mount onto the drive for easy insertion and removal from the drive bay.
 
7. Remember that removable drive bay bracket that you removed in Step 4? Now it's time to return it to the inside of the case.
 
8. You will find that most ATA/66 and ATA/100 IDE cables have either a blue connector or a connector labeled “System Board.” In the likely case that this applies to your PC, plug this blue connector into either the IDE0 (Primary) or IDE1 (Secondary) connector on the motherboard. The primary connector is color-coded blue, in most circumstances, to indicate that it should be used for a hard drive. Usually, you can insert the cables in but one way. However, if the cable is not keyed for one-way insertion, make sure that the red stripe on the IDE cable matches up to “Pin 1” on the motherboard.
 
9. Attach your connector that is located the farthest distance on the ribbon cable to the hard drive. Usually this connector is either black or labeled “Primary.” Make sure you place the red stripe on the cable at pin 1 of the hard drive’s connector. Note: Most drives are keyed to allow the cable to fit in only one specific way.
 
10. Now locate a 4-pin power connector from the power supply. Simply attach it to the hard drive’s power connector. You're almost done!
 
11. Next, replace your computer case or panel.
 
12. Tighten any screws or clamps to fasten down the case or panel.
 
13. Finally, reattach your computer’s power supplies.
 

Voila! You’re done. Your hard drive should now be installed and ready for operation. Now your computer BIOS must detect the hard drive the next time you power up your PC. Double-check your PC or motherboard user manual for instructions on how to detect a new hard drive. Perhaps you may need to change some of the parameters in BIOS to detect the hard drive on the controller. You must also format the drive before it can be used with the operating system. Again, consult your manufacturer-supplied documentation for additional information.

Please note: The information in this page is supplied "AT YOUR OWN RISK ONLY". Although these are normal operational and/or diagnostical and repair procedures we cannot possibly guarantee that they are properly performed if not by one of our service technicians. By using any of the information in this page you agree that you are doing so at your own risk.

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