[AdmiralZ]

My 70GB hard drive is nearly filled to capacity and I was wondering what my options are.

I'm not really an expert so you'll have to help me. Deleting files is not an option, I was thinking about an external hard drive, but I don't know if I can configure them to work in conjuction with my existing hard drive. Can I?

Any other suggestions, advice and knowledge would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[DoubleHelix]

What kind of files are filling up your current hard drive? Is it programs? Or do you keep music or video files on it?
Is your computer a laptop or a desktop?
If you have a desktop, you can probably add another internal drive for data. If it's a laptop, you'd either have to replace the existing drive or add an external drive for data.

 

[JohnWill]

Another option is to simply buy a larger hard disk and clone all the data on the existing disk to the new drive. Then you can add the second disk, either internally or in an external case, for backup. You do want to backup your data, right?

 

[AdmiralZ]

Essentially what I'm talking about is expanding my memory capacity.

In answer to your questions DoubleHelix,

1) Both
2) Desktop

 

[DoubleHelix]

Hard drive space is not the same as memory.

You can either buy a new, larger hard drive and clone (make a copy of everything) to the new drive. Or you can add another larger drive and use it to store large data files such as movies and music. Since you have a desktop, I don't recommend an external drive unless you have no free internal connections.

 

[DCM1519]

I like external hard drives for my desktop because I can backup to them and then turn them off. In the event of some large problem, they should not be effected.

 

[DoubleHelix]

dmullen, the poster (AdmiralZ) isn't looking for a backup solution. They're looking to resolve a low drive space issue. An external drive is good for backup, but if it's going to be used as a primary storage device, then another backup method still needs to be implemented.

 

[DCM1519]

I use my external drives for data and backup for the same reasons. I do keep data on the internal drives too but it is all duplicated and/or backed up on the externals.

If I did not use external drives for some reaason, I would probably get a second internal drive and only keep data on that one.

 

[MysticEyes]

I would probably get a second internal drive

Sounds right to me. Slave it up and start shuffling stuff off the C drive.

 

[jackdw]

Thats what I had to do with my 80gb. Just got full of music and digital camera pictures. I splashed out and got a 250gb SATA drive. Then I got lots more hard drives bringing my total capacity to 347gb.

 

[Bob Cerelli]

AdmiralZ,

Since you are "not really an expert", you might see about getting the drive from a local computer store. While it might not be the absolute cheapest, often many at least in my area will copy your old hard drive to the new one as part of their service. Might save you the hassle if you haven't done it before.