How to Backup Windows XP Home Edition by Stephen Bucaro
Your computer cost you from hundreds to thousands of dollars, but the computer itself is not the most valuable part. The data on the hard disk is the most valuable part. How many hours of work did you put into creating that data? One little event, like a power line spike from a lightning strike,... Install a Second Hard Drive When installing a second hard drive in your computer, it's important to configure the drives correctly. ... You can use an older, smaller hard drive as the backup device, as long as the backup drive has more "Free Space" than the main hard drive has "Used Space".

How to Install a Primary Hard Drive by Gary Hendricks
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. ... 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.

Building Computers: A Short History Lesson by Michael Quarles
In only a few years, the task of building your own computer has gone through remarkable changes, almost entirely for the good. It’s less complicated, and far less prone to the devilish sort of problems presented by certain steps in the process. One of the most notable improvements has to do with... First, you booted up from a MS-DOS floppy, and installed its files on your hard drive. ... You had to have either an IDE or SCSI I/O card as controller for the hard drive, floppy, and printer port. ... Building a computer required a lot more circuit cards back then.

Finding the Free Driver Downloads and Software You Need by Christy Berger
So you bought a printer. That’s great! Unfortunately, that’s not all there is to getting to use it. You have to download drivers, software has to be installed and not to mention complicated set up processes must be gone through. But don’t panic! It is our hope that once you’re done reading this... A printer driver is basically an executable file for Windows and an HQX file for Mac users that downloads onto your computer, installs itself and makes it so your computer will be able to send print jobs to the printer.

Best Computer Upgrades -- Cost verses Value! by John Dow
I do a lot of computer repair work and one of the first questions I get asked (after I fix the computer) is what can I do to improve the performance. I normally clean out all the old temp files and registry entries (two things that slow down a computer) whenever I work on a computer. ... The hard drive install is fairly straightforward but transferring your data and OS can get a little more involved. ... Since disk access is often and files are constantly being accessed and written, the data transfer rate and speed at which the platters spin on your hard drive comes into play.

Laptop Repair and Upgrade by Michael LaRocco
Laptop repair isnt always easy, but sometimes it can be. If the laptop isnt under warranty and you dont feel comfortable replacing some of these parts yourself, youll have to find a professional to do it. If you only want to upgrade then you cant send it back to the manufacturer and you'll have... The #1 reason for hard drive corruption is abuse, so be careful with your laptop if you wanna keep your hard drive safe. ... Hard Drive: A hard drive can be a little more tricky to upgrade. ... If your hard drive gets corrupted, youll probably lose most of your data unless a professional can...

Dual Boot Windows and Linux: Single and Multiple Hard Drives by David Picella
The internet is full of technical articles, many of which are way too complicated for the average computer user who just wants to solve a simple problem. If you pay close attention, the internet is also a place where the "gurus" spend a lot of time yelling for help in discussion boards and forums. ... I only have enough room here to tell you the most common way to do this on a single hard drive or using multiple hard drives. ... When you install Linux—MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT INSTALL THE LINUX BOOT LOADER TO THE MBR.

How To Backup Your Hard Drive by Otis F. Cooper
We all know that we should back up our system as soon as possible. But if you're like most of us, you will get to it tomorrow. The problem is that tomorrow rarely ever comes until you experience a serious computer failure and then it’s too late. Taking the time to backup your data or entire hard... You can either purchase an internal hard drive and install it to your ide cable, or you may want to purchase an external hard drive that connects to your Universal Serial Bus or USB Port. ... Here you see the first letter as D but if your optical drive has a different drive letter, exchange the...

Tips For Buying A Great Backup Hard Drive by Cedric H. Dirose
Any computer user who has ever suffered a loss of important data understands how important it is to have a good backup hard drive in place. Unfortunately, many of us do not get a good understanding of the importance of having a backup until it is too late. ... It is important to look at the reliability figures of the hard drive, and talk to other owners of the drives, in order to find the most reliable and highest quality hard drive to store your valuable personal and business data. ... For the most part, buying a backup hard drive is no different from buying any kind of hard drive, and...

Moving Data to a New Hard Drive in an Emergency by Bill Nadraszky
Yesterday I had to change my hard drive and had a few issues that I was able to fix. The problems started in the morning when my wife called me and told me that the computer would not boot. We have been having trouble with our hard drive for a while now and I was able to fix each time by just... Using tools and knowledge that I had I had to do the following: Install new hard drive First of all I had to install the new hard drive. ... Copy data from bad drive Next I just did a blanket move of all of the files from the old hard drive to new into a new folder that I created in the root...