Hard Drive crapping out

[Minus]

My HD stopped working, specifically that arm that slides across the actual disk (not sure the name of it) is clicking very loudly, and Im not sure why. There isnt anything physically blocking the arm but the tiny magnet in the back seems to be holding it back. Im not sure how to fix it or if its actually worth trying to fix, so Im looking for a new HD.


Is there anything spefic I need to do before getting a new hard drive?? I assume the HD comes completly empty, so I have a CD to install XP. But im not sure if Im able to just plug in the new HD and go from there.

[splitt3r]

first you need to figure out if your mobo supports SATA or not. it would help if I knew your computer model # so i could look it up. I would reccomend a seagate barracuda 7200.x, they are very reliable and pretty fast.if you have SATA ports, then get a SATA drive otherwise you will just have to settle for IDE.



SATA hdd:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148149


IDE hdd:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148103

you may have to change a few settings in your BIOS but it isn't too difficult, it should start up without any tweaks needed. The hard drive will come with nothing on it, but It will always have a little bit less than the advertised capacity. for instance, my 200gb hdd is actually 186gb.

[Minus]

Im not sure of a model number, it was a second hand, refurbished computer. The old HD I took out is Western Digital Caviar "Enhanced IDE" HD. So im not sure SATA would be supported.


But would the HD automatically read the CD Drive, so I could install the OS, or will I need to somehow put specific files on the HD for it to read?

[splitt3r]

Originally Posted by Minus

Im not sure of a model number, it was a second hand, refurbished computer. The old HD I took out is Western Digital Caviar "Enhanced IDE" HD. So im not sure SATA would be supported.


But would the HD automatically read the CD Drive, so I could install the OS, or will I need to somehow put specific files on the HD for it to read?

Ok, I am pretty sure you don't have SATA, so go for an IDE hdd. the cd drive should work fine for installing windows, you don't need to put anything on the disc prior to installing windows, you will have to reformat anyway.