Help needed - more space needed/external hard drive

IamBroke

Hi guys

Would anyone be able to help me...?! please please please!

i have a laptop Toshiba L20 with only 20GB free space left and i have loads of software that i need to install.....photoshop, paintshop and a whole lot more.

Now i dont really know what to do as i need more space but dont want to get a new pc. if i buy an external hard drive can i install the software on that or run it off that???? or should i get one and just transfer all my music and photos onto it?

thanks for all the advice..please help!

motorguy

Buy an external HDD and copy your music / photos over to that.

Also, dont assume that hard disks never fail - backup important pics or docs to CD too.

You should be able to get a 320Gb HD for around £60.

You could upgrade the internal HD in your machine too...

Chippy_Minton

Yes, you can install and run programs on an external drive. It will work as long as Windows assigns the same drive letter every time you plug it in, which is usually the case. See http://ask-leo.com/can_i_install_programs_on_an_external_drive.html for other things to be aware of.

However, I think it's better to use the external drive just for documents etc. and install programs on the C: drive.

Use www.ccleaner.com to free up some space and Disk Cleanup to delete all but the last system restore point. Also uninstall programs you no longer use.

IamBroke

Thank you both of you for your help...really appreciate it!

does the make of the external drive make a huge difference...?

i asked a random person and he told me i need to know the motherboard in my laptop to know which drive to buy is this right as i have no clue about that...?

and finally any brand recommendations i should go for or should i just find a good deal?

i also need to get a flash memory stick thing...are these reliable as i need at least 1 gig
tia

Chippy_Minton

It plugs into a USB port, so it will work regardless of the motherboard (that's only important for internal drives) Your Toshiba L20 has USB 2 ports, so data transfers will be at USB 2 speeds.

Seagate and Western Digital are good makes http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/cat/Hard-Drives/subcategory/External-Desktop-Drives

USB flash memory drives are handy portable storage and I've never had a problem with them. Kingston is a good make. Don't buy from ebay though as many of them have fake sizes.

Donnie

Not too fond of Kingston memory. Too many failures. I prefer Sandisk.

IamBroke

Chippy_Minton wrote: »

It plugs into a USB port, so it will work regardless of the motherboard (that's only important for internal drives) Your Toshiba L20 has USB 2 ports, so data transfers will be at USB 2 speeds.

Seagate and Western Digital are good makes http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/cat/Hard-Drives/subcategory/External-Desktop-Drives

USB flash memory drives are handy portable storage and I've never had a problem with them. Kingston is a good make. Don't buy from ebay though as many of them have fake sizes.

Chippy you are a star...thanks so much :beer:

albertross_2

20 GB is still a fair amount of space, unless you plan to fill it up with movies and music. For a new internal HD, the motherboard is irrelevant, you just need to make sure you get the correct type, PATA or SATA, and correct thickness if it is a slimline laptop

http://www.z-a-recovery.com/tools-visualizer.htm

IamBroke

albertross wrote: »

20 GB is still a fair amount of space, unless you plan to fill it up with movies and music. For a new internal HD, the motherboard is irrelevant, you just need to make sure you get the correct type, PATA or SATA, and correct thickness if it is a slimline laptop

ohh 20GB is still alot of space...?

i just thought that seen as i have 60gb capacity and only 20gb left i might run out! i have about 10gb of music which isnt that much...dont have any movies but as my family also use the laptop i have visual studio/sql server installed which are quite big.

and i need to install publisher and various photoshop applications so i thought i might run out.

was thinking of getting this one, would it be ok:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-FREEAGENT-DESKTOP-UK-VER-7200RPM/dp/B000P6W2DC/ref=sr_1_2/026-2585045-7970823?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1189542396&sr=1-2

thanks x

albertross_2

Well it depends what you put on it, uncompressed music, and films are the things that normally eat space up, a DVD is 4.7GB, the same space can hold thousands of mp3's, or hundreds of programs.

I'd install your applications, have a cleanup with ccleaner, and then see how much you have left. The apps you mention should easily fit in 20GB.

If you want an external usb hard disk, any should do, you don't have to worry about sata/pata, they just plug in. They are very cheap atm, have a look at ebuyer/amazon for good prices.

IamBroke

Oh right....thanks guys! I am just upgrading to Office 2007 taking ages! Will then install the ccleaner and decide from there. x