Being given a work computer with no hard dreive - worth it?

LondonDiva

We're updating our computers at work & I've been offered a tower thingy (with hard drive removed).

Is it worth it? I understand that the hard drive's the storage part and nothing else, so should be easy to sort out.

Am I correct or does the hard drive cover other things as well? If I do accept the computer, am I right inthinking all I need to do is to buy a hard drive (where & how much?) and 'slot' it in (how?).

The computer's a Dell if that's any help.

I know I'll need an operating system, but I have an XP disc that was given to me a few years ago.

Help

thanks

Diva

nikzGfx

Yup that's fine you'll need to buy an IDE hard drive or a SATA if accepted. But an IDE one should be fine, you can get them from various online shops at low prices, prices can range from £25 to £100+ depending on how much GB of storage you want.

netdumdum

I would be more willing to accept a pc without a hard drive than one with, you never know whats been on the hard drive do you.

motorguy

I'd take in that its FREE and it was doing peoples job in work up until recently so its probably 'OK'. There should be a service tag on it, you can check the spec here ....

http://support.euro.dell.com/support/topics/topic.aspx/emea/shared/support/root/en/product_support_central?~ck=ln&c=uk&l=en&lnki=0&s=gen

If its a pentium iv then its probably worth sticking a drive in, otherwise no.

raptorman

You don't need to put a hard drive in if you
don't want to.

There is a version of Linux called Puppy
http://www.puppylinux.com/
which will run entirely in memory, or if you put
an iso of Puppy on a CD but don't finalize the disc
you can save any work you do to the same disc
providing you have a CD burner in the tower.

Have a read of the Technical:How to install Puppy section.

culpepper

Ive got teen puppy which is excellent. It will be a bit faster if it has a drive to run from but you can use a usb drive(even a pendrive) if the machine has usb ports.

if you decide to run from cd, you can always remove the cd to save on to other cds while you are using it.

Harddrives are not all that expensive though anyway and handy to store things on. Running from a CD or pendrive is handy but if you want to save pictures or larger files, you need somewhere to put them.

rdpro

if it's a GX270, don't touch it unless it's been repaired in the last 6 months.

isofa

Who really runs a computer constantly without a hard drive today - are you all serious?!

Sure booting to a Linux CD or USB key can be useful at times, often mainly for security purposes on foreign machines, so nothing is "left behind". But for a standard computer used, daily, or hourly - at the current moment in time - no way. Not to mention the hideously slow access speed from CDs to run apps and large files from.

Buy a hard drive OP, they are dirt cheap, and set it up as a normal PC. Unless it's a new PC 2-3 years old, 99% will have a Parallel ATA (PATA), otherwise known as an IDE hard-drive, these are very cheap, you can buy anywhere from Amazon to Dabs to eBay.

raptorman

isofa wrote: »

Who really runs a computer constantly without a hard drive today - are you all serious?!

Sure booting to a Linux CD or USB key can be useful at times, often mainly for security purposes on foreign machines, so nothing is "left behind". But for a standard computer used, daily, or hourly - at the current moment in time - no way. Not to mention the hideously slow access speed from CDs to run apps and large files from.

Buy a hard drive OP, they are dirt cheap, and set it up as a normal PC. Unless it's a new PC 2-3 years old, 99% will have a Parallel ATA (PATA), otherwise known as an IDE hard-drive, these are very cheap, you can buy anywhere from Amazon to Dabs to eBay.

Funnily enough I was serious and because Puppy runs from memory
once it's booted up you can remove the CD so it run's just as
fast if not faster than say XP.

As well as buying a hard drive the OP may need to buy
a copy of XP. I recommended Linux because it's free
and surprisingly easy to use and would allow them to see
what spec the computer is. If nothing else they could give
it to their kids(if they have any) and let them play with
it.

OP, you won't lose anything by trying Puppy Linux
and you never know you might like it.

HTH

amonra

Anything for nothing is my way of life !
Plenty of HDs on EBay dirt cheap, and an OEM copy of Win XP wont cost the earth. You can have a working setup for about £100, can't be bad.

adouglasmhor

amonra wrote: »

Anything for nothing is my way of life !
Plenty of HDs on EBay dirt cheap, and an OEM copy of Win XP wont cost the earth. You can have a working setup for about £100, can't be bad.

Last HD I bought off Ebay was knackered - at it was the last one I will buy.

a new one like these under £30* http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=hard+drive&hl=en&price1=&price2=30.00&lnk=prsugghttp://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product.aspx?code=HDM-800DM9&af=50 and ubuntu** for nothing if you want to save on the cost of an op system.

*ignore the irrelevant ones like usb enclosures and caddies. **http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu