Computer and Software Support


How big of a hard drive should I purchase

Deciding the size of a hard drive, is a hard question to answer for someone else. Each person uses a computer different. A person that creates graphics will need a larger hard drive than a person that does word documents.

However the hard drive holds all your data such as

  • Pictures such as graduation, wedding, children, special events or any other items people take pictures of
  • Documents - such as word documents, excel spreadsheets, financial information and other items people create
  • movies - either home made or professional that people create and store

That is only a small amount of items people store on the hard drive. The hard drive also has the operating system on it, if it is the main drive.

Most files that a person does not want to lose is easy to find and backup. However there are files that is easy to overlook that users may not want to loose such as

  • Outlook PST file - This is the file that contains email that you receive. The default location is not in My Documents. Majority of users forget to back this file up. If it is not backed up and the hard drive crashes or you do a reinstall, you will loose this file. This means any email that you have received will be lost.
  • Favorites - This is places you have visited on the web that you want to return to and have saved the web address to. This is another file that is easy to overlook when you do a backup.

There are other files that is easy to overlook and my not get backed up when you back up your files.

Whenever you do a reinstall of the operating system, you always stand a chance of loosing a file that you forgot to back up.

If your hard drive gets full, and you are unable to clear space on the hard drive, You may have to re-install your operating system to clear space. If you forgot to back up a file, you will loose it.

This is why it is important to get a larger hard drive when you purchase a system. Of course, your budget will dictate the size drive you get.

If you do buy a larger drive and do run out space down the road, You can purchase an external drive and keep your personal files on it. This way if you need to do a reinstall, your personal files will be on the external and not on your main drive. You can also buy an internal drive and make the old drive the slave drive and install the operating system on the new drive.

For assistance on deciding what to get when you purchase a system, click here.