Archive for May, 2010

How do I install a hard drive in a laptop or notebook computer?

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Most laptop computers are designed to give the owner the ability to replace the internal hard disc drive . The computer usually has an access cover or door on the bottom side of the system.  There are systems that are not designed for user access.  Sometimes these systems have warnings about voiding the system warranty.  Be sure to study your system’s documentation to learn about upgrade policies and methods

Electronic noise and how it can affect your system

Friday, May 14th, 2010

Due to the increased speed, size and quantity of devices in many PCs the system can be very vulnerable to electronic noise on the data lines.

How to upgrade my computer to a larger capacity drive?

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

When upgrading to a larger capacity drive, the main thing to consider is whether or not your computer is capable of addressing the extra capacity provided by the larger drive. If the system is several years old this is especially true.

Unable to delete a partition or logical DOS drive using FDISK

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

When you attempt to remove a partition using the FDISK utility that is included with Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, or Windows Me, you may receive the error message " Cannot delete Extended DOS Partition while logical drives exist ". However, when you attempt to remove a logical drive in the extended DOS partition from within the FDISK utility, you may receive the error message " No Logical Drives defined "

How do I determine what type of hard drive you have?

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

The following methods can help determine what kind of hard disk you have inside your computer. 1.

Ultra ATA/100 FAQs

Monday, May 10th, 2010

ATA ( Advanced Technology Attachment ) refers to a common standard used to connect hard drives and other storage devices to a motherboard. It is also referred to as IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics), though the terms are not technically interchangeable.

How to Overcome GPT Protective Partition Issues

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

What is a GPT disk? The GUID Partition Table ( GPT ) was introduced as part of the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) initiative.

Hard Drive Capacity Measurement Standards

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Discrepancy Between Reported Capacity and Actual Capacity Many users are confused when their operating system reports, for example, that their new ST31000340AS 1 Terabyte  (1000 GB) hard drive is reporting only about 909 Gbytes in " usable capacity ". Several factors may come into play when you see the reported capacity of a disc drive. Unfortunately there are two different number systems which are used to express units of storage capacity; Binary – which says that a kilobyte is equal to 1024 bytes Decimal – which says that a kilobyte is equal to 1000 bytes

How to Low-Level Format a Hard Drive?

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

What does "Low Level Formatting" mean?

6 Reasons BIOS will not detect or recognize your drive

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

There are 6 main reasons why a system BIOS will not detect the presence of an internal hard drive.  Here is a list of them.  They are not in any particular order, but you can follow these steps one by one to troubleshoot this problem: Incorrect jumper settings on the drive Drive is not spinning up Faulty or Unplugged Data Cable The Serial ATA motherboard drivers are not properly loaded Hard disk drive not enabled in the BIOS After verifying that your ATA or SATA port is set to Auto-Detect or is enabled,…