Online Users Page


QN

Previous notifications:
4 years ago
New Blog Entry In .:A-MAN:. lists stuff!
11 years ago
Regular accepted your friend request
More..
18SuperCam 3 years ago
Okay so I have a simple question that I need help with.

My computer at home only has 75GB and is completely full. I have an external hard drive that I try to use, but the computer doesnt want to use it for everything. It keeps wanting to use the regular C: drive. I want to buy a new hard drive for it.

Here are the steps I would take now.
1) Copy/backup all of the files from the top of C: (Like "Program Files (x86)" and the invisible files) to my external hard drive.
2) Unplug the computer
3) Remove the hard drive
4) Replace it with a larger hard drive from Amazon
5) Turn on computer
6) Copy paste everything back onto the new hard drive??

I think the system files are on the regular hard drive... so will it even boot up if I just swap it? If not, how do I do this?
Back

Please Login To Post

70.:A-MAN:.
3 years ago
@SuperCam ayy nice
Reply
18SuperCam 3 years ago
@.:A-MAN:. Again, thanks. There is a $5 off coupon for it, so that is $90 lol
Reply
70.:A-MAN:.
3 years ago
@SuperCam Solid value choice. TLC drive that has both SLC and DRAM caching (though a little on the small side, shouldn't be an issue for you). Looks like it's currently the cheapest drive that meets those specs (which is exactly what I'd recommend since it's your boot drive).


Btw, pro tip: you can check this site for amazon price history to see if you're getting a good deal:
https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B07TBQ637W?context=search

...and PCPartPicker to see other sites' price history (sometimes not available):
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/HrmFf7/adata-su760-1-tb-25-solid-state-drive-asu760ss-1tt-c

In this case, the price is reasonable. Realistically it might drop to $90 at some point but that $5 difference probably won't break the bank.
Reply
18SuperCam 3 years ago
Reply
70.:A-MAN:.
3 years ago
@umer936 always depends on the $/gb and how fast you think you'll need it. Right now the optimal $/gb for SSDs is around 1TB and gets worse as you go smaller (and larger). So a 256gb now and 512gb later will almost certainly be more expensive than just doing a 512gb now.
Reply
62umer936
3 years ago
@.:A-MAN:. But also... $$$ :P

I'd rather buy a 256GB one now, then a 512GB one in 2years when the price has dropped and I'm maybe(?) remotely close to that storage. Might just be me tho.
Reply
70.:A-MAN:.
3 years ago
@SuperCam yeah then if you don't care about load times as much, 1tb HDDs can be found for as low as $50-70 depending on their speed/quality. A decent 1tb SSD will probably set you back closer to $90-100 but will be approximately 3-4x faster depending on the task.
Reply
70.:A-MAN:.
3 years ago
As another point worth mentioning, even though you can fit windows on a 128gb drive (even a 60gb drive) it does so at the cost of compressing system files and reducing the pagefile size which will drastically hurt performance. To fully fit windows 10 with room to spare you'll need something bigger than 128gb even if it can technically fit.
Reply
18SuperCam 3 years ago
@.:A-MAN:. @umer936 Not gunna lie, 1 TB would be amazing. My laptop has 500, but it doesnt have enough room for all the games I want installed on it.
Reply
70.:A-MAN:.
3 years ago
@umer936 I'm speaking from a practical point of view. Even if you never use all the space, drives slow as they near capacity (especially cheap ones) in ADDITION to the fact that GB per dollar is better above 256GB (in SSDs) and 1TB (in HDDs).

So not only is your value better if you DO use it all, your performance is better if you don't (and you have the safety of not needed another drive later).
Reply
18SuperCam 3 years ago
@umer936 Thanks
Reply
62umer936
3 years ago
As for actually transferring the Windows stuff, you'll have do something like
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-move-windows-10-to-an-ssd/

You won't be able to do step 6 in your post bc there won't be an OS on that hard drive
Reply
62umer936
3 years ago
I'd say a ~256GB SSD is the way to go. 128GB would work, but you pay more per GB.
Don't get an HDD.

@.:A-MAN:. most people don't need that much storage lol
I mean he's coming from a 75GB drive
Reply
70.:A-MAN:.
3 years ago
@SuperCam oof lol
Reply
18SuperCam 3 years ago
@.:A-MAN:. Thanks!

And yes, 75. Its an old used computer from a library
Reply
70.:A-MAN:.
3 years ago
As a side note, no matter what you think you'll use, don't bother with any HDD under 1TB or SSD under 512GB. You're just ripping yourself off doing that.

Also also, I'd strongly recommend an SSD over a HDD for a more enjoyable experience. :P
Reply
70.:A-MAN:.
3 years ago
(ONLY 75GB TOTAL!? In 2021!?)

The steps are generally correct, but you'll wanna use some actual disk cloning software since you need to handle things like the registry which is in the system files (do not touch those).

From there you'd back up the old HDD to the external HDD, do steps as you said, then use the software to restore the backup to the new HDD.

There's gonna be 2 gotchas with that:
1) The new HDD won't have Windows on it, so you need a restore program that can boot from USB (and you'll need a spare flash drive to put it on, obviously)

2) Once restored, your partition will be the same size as the original (75GB) so you'll have to go into disk manager and expand it to fill the rest of the drive. There's plenty of guides for this online, so you should be able to just google it.
Reply
v3.2