|
Windows XP Maximum Drive Size And What Is The BEST Brand Of Hard Drive To Buy?
I just bought a used Dell Optiplex 320 (about a 5year old unit) with SATA architecture inside. The hard drive is 80 gig and i want to use it only for the OS and program installs, and I wanna add a second SATA 500GB drive for my files only. My questions are: 1. Is there an XP limit to maximum hard drive size and if so whats the size and is in cumulative or per drive? and 2: what are the three most reliable hard drive brands to buy?
[ ]
Want to answer more questions in the Technology category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Computers?
Hi there,
Make sure you are using at least Windows XP SP1 when you do the installation, and all should be well for your 500GB drive.
There is a Windows drive size limit, but it isn't really per drive... it is per volume, or more easily understood as per drive letter.
2TB (2,000GB) is the largest drive size that the 32-bit Windows XP OS supports without resorting to any kind of trickery.
There are ways around it, if you have a 3TB drive you want to use, but you are far better off to split the drive into two logical volumes, say drives E: and F: than you use a trick that will slow down access to your data, just so you can have all that space on one drive letter... UNLESS you have a real need to have all that space on a single volume.
Given that we are talking about a 500GB drive, you shouldn't have any problems at all. :-)
As for which brand is best... well, you certainly have asked the impossible of me here. You see, things have gotten so bad lately that there isn't a straight answer to that question anymore.
Seagate makes some very reliable drives... and then they have some specific models that are completely doomed. How does a drive get all the way to market when the people reviewing them are reporting 50% failure rates in the first week or so? How does a hard drive manufacturer let that happen?
Western Digital left such a bad taste in my mouth that it has taken me a decade to even entertain the thought of giving them another try, but I am there now.
Samsung made some hard drives that are legendarily reliable... but they were bought by Seagate last year, and now your mileage may vary as the two companies integrate. :-(
Hitachi made some of the most reliable drives I have every owned and worked with in a server environment... But Western Digital just acquired Hitachi's storage business.
Basically, corporations merge the way most people who cheat on their spouse do things: The worse company buys the better one and ruins it completely. K-Mart buying Sears... is that enough of an example?
So, is it all hopeless? No, I just needed to demonstrate that there is no simple answer as to which brand is best.
You will need to look through drives that are at the capacity you want, then judge them by their reviews on a per item, not per brand, basis.
Perhaps it would also help to draw another comparison: You will have to READ the reviews, not just go by the number of stars.
Just like some people when asked if Ford or Chevy is better will defend to the death whatever they own at the moment... even though the one they own has just burst into flames in their driveway... so too are people with hard drive brands.
My dad, a man who hates computers with an incredible passion, gave some of the most helpful advice in this situation, purely by accident, and I would like to share that with you now:
I once asked my dad who he was rooting for in an upcoming Superbowl, and he gave the most mature and well reasoned answer I think has ever been given to such a question: "I have decided to root for whoever plays best on the day."
That is the attitude we should probably take in everything, but I can vouch for the fact that if you don't take that approach to buying a hard drive these days, you will regret it.
So, what now?
Rules I have for myself:
Look for the hard drive with the best reviews from actual users
Look for the drive with the longest warranty
Look for the drive with the largest cache on-board
Look for the drive with the best reliability, even if it isn't the fastest. (If I wanted fast, I would buy SSD.)
Look at all those factors, and the drive(s) that match the largest percentage of those rules are the ones I pick between.
I suggest newegg.com as a source for both purchasing and reading user reviews.
Further thoughts: Do NOT buy refurbished hard drives.
If you can wait, I would... HD prices are through the roof since last year's flooding of the region the produces most hard drives. Even if everything is back to normal at the factories, they are going to milk this as long as possible.
The same 500GB Seagate I bought for $50~ before the flooding is now $140~ so you can see why they are going to milk this as long as they can.
You know, you asked which are the three most reliable drive makers, and after all this it occurs to me that there really aren't three makers any more.
Of the common brands of rotational drives, as opposed to solid state (SSD)... after the mergers are settled, there will only be:
Seagate (and brands they own)
Western Digital (and brands they own)
Your mileage may vary with either one of these. There is no clear winner anymore. Anyone who says otherwise is ignorant of what is going on in the market.
If I were to buy a 500GB drive, today, for myself it would probably be this one:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
Here is a list of 500GB drives currently for sale on newegg:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
]
More Questions: |