Which hdd for an oldish computer ?

[trogg1963]

Sorry, this question must of been asked a few times but
I'm getting more and more confused as to what hdd I should buy.
My computer is quite old (Dell Dimension E520 Vista home premium) and has a 288gb hard disk which is now full, I'm after a 2tb internal hdd which would be used to store pictures, video and music.
The idea is to fit the new hdd and transfer the files from the original hard disc to the new one.
I have seen plenty on the market but I'm not sure if they would work with my machine and I've been told to keep away from seagate.
thanks .

 

[trogg1963]

Had another search on these forums and this has been recomended for an older computer...'WD 2TB Caviar Green Internal' prices from £80, would this be ok ?

 

[andy1249]

Unfortunately , as with any pre-built system from the likes of Dell etc. its very hard to say if any of the new drives are compatible.

Your manual is here , drive information , how to replace etc. starts on page 86.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dimE520/en/OM_en/NH730A01.pdf

It seems to have space for two drives , you should open your box and make sure it has just one drive , and not a raid configuration that is possible with this machine.
Also the drive fits into a sort of proprietary caddy inside the machine , check that you have two of these or its going to be difficult to mount.

Assuming it has just one drive , and that there is a caddy for a second one , then you connect the new drive to either sata 0 or 1 depending on which one is already in use.

It says sata 3 and 4 are for optical media , so you can assume that these ports are configured for the lower speed over sata and wouldnt get the most out of any new drive.

Your Bios will determine if the new drive will work or not , you may well have to update it for the newer larger capacity drives available these days.

 

[trogg1963]

Thank you for your very informative post Andy, yes there is only one drive and there is a space/caddy for it.
Looking at the various forums it looks like my computer will work with a 2tb hard drive, but I will double check.

I'm not adverse to having an external drive, however this would almost certainly get 'borrowed' by my children and only returned when 'Mr Nobody' has broken it.

cheers