Hard Disk

alt="harddisk.jpg (11735 bytes)" align="left" hspace="5" vspace="5">The

standard way we look at hard disks is: the bigger the better.

Not always. Sure, you do need a

large-enough hard disk, but that alone doesn’t guarantee performance. More than the

disk’s capacity, its speed determines how fast your computer works.

Large but slow hard disks can make

your computing life a real misery. Settling for a smaller but faster disk is always a

better bet. That said, what is the smallest hard disk that you can use?

1 GB hard disks are no longer made;

2.1 GB is passe, though you can still get some. Today’s entry level is 4 GB and 5,400

RPM.

IDE hard disks are now fast enough for

most of your work. If you do real-time multimedia work or lots of 3D graphics, then you

may need SCSI.

Normally you would have two IDE

interfaces on your motherboard, each of which can take two devices. So, you can add a

maximum of four hard disks (or hard disks and IDE CD-ROM drives). The first drive

connected to either interface is called the primary and the second one (connected on the

same cable) is called the slave. You use jumpers on the hard disks and CD-ROM drives to

select which is the primary and which the slave.

The normal practice is to set up the hard disk from

which you boot up, as your primary master, and your CD-ROM drive connects to the same

cable as the primary slave.