Hard Disk

The hard disk (or hard drive) is the permanent storage area of your computer. It stores information whether the computer is on or off. The larger your hard drive, the more programs you can have sitting on your system ready to run.

There are two basic types of storage medium disks:

Magnetic disks (e.g., hard disk, zip disk)

Optical disks(e.g., CD-ROM, CD-ReWritable)

The common personal computer has an internal magnetic hard disk on which is stored the operating system, programs, and information data.The device that spins a disk is called a disk drive. Within the disk drive are one or more heads that actually read and write data to the disk.

The term hard is used to distinguish the hard disk from a diskette or floppy disk. Hard disks hold more data and are faster accessing information than diskettes.Hard disks on current personal computers have a storage capacity termed as gigabytes GB, whereas most 3 1/2 inch diskettes have a maximum storage capacity of 1.44 megabytes MB.Generally, hard disks are less portable than diskettes, although it is possible to buy external hard drives with removable hard disks.

Hard drives are your computer's permanent storage. How large of a hard drive you have dictates how many MP3s you can have, or how many hours of digital video you can store. A hard drive of 40gb should be sufficient for a WPIE user, even one with MP3s, but if you have a lot of MP3s (think thousands) and even small amounts of digital video you'll want more. A 60 or 80gb hard drive should be enough for just about anyone who doesn't do digital video.

There are also different hard drive speeds, 5400 is the slowest, but you can find them up to 15000 RPMs. A faster hard drive is nice if you have large files that you frequently load or if you do CD burning, 15000 would be overkill for most people though, 7200 should be fine for most.

As anyone who has worked with a computer will know, a hard drive is one of the most important parts of your computer. Although it is a complex piece of hardware and installing one can sometimes be a chore, a little knowledge and practice can make it very easy. The process of replacing or installing hard drives can make you very nervous, but it doesn't have to.