Hard Drives & other computer questions

[poonico]

Okay, I either need to find a way to make my computer work for me, or find a way to shell out some cash that I don't have for a new computer

I would appreciate any help I can get.

I simply don't have room to run things anymore.

c:    15.00 GB    - 947 MB free YIKES!
d:     98.61 GB - 5.91 GB free

1st Question... is there any way to use my d: to pick up the slack?  I have tons of stuff just stored on there.  Much of which I'd be happy to delete if it's possible to use it to help.

Is this computer worth keeping?  Or do I really just need a new computer?  If so, how can I get one that will last that's affordable? (3 kids, so this is low on the priority list)

I do a lot of photo editing/storing.

I'm also open to a laptop if it can keep up.  I just want to be practical as well.

Here are some of my comp stats (per Belarc)

Processor
2.80 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Hyper-threaded (2 total)

Main Circuit Board
Board: ASUSTek Computer Inc. P4SD-VX
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 2002 09/19/2003

Memory Modules
512 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
Slot 'DIMM0' has 256 MB
Slot 'DIMM1' is Empty
Slot 'DIMM2' has 256 MB
Slot 'DIMM3' is Empty

[Allan]

You can move your My Documents folder to d: as well as the Temporary Internet Files Folder. You can disable System Restore on c: drive and start using a disk imaging utility on a regular basis. Without knowing what else is on c: drive it's tough to say what else you can do. Is d: a separate drive or a partition?

[poonico]

how can i find out if it's a partition... i keep most of my documents on the d:, how can i move my temp files there?

[poonico]

thank you btw

[Allan]

Do you have two physical hard drives or one? If you don't know, look in device manager.

And to move your temporary internet files folder, use Control Panel - Internet Options.

[poonico]

i moved the file folder, thank you..

i'm in my device manager, but i'm not sure what i'm looking at or for

[Allan]

Disc Drives. How many are listed?

[Geek-9pm]

Welcome to CH, There are people here who will help you.
The computer yew have it fine.
How did you get so much stuff?
You can use the free space on the D: drive. But you need to free up some more room. The system works better if there is a little more free space on the drives.

It will help you identify the huge program and data the take up a lot of space, you may want to try the Sequoia program. It gives you a birds=eye view of the file sizes on you computer.

http://w3.win.tue.nl/nl/onderzoek/onderzoek_informatica/visualization/sequoiaview/

Sometimes you will discover old movie files you never use, old backups that are out of date, and downloads that you don't need anymore.

And if you do that, I will give you permission to see this helpful movie with a cute girl. She has a n answer to you question.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zETjVSRF7Xg

Please come back again.

[poonico]

I see these

HP Photosmart C6200 USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 5
SAMSUNG SP1203N [Hard drive] (120.06 GB) -- drive 0
Sony UMH-U HS-CF USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 2
Sony UMH-U HS-MS USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 1
Sony UMH-U HS-SM USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 3
TOSHIBA TransMemory USB Device [Hard drive] (2.01 GB) -- drive 4

[Allan]

Okay, you have only one hard disk with two partitions. You can use a utility like Easus Partition Manager (it's free) to take free space from D: drive and move it to c: drive. Before doing any hard drive level function you should backup any critical data to off disc media (dvd, cd, etc).

[poonico]

okay, i'm going to try all of these things ty ty ty

also, for the partitions, i need to back up all of my important stuff? (for me it's mostly just my photos)

i have like an auto restore thing (hit a button on start up) to restore my comp to factory.. will it mess with that?  it has saved my *censored* a time or two and i'd hate to lose it

[Allan]

While space reallocation is generally a safe process, if the system is shut down while modifying the partitions (power outage, etc) there can be problems. And sometimes, though rarely, the reallocation of space process can go wrong. I'm not trying to frighten you - I've done this dozens of times and never had any problem whatsoever - but better safe than sorry. And no, I don't see how this would effect the auto-restore, but I'd much rather see you start to use a disc imaging utility on a regular basis. There are some good free ones and they will "save your *censored*" a lot better than restoring to factory default. Look into them - they are invaluable - everyone should use one.

[poonico]

How do I find something/do something like that?

Sorry for all of the questions.  If I can get this girl to work for me, I'll be one happy camper!

[Allan]

http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/backupandimage.shtml

[patio]

Buy a new HDD...
Use the new HDD's FREE diagnostic app to "clone" the old drive to the new drive...
Power down.
Disconnect the old drive and connect the new drive as master...
Test all apps and OS to make sure everything works...
Re-connect old drive...format it and use it for extra storage....

Total time invested: about 1 1/2 hours.