5. Storage Drive Upgrades

A Seagate hard disk drive

A hard drive upgrade is second only to memory in the benefits you can realize. Here again, there is typically no underlying performance enhancement involved with such an upgrade, but it confers all the benefits of added storage space, and thereby extends the life of your notebook. But here be dragons: not all notebooks can accept larger hard drives. Check your manufacturer's Website under the support section for details on your specific make and model to determine your maximum allowance for drive-capacity upgrades.

You may have to fall back on external storage solutions to handle larger files, and dedicate internal storage space to important system files and only some of your personal data. External drive solutions come in many forms, from USB/FireWire drive enclosures to Cardbus/PCMCIA slot drives (some of which have external USB/FireWire enclosures themselves). And let's not forget to mention the dizzying array of flash-based storage devices available either, including USB thumb drives and multi-media cards. So plenty of options exist to increase storage capacity.

A hard disk drive caddy

When you do opt for a disk drive upgrade, be aware that there are subtle differences in drive caddies and housings for each notebook model. Some units use a special connector that plugs into the 44-pin notebook drive connection and obscures those pins from sight, which in our experience has caused confusion for some (including one of our authors, when first faced with a replacement drive for the by-now familiar Dell unit we've been using as an example throughout this story).

Drives also have differing rotational speeds, denoted by revolutions per minute (RPM) that determine the baseline performance for any given unit. One drive may operate at 4200 RPM, or be barely adequate for real-time media playback; at 5400 RPM for usable audio/video streaming or 7200 RPM for blazing fast response. Today, two types of notebook drive connectors are in wide use - first, there's the tried and true parallel ATA (PATA) connector and second, the newer, quicker serial ATA (SATA). Chances are extremely good that notebooks more than two years old in the mid- to low-range categories use PATA.

Form factor is another key upgrade factor. Notebook drives now appear in 1.8" dimensions in newer offerings, whereas older designs rely heavily (if not exclusively) on larger 2.5" drives. To further complicate matters, such drives may be either 9.5 mm or 12 mm in height, and may become a problem when you try to shoehorn a new drive into an existing drive bay. Your notebook may also have a secondary option for modular hard drive storage, where removable CD, DVD ROM or combination devices are also found. On some notebooks, this means you could add a second hard disk, but only by removing an optical drive to make room (for some users this will be an attractive option, but this may pose added difficulties for others).

A Dell modular hard disk drive

For more on upgrading notebook hard disk drives see Avoiding the Heartbreak of Notebook Hard Drive Failure and Backup Your Hard Drive Now or Face Dire Consequences.