<p>I want to replace the 40GB internal hard drive in my Gateway PC with a larger on (probably 120GB). Does anyone here have any experience replacing internal hard drives? I would like to know if this is going to be a relatively painless process or should I expect to run into a bunch of errors during the formatting and partitioning phases?</p>
<p>I’m only fairly knowledgable about computers, and I did exactly what you’re doing without any problems. My HD that I purchased came with good directions, which made things easy. It was a little while ago so I kinda forget what I did with the OS and all, but formatting went fine. I know this probably isnt helping you in any way, but, just letting you know you shouldnt encounter anything you cant think around.</p>
<p>If you are just adding a HD it should not be a problem. The instructions are very clear. If you are replacing your original HD and make the new drive as your primary drive, you may have some trouble. You may have to change your boot drive preference. In most computers it is floppy, HD and then CD. In many computers you can change the boot preference, by pressing delete or esc keys right when it goes through memory checking etc. You have to keep on hitting those keys the moment your computer turns on.</p>
<p>I may just add a new hard drive as a second hard drive. My main problem with the PC is that it is running too slow when multiple programs are running and it takes a long time even for Excel and Word files to open. Current configuration is 2.19 GHz and 240Mb RAM. I am hoping a new hard drive and more RAM will help with the slow processing. I don’t really want to spend on the money on a whole new computer right now.</p>
<p>your processor is fine, but it is your lack of RAM that is really hurting you. Your computer does not sound that old, so i’d recommend at least 512 mb of DDR RAM (compatibility <em>shouldn’t</em> be a major factor)</p>
<p>A 120gb drive is reallly overkill, unless you do massive amounts of digital editing, gaming, photography, etc…</p>
<p>More RAM and perhaps a 60-80gb harddrive will be more than enough.</p>
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<p>The size of your harddrive is not the problem. The amount of free space on it can be, especially if you don’t have enough RAM.</p>
<ol>
<li> Check your current hard drive’s label. Does it run at 7200 RPM?
If NO, get a new harddrive anyway. Hard drives are only a bit harder to install than RAM. If YES, proceed to 2.</li>
<li> Back up your data.</li>
<li>Reformat your harddrive, and reinstall your operating system. Did that help?
If YES, congratulations, you don’t have to get more RAM, but you should. If NO, proceed to 4.</li>
<li>240 MB of RAM is not enough. Ask a retailer what speed and variety of RAM your motherboard accepts and buy a total of 512 mb. You probably won’t be able to use the sticks you have in right now as part of that 512. RAM is easy to install. Does this help?
If YES, great. If NO, proceed to 5.</li>
<li> Accept the fact that your computer is going to stutter while running bloated Microsoft software.</li>
</ol>
<p>This is by no means a complete guide. Yes, I’ve done this plenty. No, I wasn’t very clear. PM me if you have questions.</p>