Accessing An Old Hard Drive Without Taking Apart Your Computer: Here Are Your Options
If your old computer breaks and it's just not worth repairing, the problem arises of how to access your data. Getting the drive out of the old PC is usually pretty easy, even on a laptop, but trying to then transplant that drive into a new machine presents a whole new realm of problems.
Manage Your Hard Disk Partitions Like A Pro With EaseUS Partition Master [Windows]
When you ask a tech crowd about disk partition managers, many people will agree that EaseUS Partition Master is the best tools for the job. Why? Because it offers many great features, yet remains easy to use. It's also MakeUseOf's favorite partition manager for Windows. This review focuses on the partition manager only.
The GParted Live CD: A Quick Way To Edit Your Primary Partitions [Linux]
Edit your partitions from outside your operating system. The GParted Live CD is a simple Linux distro you can use to change the size of your partitions – or wipe a drive entirely. Built around GParted, the ultimate partitioning software, the GParted Live CD is probably the simplest way to use GParted on any computer – regardless of what operating system it runs.
Getting Cramped? 5 Ways To Increase SSD-only Ultrabook or Netbook Storage
The ultra-portables can't afford the room for a big, hulking hard drive. SSD comes at a price; literally, and figuratively. These expensive drives (although progress is made every day) still cannot reach the capacity of magnetic drives. Whether you're limited to a 4 GB Netbook or a 256 GB Ultrabook, worrying about storage space is hardly enjoyable. Here are some tips you can use to increase the available memory of your memory-impaired device.
IObit Smart Defrag: A Superb Hard Drive Defragmentation & Optimization Tool [Windows]
Do you defrag your hard drive? If not, you should and you must understand the importance before you read on. There are some excellent articles on MakeUseOf which discuss defragmenting, but perhaps the best and most recent article is 3 Excellent Defrag Utilities & Why You Still Need to Defragment In 2012 by Tina. Smart Defrag wasn’t included in the "3 excellent defrag utilities" in her article, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t excellent.
CrystalDiskMark & CrystalDiskInfo - Valuable Disk Diagnostics For Free [Windows]
There was once a time when I was a naive kid on a desktop who never even considered that I'd have to keep up with the health of my hard drive. Jumping from the world of video games to the Internet, what do you expect? Blowing a little harder on the connector pins of my NES cartridges was what I'd consider to be the pinnacle of maintenance at that point. Since then, much has changed!
What Does Your Computer Say About You?
A personal computer is, well, personal. Assuming like most people, you bought your own computer (or had some say about what it's going to be), your choice of hardware likely reflects quite a bit about you. So, what sort of person are you -- just an occasional user? A nerdy coder? A hard-core gamer? Tell me what your hardware is, and I'll tell you who you are.
Extend The Life Of Your Optical Discs With ISO Backups & Virtual Clone Drive [Windows]
There is absolutely no reason why you would still want to routinely run games, movies, or music from optical discs. Inserting, ejecting, and switching discs is a nuisance and subjects both the drive and the discs to wear and tear. Moreover, optical drives are annoyingly loud and probably use a fair bit of energy. Finally, you might not have an optical drive to begin with. So what should you do instead?
Xinorbis Is A Free & Portable Disk Analyzer For The Windows File System
Understanding where your disk space is being allocated is information that can help you accomplish many things in improving your PC's performance. Though there are plenty of solutions to accomplishing this, such as DiskSavvy, Xinorbis is very effective and has been around for a while. Xinorbis is available as a hard installation or an archive that can be extracted on your desktop, in a Dropbox folder, or on a flash drive.
The Complete Guide on Installing a Solid State Hard Drive in Your PC
A solid state hard drive is one of the best upgrades available for a modern computer. It increases the load times of programs dramatically, which in turn makes a PC feel snappier. Results can be dramatic. Some games, for example, loaded several times more quickly from an SSD after I replaced my own mechanical drive. The benefits of SSDs are not in question. But how do you install one?
How to Organize Windows Files Using Both an SSD and HDD
Here's how to use an SSD and HDD together for best results with a Windows PC, especially if your SSD doesn't have a lot of space.
How To Upgrade Your Laptop In a Flash: Add a New Hard Drive & Increase RAM
Laptops are not as easy to upgrade as desktops. Many components are simply soldered on to the motherboard and others, though technically replaceable, are restricted by technical skill and cost. There are, however, two upgrades you can perform that will improve your laptop. One is beefing up the RAM, and the second is replacing the hard drive – preferably with a solid state drive.
What Is A RAM Disk, And How You Can Set One Up
Solid state hard drives aren’t the first non-mechanical storage to appear in consumer PCs. RAM has been used for decades, but primarily as a short-term storage solution. The fast access times of RAM makes it perfect for storing data related to programs that are currently running on a system. Enthusiasts have long tried to harness the advantages of short-term storage by creating what is known as a RAM disk.
Samsung 830 Solid State Drive (SSD) 512 GB Review and Giveaway
Now we're reviewing one of the most well-known entries into the solid state drive market – the Samsung 830 SSD (Series MZ-7PC512N/AM 2.5" SATA III MLC). And we're not just reviewing any small, inexpensive version. Instead we're taking a look at the 512 GB variant, which we purchased. This is the largest capacity available and also one of the largest solid state drives available on the market today. We're also giving away a brand new unit. That's right! One very lucky reader will be receiving a 512 GB Samsung 830 SSD for free! Read on and join the contest to win it!
Avoid Linux HDD Faults & Errors With These Tools
From personal experience, whenever I have a problem with any component in my computer, it's more often the hard drive than anything else. My CPU has never failed me, nor my RAM, and my motherboard only once - partially. However, if I still had all the hard drives which have caused me some sort of grief or failed completely, it would sum up to a good-sized pile. However, you can prolong the life of your hard drives through careful monitoring and maintenance.
Every Computer Dies In The End: Learn What Parts Can Fail, & What To Do About It
Most computers develop problems over time. Learning what they are and how you can deal with them is important if you don't want to be paying through the teeth for professional repairs. Don't worry though - that's exactly why we're here. Today I will present you with a list of things most likely to fail in a computer, how you might identify and fix the problem, and anything you can do to prevent it.
What Is The Fastest Computer Hard Drive Solution? [Geeks Weigh In]
A computer’s performance can be significantly impacted by the speed of its storage. So what is the fastest consumer hard drive solution both in practical and absolute terms? Solid state drives are likely the way to go, but are some options better than others?
Optimize Your Disk Performance With Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro [Giveaway]
File system fragmentation is a major cause of sluggish performance on Windows. The default Windows Disk Defragmenter does a passable job of the basics, but Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro ($29.95) goes above and beyond. We’re giving away 25 copies of Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro for Windows worth a total of $750 to 25 lucky readers this week! Read on for your chance to win.
Paragon Hard Disk Manager 12 Suite: Complete Control Of Your Hard Drives [Giveaway]
At $49.95 per license, Paragon Hard Drive Manager 12 Suite may be out of reach for some of you. Through this giveaway, we'll be dishing out 25 copies of the ultimate disk management and partitioning tool, Paragon Hard Disk Manager 12 Suite retailing at $1250, for free! If you're interested, read through this review of the software and learn more about the participation details of this giveaway near the bottom of the post.
How To Be Warned Of Impending Hard Drive Failure
Don't let a dying hard drive on your Mac catch you by surprise. Be warned before anything happens to your precious data. SmartReporter is a free application for your Mac that can warn you of hard drives problems, thanks to S.M.A.R.T. data. This gives you a heads up, because errors on a hard drive can mean problems are coming soon.