Because I'm running low on disc space I'm planning on buying an extra harddisc (80 GB) soon, but now I want to know whether there's still place for it. In other words: when I break the comp open, how does an empty slot for a hard disc look?
Also, what's the difference between a IDE and a SCSI harddisc? Any other things to look at?

SCSI is a high performance drive, mainly meant for business applications. They require a separate controller, and I'm 99% sure you don't have it. The controllers are expensive and the drives are espensive, so IDE is definetely the way to go.

Far as room for hard drives...every computer comes with 2 IDE controllers by default, which is enough room for 4 drives. This includes CD-ROM drives. So...as long as you don't already have 4 drives, you'll have space. Just make sure there's a place to mount it in your case.

Hopefully you know what a harddrive looks like. The rest should be pretty evident (connections and whanot) when you crack your case. BTW, you may want to do that before you buy the drive, just to make sure you have a place to mount it.

If youre reformatting, and you spot the opportunity, choose NTFS file system instead of FAT. Apparently its better.

I won't format anything. I've got 211 hours of music here and I won't take any risks...
I think I'll break this open tonight btw.

Another question: do I have to physically turn the computer off (you know the switch on the back) when I open it and when I place the harddisc?

Uhm, ofcourse. You'd better plug the entire thing out of the contact to be even more sure. And to not get killed from elektroshock.

Even more cos you'll have to format and create a primary partition on the HD before you can use it anyhoo. And thus reset a few times.

I've opened it, but it didn't make we any wiser about it. It was hard to see anything but a jungle of wires.
I'll upload the pics to here soon.

OT: Hey ox, somebody didn't like your sig

Idd they don't... Well beuh the site where i linked it from isn't updated in half a year, so it's not like he'd run outta bandwidth anyways.

lol. Ok, well, upload those pics if you want and I'll show you what's what. If you want I can also take some pics of my computer so you can see...it's a full tower case, so it's less crowded looking.

Ermm...yes. Unplug it, don't just power it off. If with it off, since it's ATX there's still power in the board. Otherwise you might fry your computer or yourself. Man. Maybe you should just pay someone to do it for you. heheh.

Heh...i'd be willing to come over to Holland and pull the plug. Of your pc or your lifesupport, depending on how far u got before i arrived. jk

Or wait untill my brother finally comes home again.
But nothing got fried luckily.

The pics are a little vague but OK:

*edited out because they're FUCKING HUGE!*

I have a strong feeling those white plugs are the things I need. There is physical space at least.

Do you have any time for an attatchment mod soon btw, I'm linking these images from another forum, where I attatched it to my first post there, nobody will notice, but directly here would be easier.

christ, can you resize them next time?

Anyway...



white is power plug
red is IDE cable
blue is an existing hard drive (nevermind, see note below)

right beneath the blue one is what looks like a free slot. You should really unziptie your cables and stuff the unused ones away somewhere. There's usually room at the top of the case, over the cd-rom drive. Besides being ugly, it screws up air flow.

Anyway, I'm removing your pictures links, they're fucking up the thread size.

*edit* crap, blue is NOT an existing hard drive, it's your floppy drive. Sorry, I missed the twist before.

Oops, sorry.
The harddisc is the one under the red circle.
I'll try to stuff the wires away next time I open it.
Maybe that's today when my brother comes home, or maybe when I place the hard disc.

Another question: should I take a cache size of 2 or 8 MB? 8 MB should be better, but do I need it?

8MB is better. Just means the HD runs faster. Do you need it? No. Do you care if the drive is a bit slower? If you're going for max speed, get it...if you just don't care, don't bother with it. Your choice.

The difference was 8 Euro I think, so I'll take the faster one, but I'll see in story, prices may vary.