Absolute Beginners Guide to Upgrading and Fixing Your PC
| IN THIS CHAPTER
Your computer stores its data on various types of disks. Permanent storage is typically on one or more hard disks installed in your PC's system unit; temporary storage is often on removable disks or CD-ROM discs. The computer industry uses two different types of technology to read and write data to these various types of disks. Magnetic disks, such as hard disks and floppy disks, store data on thin metal or metal-coated disks, using magnetic fields. Optical disks, such as CDs and DVDs, store data in miniature pits that are read by a focused laser beam. In both cases, information is encoded in the 1s and 0s typical of digital data. When you want to store more stuff on your computer system, it's time to talk about upgrading your system storage. That might mean replacing your existing hard drive with a bigger unit, or adding a second hard drive (either internally or externally). You can also upgrade your system storage by adding a new floppy or CD-ROM drive, or a reader for flash memory cards. This chapter focuses on magnetic disk storage specifically, hard drives and floppy drives. And, as a bonus, you'll learn how to add a memory card reader to your system. If you want to install a new optical drive, you'll have to skip ahead to Chapter 5, "Optical Tricks: Upgrading CD and DVD Drives." |