How to add more storage to a PC

It can be surprising to see how quickly storage space on a hard disk is consumed these days. Even casual use of a computer can fill a modestly sized disk with programs, files and photos, and many applications now create backup files that take up more space than is immediately apparent.

Add the frequent updates required to keep Windows, security software and other programs functional and it’s not long before the hard disk becomes bloated, leaving you the task of deciding which files to shed.

Thankfully, with the cost of hard-disk capacity plummeting in recent years, adding more storage space to a computer is one of the cheapest and easiest upgrades you can perform.

There are many types of storage to choose from and most are easily within the technical capabilities of everyone. In this article we are going to explain the options available and discuss their relative advantages and costs.

Inside and out
In the early days of home computing, the options for adding more storage capacity were limited to installing a new hard disk inside the PC case, or using removable storage such as floppy disks and CDs.

The first method was costly and required the knowledge not only to fit the disk inside a cramped case but also to configure it so Windows could store files there.

CDs, and later DVDs, were better value but meant files were spread over various discs and some people found to their horror that the discs weren’t always reliable. Blu-ray discs are more common now but face the same problems as their predecessors – see page 38 to learn more.

Two changes transformed the market in storage technology. The first was the falling price of traditional hard disks. This meant even modestly priced desktop and laptop computers were being sold with hard disks of 100GB or more.

The second was the advent of Flash memory, of the type used in memory cards for digital cameras. Flash memory has no moving parts like those found in hard disks.

It’s more expensive per GB of storage but prices are falling now because demand for its use in portable devices such as smartphones has led to large-scale production. We’ll look at hard disks first.

Cheaper hard disks have led to two types of storage that offer great value and convenience: external disks that connect to a PC using a USB or network connection, and online services where companies build large data centres – high-security warehouses filled with shelf after shelf of disks.

A USB disk is quite simply a hard disk enclosed in a plastic case with a socket for a USB cable. Plug its lead into the USB socket of a computer and the disk appears in Windows Explorer as a new drive.

Files and folders can then be dragged and dropped onto the drive, sending a copy of them to the external disk. You don’t need to install any software and the disk can be connected to any computer with a USB socket.

Cost is dependent on the combination of capacity and physical size. Smaller cases with more storage capacity tend to be more expensive because they are more portable.

For example, Western Digital’s My Passport disk costs about £80 and holds 1TB of data (about 1,000GB). It’s worth noting, though, that you can get some great deals online – at the time of writing, Lacie’s portable 1TB disk was available from as little as £55, so it’s worth shopping around.

You can still buy internal hard disks, but there are complications, particularly if you want to upgrade an older computer. Most new internal hard disks are designed to connect to the PC’s motherboard using a socket called Sata, and older computers may have one called Pata.

 

You can still buy Pata disks; Western Digital sells a product called Caviar, which is available with a Pata connection, from about £35 for 250GB.

But with external disks of 1 terabyte (that’s about 1,000GB) available so cheaply, it’s hard to make a case for doing so. In our opinion, external disks offer the best balance of value, ease of use and convenience.