Latest Storage How-To Stories
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How-To
RAID Made Easy
Wondering what RAID is all about, and whether using it will benefit your business? This primer explains all.Answer Line
I Can’t Eject This Flash Drive (or External Hard Drive)
When CHIN3927 attempted to remove a USB external drive, Windows' wouldn't provide the Safe to Remove message. The Answer Line forum offered help.Answer Line
How Do I Back Up?
I keep telling readers to back up their hard drives. Starlla Dupert asked me how.Answer Line
My PC Doesn’t See My Hard Drive
When Wendell tries to boot his PC, an error message announces a disk read error. It's as if his hard drive–with three year's worth of work on it–doesn't exist.Hassle-Free PC
Install an Old Laptop Hard Drive in Your Desktop
You might need an adapter or two, but it is possible to recycle those old platters. The question is, are you better off turning them into an external drive?
How-To
How to partition and format your hard drive in Windows
Whether you're installing a brand-new drive or wiping an old one clean, formatting a drive is a basic maintenance task you should know how to do. Luckily, Windows 7 and 8 make this pretty easy.How-To
How to Set Up Intel Smart Response SSD Caching Technology
Intel’s Smart Response Technology can significantly accelerate system performance, without your having to spring for an expensive, high-capacity solid-state drive. Here's how to set it up.Answer Line
Clean an Overcrowded Hard Drive
Arther needs to make room on his hard disk drive. He asked the Desktops forum for advice.Hassle-Free PC
Restore Access to a Write-Protected Hard Drive
Is your flash drive, external hard drive, or other drive suddenly refusing to let you write anything to it or delete files? Here's the fix.Answer Line
Is That Grinding Sound the Death of My Hard Drive?
Ericuse165 has a friend with a PC that's making a grinding noise. Eric asked the Hard Drives, NAS Drives, Storage forum for advice.How-To
How to Make Your Windows PC Boot Faster
Looking to slash your Windows PC's boot time to the bone? We'll show you how we made one system boot 30 percent faster–without any hardware upgrades.How-To
How to Set Up RAID on Your PC
Boost your hard-drive performance, add redundancy, or do both by converting your PC to use a RAID setup.Hassle-Free PC
Three Surprising Things About Hard Drive Defragging
If you're still thinking about your hard drive in Windows XP terms, it's time to learn how Windows 7 handles the not-so-big-deal that is defragmentation.How-To
How to Create and Mount an ISO Disc Image
Need to copy a CD or DVD to a disc-image file? Here's how to create an ISO in Windows.Answer Line
Move an old hard drive to a new PC
A reader asks about moving a hard drive from an old PC to a new one, then booting Windows XP.Answer Line
Can You Put an SSD and HDD In a Laptop?
George McCluney asked about putting an SSD and an HDD together in a laptop.Answer Line
The Best of Both Worlds: An SSD and a HDD
Patrick Couzens asked about using both an SSD and an HDD in the same computerHow-To
Travel Smart: The Best Tech Gear for the Road
You can take it with you. A digital nomad reveals his favorite mobile equipment for traveling light.Answer Line
Repair a CD or DVD
Spiderowych has a high school graduation DVD that no longer plays properly. He asked the Answer Line forum for help.How-To
How to Encrypt a Hard Drive
Use encryption to prevent outsiders from gaining easy access to data on your hard drives and flash drives.How-To
How to Install an SSD in Your Laptop
Laptops are ideal candidates for solid state drives: These drives are more rugged and shock resistant than standard hard drives, since they have no moving parts.Answer Line
Backup on the Road
Matt travels on business a lot. He asked the Answer Line forum for suggestions on backing up his data while on the road.Answer Line
An Old Hard Drive and OS in a New PC
Terry Marshall asked if he could move his old hard drive, unchanged, to his new PCAnswer Line
What Do You Do With an Infected CD, DVD, or Flash Drive?
Cyberknight asked the Antivirus & Security Software forum about safely handling infected external mediaAnswer Line
Using More Than One Backup Program
Ata Amiri asked if using two separate backup program will interfere with incremental backupsHow-To
Online Bargains: How to Use Groupon and Its Competitors
Group-deal and flash-sale sites such as Groupon, LivingSocial, and Rue La La promise restaurant meals, brand-name goods, and great services at deep discounts. Here's how to use these sites to your advantage.How-To
PC Spring Cleaning: Automatically Organize Your Files
Here's how to find and eliminate PC clutter–and automate file organization so that it never crops up again.Answer Line
Hard Disk Drive Failure
Robyn's PC gives her a "Hard Disk Drive Failure" error message at boot up. A reboot loads Windows.How-To
How to ‘Safely Remove’ Devices
Simply pulling your flash memory or USB-connected external drive out of your PC could cause problems.How-To
How to Completely Erase a Hard Drive
These tips and tricks will help you destroy old data and make sure that your old drives are wiped clean.Answer Line
Defragging: Why, How, and Whether
Rasha1997 asked if he should use Windows’ own defragging tool, a third-party defragger, or just not botherHow-To
How Do I Back Up My Photos?
Not sure what photo backup method to use? Learn about the benefits of online backup services, hard drives, and optical discs.How-To
How Do I Permanently Delete Files From My Hard Disk?
Follow these simple instructions to completely remove files from your drive.How-To
How Do I Back Up My Data?
Follow these quick and simple instructions to protect your valuable files.Answer Line
Hard Drive Crashes Explained
Siouxfan asked the Answer Line forum to define a hard drive crash is and explain what can cause itAnswer Line
Should I Update My Recovery Partition to Windows 7?
CliffSees is about to upgrade his PC to Windows 7. He asked the Answer Line forum if he can upgrade his PC’s recover partition, as well.How-To
The ABCs of SSDs
Whether you buy a new PC with a solid state drive already installed, or choose to upgrade your existing drive, zippy performance makes an SSD an appealing option.Answer Line
Move to a New Hard Drive
Joseph Blough Jr. plans to upgrade his hard drive. How does he move Windows, his applications, and his files to their new, larger home?Answer Line
Resize Your Partitions
Conrado Bryson Bush wants to resize the partitions on his hard driveHassle-Free PC
Watch Blu-Ray Movies on Your PC
It's possible, but first you need to ask yourself the question: Is it worth the bother?How-To
How to Partition Your PC’s Hard Drive
Disk partitioning–separating your hard drive into multiple independent volumes–can relieve all sorts of computer-related headaches.Answer Line
Recover Files From a NAS
Frederic Hugues asked about recovering missing files from an NAS driveAnswer Line
What’s All This About DVD Regions?
John Gumbs asked the Answer Line forum why you can only change a DVD drive’s region a limited number of timesHow-To
How to Upgrade Your Laptop’s Hard Drive to an SSD
Want to speed up your laptop and lengthen its battery life? Swap the hard disk drive out for a speedy solid-state drive.Answer Line
USB Interferes with Boot
Richard Purdy's PC won't boot when he has a flash drive plugged into itAnswer Line
Windows 7’s Built-in Backup
Robert wants to know if Windows 7’s built-in backup program is worth usingAnswer Line
Reasons to Partition
Michael Crandall wants to know if dividing his hard drive into multiple, smaller partitions will improve its speedHow-To
Free Up Hard-Drive Space, Fast
Need to clear some storage space on your hard drive? Here's how to put it through a crash diet and free up a few gigs right now.How-To
Disaster-Proof Your PC: Image Your Drive, Make a Backup Plan
Here's how to prepare for disaster by imaging your hard drive and setting up a data backup system.How-To