The different disk/disc drives of a computer - Hard drive, cd rom, and Floppy drive    More Computer Basics

Free Computer Help By Mitz

Some people think a hard drive is the whole computer system, however it is actually a storage device inside your computer. It is only a piece of your computers hardware.

3.5" Desktop Hard disk drive:

This is hiding inside your computer and is where all your data is stored when you save it. You may never see it unless you open up your computer to fix a problem. The picture shows a 40 gigabyte (the size or capacity) hard drive, 7200RPM (the speed or revs per minute).

2.5" Laptop Hard disk drive:

A laptop hard disk drive is considerably smaller than a normal desktop hard drive and also cost more. If you wanted to buy a 500gb laptop hard drive it would be very expensive, whereas a 500gb desktop hard drive is around $100.

Cd rom or DVD Drive.

This is where you put a cd rom or a DVD disc in. It could be a drive that can also read and write on cds or DVD disks. Plain old Cd roms are nearly obsolete as everyone now wants a DVD burner.. With a DVD burner drive you can backup your dvd's onto a DVD writeable disc.

 

Floppy disc drive. This is the smaller drive that takes those little plastic square shaped disks. They are rarely used now as they are no longer needed for a boot disk if you have a cd rom or DVD burner                       External Hard drive: An external hard drive can come in two size like the desktop hard drive and the laptop hard drive. After all an external hard drive is just a case housing one of these hard drives. So if you have a 2.5" external hard drive, this means it contains a laptop hard drive. External Hard drive What is it and why do I need one?

About the Author Mitz wrote this article and others for tips4pc.com  Browse for more articles that are written in an easy to understand way. Also see our very popular Video Tutorials page. Watching a video is a very easy way to learn about computers. I hope you've found this tutorial clear and easy to understand. If you have more questions, feel free to visit our FORUM and we'll be happy to help.   Get the Tips4pc newsletter   More Computer Basics

Check your Hard drive How to scan your hard drive for errors What to Backup A list of files you should backup from your computer POPULAR How to Create Backups Using windows XP Pro POPULAR Defrag How to use The Disk Defragmenter on your computer External Hard drive What is it and why do I need one? Disc Formats? What is a CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, or a DVD-RW POPULAR Usb Flash Drive What is it and why do I need one?