BleepingComputer.com: Hard Drive Space

I had a "friend" remove a virus, but he offered to upgrade my pc from a 500mhz to 900mhz, and put my 4 month old hard drive into another pc for me. I can do even less on my pc now than before. I am warned constantly (when surfing, etc.) that I am out of hard drive space, would I like to remove files. I have searched everywhere in my pc for the answer, and have found Win98 files taking up major space. I bought the hard drive in February. and have NEVER used Win98. There is, however, still a sticker on the side of the tower that claims Win98 was the original operating system. What I would like to know, since I am mostly illiterate in fixing them: Did he leave the old hard drive in, copy my files, into it and keep my new hard drive?

was the new hard drive bigger? can you open your case and see if there is more then on harddrive? maybe your bios didnt reckonise your new drive? maybe both hard drives are hooked up but the new one has a loose cable or something? maybe others have more ideas.

Do you know the specifications of your old equipment? How big was your old hard drive? What OS did you have on the original computer?

My os is and was, WinME. I have never had Win98. There is only one hard drive installed. this hard drive is 1.96gb, I don't remember what the old one was.

Most of all, I want to remove one of the os's, so that I can use my pc again. I just can't afford to make a mistake. How would I go about it, and which is the better os?

ok so what is your os now? i dont think you can have both windows me and 98 on the same hard drive.how old is your computer? if your new hard drive was bigger then yes he probably switched them.if you have the system restore disk for winme,then just try to save what info you want or need and then wipe the disk and reinstall winme,maybe others will know more.

This post has been edited by acidburned: 28 October 2006 - 11:15 PM

You only have a 1.9Gb hard drive?

Says 1.96gb in System info, on the drive tab...

i would say get a bigger hard drive and have some one you trust put it in.if you had winme and there restore disk then you can reinstall it on a bigger hard drive.i dont think you can get rid of enough stuff to make more room on that small of hard drive.

You need a larger hard drive. No matter what you delete off of that computer, you're always gong to be very low, and you'll run out of space in a matter of days or so, especially if you download alot or install or do major work on that computer.

It's ashame when people like you may not know much about computers, and there comes the ones that will prey on you. I'm not saying that's the case, but it sure sounds like he switched hd's on you, and it's very possible to do that to anyone that doesn't know any better.

If, and when you do get another drive, document what you have, and take it to someone who you can trust. If you trust the one who did work for you before, let him know that you're under the impression that your hard drive was switched. If he's a real friend, he won't get offended and he'll go out the way to explain exactly what he did and didn't do.

If all else fails.... buy your hard drive, and install it yourself. It's easier than you think, even if you've never done it before. Personally, that's you're best way to go. It's not hard at all, and don't let anyone convince you that you can't do it yourself.... not unless you're already convinced you can't.

For you as a beginner, it'll take you about 3 hours or so, which includes opening up the pc, taking out the old hd, putting in the new hd, running your software(s), and installing the OS for it.

Trust me..... it's easier than you think.

Walkman
One Man's Opinion

Thanks, everyone. And yes, Walkman, I probably could do it myself. I just didn't want to take the time when my friend said he would help. He said he did not receive any payment, but he got my new video card, since it would not work in the new pc (which WAS true). Which brings another question to mind. He also told me that the Gateway pc's have built-in Video, and didn't need a video card, True or False?

Catherine something about your situation just does not fell right. Unless I am reading your original post wrong your new hard drive is a 1.96Gb? This I find puzzling since I have not scene a "New" 2Gb hard drive offered to the consumer for over 5 years, at least not 3.5" desktop hard drives. As far as intergrated video. If you mainly surf and basic applications that should be fine. I would believe a 900Mhz computer would have at least a 16mb or 32mb video card. While a high amount of RAM does not nesseccarily mean a better card it does give you some indicator. The old P-III 500Hmz only had 4mb with a possible 4mb upgrade onboard. I would not go spending too much money on that computer. you can pick up a nice 1.4ghz to 1.8ghz computer for around $200.
By no means am I telling you what to do, but by the time your spend...
Video $40-$120
Hard Drive $1 per Gb ($40=40Gbs)
RAM $60 to $80 per 512MBs
DVD±RW $40 to $80
Windows XP Home $100, XP Pro $140+
You can see where you could spend alot of money and still not have haft the computer than if you spent $400 on an entry level package computer from Dell, HP, Gateway,...
Like I said, I am not trying to tell you what to do but rather help you see where you could get better bang for your buck.

This post has been edited by acklan: 30 October 2006 - 09:08 AM