People are running more programs to do more things these days than ever before.  Files are now bigger, graphics are growing, photos can be huge with the new digital cameras, plus there�s more music and video available on the internet than you can imagine. Where does it all go?  How do we keep track of it all?

Back in the day, we didn�t used to have all these pictures cluttering up our computers.  Back then, to make a connection we had to unplug a patch cable from here, and plug it in over there... Okay, we were never cable patch computer users, but it seems amazing how far computers have come these days, doesn�t it? Today, you can take pictures with a digital camera, and never pay for developing.  Look at them in slide shows on you TV or computer, or enlarge and print the ones you like in the comfort of your own home.  Let�s not forget photo retouching. Remove that scratch or blemish and no one will ever be the wiser.  Today, you can shoot and edit a movie with your camcorder, including titles, rolling credits and all, and you never have to ask Paramount Studios for something like $2 million to produce your movie.   In fact, you can even print and distribute your own DVD�s! Today, you can write and play your own music.  Record it on multiple tracks on your computer, do a mixdown, add effects and never have to pay $300/hr for a 24 track studio. You can burn as many CD�s as you like, label them with colorful labels, design your own CD case covers, and sell them to as many people as you can trap in a corner! Today, you can write a book, paint a picture, get stock quotes, enter auctions, run a web site, manage your business, do your taxes, and on and on and on...   The number of possibilities for the use of your computer is ENDLESS!   Sadly, all of those activities take up space.    You need space for the software that lets you do them, and you need space for the things you create with that software.  Of course, some of those things need much more space than others.   For instance, If you have a digital video camera (DV) and you transfer 1 single hour of uncompressed video masterpiece to your computer disk, you will need 14 Gigabytes of space to contain it.  That�s 14,000 Megabytes (MB)!  That�s HUGE! If you have an older digital camera, each picture could be only 1/2 MB each. The new cameras, with their higher resolution can be as large as 14 MB per picture!  Before, if you had a music collection, it could fill your trunk with vinyl disks, tapes, and CD�s.  These days you can transfer all of your music with BETTER THAN CD QUALITY sound, onto your computer, and have enough storage for months and months of continuous playback without every repeating a song. It truly is easy to fill up your hard drive with all the things computers can do.  But these days, if you need to increase your available storage, we can quickly add a hard drive or CD/DVD burner to your system.  For hard drives, you have a choice of 4 different options:   DISK DRIVES (Hard Drives) INTERNAL - A disk that is physically installed in your computer case. Usually for use only by those people using that computer. These are installed INSIDE the case and are not visible from the outside. EXTERNAL - Instead of putting it inside the case, it has a case of its own and can sit on the desk or floor beside the computer. The advantage is that it can easily be moved from one computer to another when you want to bring some big files. PORTABLE - If the external is too bulky because you travel alot, you can get a version of the external drive that is physically much smaller, and is therefore easier to carry around with you. NETWORK - If you want to share the use of a disk with everyone on your network with no sacrifice in speed, you can get a NETWORKED drive. This is a hard disk with the extra intelligence built in to be a network device, without needing to be attached to any specific computer.   Just attach it to your network hub, switch, or router, and it�s available for anyone on that network who has permission to use it   OPTICAL DRIVES (CD/DVD Drives) INTERNAL - A drive that is physically installed in your computer case.  Unlike a hard disk, this type of drive IS visible and accessible from the outside of the case, so that you can insert CD�s or DVD�s. EXTERNAL - Once again, instead of putting it inside the case, it has a case of its own and can sit on the desk beside the computer. This type of drive can also be moved from one computer to another when you want to bring CD/DVD reading or writing functionality to another computer.  External Drives are always more expensive than internal ones because of the extra case, the power connections, and the convenience.   OTHER MEDIA TYPES (Ultra Portable) There are a number of small format media cards that can be gotten today, and more types are coming out every few months, it seems.   These are the devices that fit in your camera, or palmtop, or organizer, or MP3 Player, but they can also easily be adapted to work on your home PC by installing a media READER/WRITER.  Most that you will find these days will flaunt headings like �6 in 1 Multiformat Reader� or �11 in 1 Reader� This simply means that the media drive is designed to accept many types of media, to assure compatibility with any new devices you might get in the future.   Some of the media types are: CF - Compact Flash Capacities are growing each day, currently up to 8 Gigabytes SM - Smart Media A much smaller and flatter type of media.  Smaller capacity than CF MMC - MultiMedia Card   A miniature version of SM   Similar capacity SD - Secure Digital Looks identical to the MMC but with different functionality and added security features. Memory Stick - Sony�s offering.  A tall flat thin media card that works in all Sony devices, and many others as well.   Sony now has multiple versions of this media which all look the same, but perform differently.