Changed your mind about which browser you want as your default browser -- the browser that opens when you click on HTML files, when you type an URL into the Windows "Start | Run" input box, etc.?

Like most Computer Hardware; Computer hard disk drives eventually break down with normal wear and tear — more so if subjected to adverse conditions like poor overclocking, power surges and extreme weather. Somewhere down the road, you will have to entertain a computer hard drive upgrade to keep your system stable and safeguard your saved data.

When computer hard drives fail or crash, the problem can be classified either as a logical hard failure or as a mechanical hard drive failure.

* Logical Hard Drive Failure

In a logical hard drive failure, the computer hard drive is not broken. You still have a hard drive with a sound architecture, but the drive is not able to properly read and sort data.

When purchasing an external hard disk drive, it is important that you note how the drive is connected to your computer. Your upgrade will be limited by the number of free ports on your PC.

There are three common computer hard drive types based on how they are externally attached to your computer: the FireWire hard drive, the USB hard drive and the eSATA hard drive.

* FireWire Hard Drive

The FireWire hard drive is attached to the computer via a FireWire port. FireWire has two versions — the FireWire 400 and the FireWire 800. FireWire 400 can support data transfer rates of up to 50 megabytes per second (MB/s), while FireWire 800 can support data transfer rates of up to 100MB/s.

Low on hard drive space? Here are three quick fixes to your problem!

* Delete Unused Files

The first and most obvious step to take is to delete your unused files. Over time, we hoard files that we had a need for, but do we really need them now? If you examine your old files, you will notice that you no longer use many them. Old programs are stored in your program files that have never been run in years. These old files and programs are simple taking up precious space in your hard drive. To quickly free up some hard drive space, simply delete unnecessary files and uninstall those programs that you no longer use.

* Zip Your Files

So you have finally decided to get a larger and faster hard disk drive so you can store more files and have a speedier system. When you take out your old hard drive, do not throw it away! You can donate it to charity institutions and the like, but make sure that you remove all of your old data first. There are three things that you can do to wipe out data from your old hard drive.

Proper maintenance of you hard disk drive can help keep your computer running fast and smooth. In much the same way a messy room deters us from finding things, a disorderly hard disk makes it difficult for the computer to find files. Here are three steps that you can take to clean up your hard disk drive.