hello, i have been given a computer that has had the hard drive removed. Is it easier to fit an external hard drive ? I want my son to use this purely for homework and it will not be connected to the internet, do hard drives come pre loaded with word or other word processing programs? Which is the best ?Any advice much appreciated.
Thanks, welly66

Hello and welcome to PC Help Forum.

To use external drive to boot the operating system requires laoding drivers etc first.
External is more expensive.

However fitting and internal is just basic plug 2 leads in ie power and say IDE grey flat lead.

No HDDs do not come pre loaded with say XP you would have to buy this XP Home is about £50 here in the UK and it comes with a key code to.

However we can aslo help you fit a new HDD and tell you how to install XP on it.

Thanks Jellybean, i will get back to you for more advice on fitting a new hard drive when i have bought one. Any advice on what type of drive would be best for me? Regards, welly66

Depending on your motherboard specification, a SATA (or Serial ATA) drive is the recommended standard nowadays. You will need to be sure that your motherboard is capable of supporting this standard before you purchase tho'

Thanks Hengis, how do i find out what my motherboard specs are?

Hi,
Since you currently have no operating system you can't run a system info program, can you take a photograph of the inside of the computer for us?