4. Let the pros help

Alas, while swapping drives is far from difficult, it requires some technical knowledge. For instance, does your computer use Parallel ATA or Serial ATA drives? If you don't know what these terms mean, leave internal drive upgrades to an expert. Electronics retailers like Best Buy or Circuit City will charge $40 to $50 to install a drive, but a hefty $100 to transfer a mere 10 gigabytes of data. So even if you have a technician install the drive, reload the software and files yourself.