what should I do....?

[rock8785]

For the holidays, I am gonna get a 4x4x24 cd-rw, and there are a few options I have to install it. I was gonna take out my cd-rom and put the cd-rw in its place, and a friend told me that I could buy a case, and install it through the new case. The only problem is i am not sure how that works. Does anyone have a suggestion for me?

[Ed_S]

Your friend probably meant replacing you case with a larger one. I take it your existing setup doesn't have an empty drive bay, right?
Good idea to do that, if your machine is all standard parts & will fit in a standard replacement case. If not, though, it might not be possible.

I'd definately try to keep the CD drive. Otherwise any disk-to-disk copies will be a pain. And do you really want to wear out an expensive CDRW by using it for everything? Mine gets used ONLY for writing, and has outlived several CD drives. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[RobRich]

Your friend might also be talking about this:

http://www.usbgear.com/usa/enclosure-pricewatch.cfm?idds=allusb

However, I would recommend migrating to a larger case assuming your hardware does not follow a proprietary format.

Robert Richmond

[Rat]

If replacing the case is beyond the scope of what you were planning, perhaps you could locate and external CD-Rw.

Rat...

[SoopaStar]

If you are going for a internal drive, why stick toa 4x4 drive? you can get a 8x drive for really cheap. Bestbuy.com had an 8x creative labs for $139 and an Acer for $129.

Paul