Convert an old PC into an MP3 jukebox

Depending on the size of your existing hard drive and the depth of your music collection, you'll probably want a bigger hard drive. We decided to replace our 60GB drive with a massive 320GB 7,200rpm Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200JB. This drive will easily hold more than 4,000 albums at a high bit rate of 160Kbps.

Any pertinent data in the drive had been removed long ago, so installation was fast and easy. First, we powered down the system and unplugged the AC cord. Once inside the case, we got rid of the old drive by disconnecting the IDE and power cables and removing any screws securing it to the bay. We then slipped in the new drive, secured it to the bay, and reconnected the IDE and power cables.

After you've swapped the drives, plug in and power up the PC so that the BIOS can detect the drive. This will be your primary boot drive, and you'll need to format it and install a clean version of Windows. Within the BIOS screen (usually accessed by pressing a function key or by hitting Delete), change the boot order so that you start with your optical drive. Then restart and boot straight from your Windows XP install disc. (Keep in mind that even if the system already has XP, you may need to call Microsoft with your product key handy to reauthenticate the software.)

An older PC's motherboard may come with an IDE drive interface only, lacking support for Serial ATA drives. Make sure you get a hard drive that's compatible with your motherboard. (For more details on installing a hard drive, see Get gigs to spare.)