Need some HD installing help

Computer Hardware
#1

Please don’t pass out I’m posting OUTSIDE of the living room…
but I have a delima…a friend sent me a Hitachi 160GB harddrive (don’t laugh all you brand name junkies…he sent it to me and it cost me NOTHING)
anyway

is it really hard to install a slave drive…and how hard is it to put windows on it…?

heres the last scan of my system…i’ve added a DVD writer since…
OS Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600)

Drives
120.01 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
33.54 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

JLMS XJ-HD166S [CD-ROM drive]
SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-248F [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

ST3120022A [Hard drive] (120.03 GB) – drive 0, s/n 5JT15AFM, rev 3.06, SMART Status: Healthy

Main circuit board
Board: ASUSTek Computer INC. Kamet2 2.01
Bus Clock: 166 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 3.05 11/27/2003

Local drive volume
c: (NTFS on drive 0) 114.50 GB 32.50 GB free
d: (FAT32 on drive 0) 5.52 GB 1.04 GB free

ok i really need some help…some of you hardware gurus please…dumb it up for me…and debro stop laughing…i heard that…

#2

it is not hard to install a slave drive at all. and unless you want some sort of dual boot set up you dont need to install windows on it. if you are just going to use it for storage you only need to install it then format it in windows.

attach the drive to the secondary connection on your primary IDe cable with the other drive make sure that the new drive has it’s jumper set to slave.

#3

additional note:
it might be that you have to re-activate your copy of WinXP after installing the new harddrive, as hdd’s are critical components for the system activations.

btw: i like hitachi hdd’s; IBM some years before - only made good experience with those, still having my system runnning on a 120GB hitachi! :slight_smile:

#4

SS,

What do you intend to do with the 160g drive? If you are going to just set it up as a slave then you will need to remove one of the other drives.
I would swap out with the 5g drive(unless that is your OS). I am a little confused about why you would want to install the OS on the new drive. If that is the case then there are tools out there to clone image your old drive to the new one. I see you have a fat32 and a ntfs formated drive in the same machine, I myself wouldnt do this, it could cause some conflicts.

You should also remember to keep the Optical drives seperate from the Hard drives. I mean keep them on different IDE channels.

Please post to include which hard drive(or is it the same drive with different partitions). And we can work from there. PS there is nothing wrong with Hitachi drives, I think they bought out IBM if Im not wrong.

cranky

#5

ok i know how to set the jumpers…to make the master/slave…connections…

I just want to use the drive for storage of music and movies…

so i dont’ have to install window???

I see you have a fat32 and a ntfs formated drive in the same machine, I myself wouldnt do this, it could cause some conflicts.

Cranky…one is just a system restore…
thats all is on it…

so what you guys are saying…once i do the physical install…correct jumpers and connect the IDE cable…run the software that came with it…i should be good to go???

(so razor…i didn’t do to bad for a freebie?)

#6

if u got 3 IDE Device probobly your current HDD is on 1 cable and its connected to mainboard (whit description on the connection place IDE1), the other 2 drives should be on the other cable IDE2

  1. check is on which cable is your drive
  2. if there are other connetcion make it whit scheme

IDE1 - Your current HDD set it to master+ new HDD set it to slave
IDE2 - Your CD-RW on master + CD on slave

ohh remember to connect master drives at the end of cable

mainboard
[IDE1]:::::::[Slave]:::::::[Master]
[IDE2]:::::::[Slave]:::::::[Master]

If u set your current drive to master Win XP should Boot from it … and win XP should start ;] + when u log in u should see near sys clock icon whit finding hardware … that it :slight_smile:

u can use windows menager to create partition or format new HDD

if u have Win XP ntfs + fat32 it’s no problem for the OS ;]

#7

Yo S_S-

Is there anything that you want to save on the 5gb drive?

If not - then just install the new drive as the “Slave” as the others have said-

Where is your new 1640 in this configuration?

If you are going to install it at the same time - suggest that you set the sony 166s as the “Slave” and the new 1640 as “Master” on the secondary IDE channel - making sure that you uninstall the drivers - on the secondary IDE channel ONLY - and let XP reinstall a fresh driver for your new setup-

Then after a reboot - format your new Hitachi in My Computer and set it as a NTSF type drive (NOT fat 32)-

PM me if you have further questions-

Mike

#8

Fat 32 is a bit faster (~10%) than NTFS, but ntfs is more stable and more secure + diffrence in claster size, generaly i would say ntfs for data and Fat32 for OS partition

#9

I’m currently using a Hitachi 160GB drive myself (8mb cache, 7200 rpm, parallel ATA) bought relatively recently at CompUSA. Great drive so far, and the 5 year warranty is a nice bonus (vs. WD’s 1 year I was used to - had a 80GB WD start ‘clicking’ shortly after the warranty period was over).

Btw … I’ve had drives with NTFS & Fat32 on the same system. Ran that way for a long time without any prob’s. But, NTFS is the way to go (until M$ unleashes their late$t and greate$t).

#10

ok so i’m lazy…i decided today was the day for installing my HD…

I had to disasemble the case…just to get to the empty bay…remove some lil box…i have no idea what it was in there for…attach the IDE cables…make sure the jumpers were correct…
did all of this…then I open the packet of information to find the Configuration cd is BROKEN!!!..i was hoping that a restart would help the computer find it…but no…and guess what…i can’t get tech help till Monday …morning…so i have a hard drive and the computer doesn’t even see it :frowning:

#11

Shouldnt Matter - HDD’s especially IDE’s dont need any software. Go into BIOS (hit DEL (or what it tells you )when the Machine POST’s on Boot) and check whether the drive is detected in BIOS as this is where Windows draws it Config Info. You should (dependant on M/Board Manufacturer) be able to do an Auto Detect.

#12

Well, I’d get rid of the 5gb drive. It’s probably doing absolutely nothing, and some of the older hard drives don’t mix well with faster drives. I’d put the 160gb drive in place of the 5gb drive, and if you need to, copy the data off the 5gb drive to the 120 temporarily, and then move it to the 160.

Mixing NTFS and FAT 32 won’t hurt anything, windows XP deals with FAT 32 just fine. I’d format the new drive in NTFS anyways (XP doesn’t give a choice for drives over 32gb anyways), because it’s more efficient, and fragments less. There’s not a 10% difference in performance between NTFS and FAT 32, there is a difference, but it’s dependant on file size. If you play with the cluster size when you format the drive, you can get better performance out of NTFS, depending on your usage. I suggest leaving it default, especailly if you create and delete large files like I do all the time, because bigger clusters make more fragmentation.

The placement of the drive on the cable doesn’t matter of you’re using the jumpers, you can set the drives any way you wish, and plug them into either spot on the cable. The only time cable position matters is when using the cable select position on the jumpers, and I’d suggest not using it. Cable select can create a lot of headaches, so use your jumpers.

Once the drive is installed, go into the bios and make sure that it’s recognised by the bios. It should be under the IDE configuration, maybe on the advanced cmos features depending on the bios. It should list the hard drive while the machine boots too if you don’t enter the bios. If you go into the IDE menu, you might have to tinker with it to get it to identify the hard drive. Just make sure the bios sees it. Then let it boot to windows, and it should pop up with the stuff saying it found new hardware. After it installs all the drivers, right click on my computer, and go to manage. Go into disk management, and select your new 160gb hard drive, format it and assign it a drive letter. MAKE SURE it’s the 160, and not your boot (system) drive!!! I don’t think it will let you format the system drive anyways from inside windows. So after it’s assigned a drive letter, the drive will be ready to use. You must have service pack 1 or better to use your 160gb drive, or it won’t see the whole thing. :doh: Good luck, hope that helps. :iagree:

#13

ok the 5GB HD…is just a partition…with a system recovery on it…it came from compacq like that…

and yes i have SP2

#14

…ok back from passing out that you posted here
As I understand it, you wanna use this as a dump drive to keep movies, music etc…

No Need to install Windows.
You must jump correctly with jumpers Master Slave combo.
Set primary drive with Windows on it now as Master. Set the secondary you received as a Slave.
Never mix HDD and Optical drives, will lower HDD speed to that of the optical, which is too slow for a HDD to operate at.
Boot into BIOS, make sure it’s detected, you might need ot auto detect.
Also, check that 5GB partition, HP/Compaq is known for putting restore images onto these lately, their PC’s no longer bundled with restore CD’s. so be careful, if it’s empty then dont worry about it.

Anything else?
Let us know.

#15

You know, I’ve heard that same thing, and as far as I can figure, it’s just not true. I’m not blaming you, because I’ve been told that by a lot of people, but I think it’s a load of horse pucky! I have my 120gb drive that windows is installed on as the primary master, and my Lite-On 16P9S is the slave. My benchmark results are spot on for my drive in HD tach, and sandra gives 39mb/s. I’d say it’s running a lot faster than UDMA 2/33mb/s, so, it’s definetly not the case in my system anyways. Here, check it out, maybe that was true for some combinations, and it could do that, but not here. I’m attaching the benchmark results. :iagree:

HD bench.JPG798x593 68.2 KB

#16

Someone corect me if I am wrong, but doesn’t the controler on the master drive determine the maximum speed? I was always under the impression that the controler for the slave drive had to go through the controler on the master drive, so if the master drive is faster, no problem, but if the master drive is slower than the slave, it would limit the slave?
Fyi hitachi took over production of ibm drives (completlly redesigned) after the deathstar drives. Ibm had a series of deskstar enterprise drives that were seriously defective (something like 50% premature falures if I recall right). It completlly destroyed ibm’s reputation so they partnered with hitachi who completlly redesigned the drives and took over production (though ibm still has some financial intrest, or at least they did).
I have had two hitachi 160’s running for about a year and a half with no problems. On storage review, thier are 22 reported falures and 4 doa out of 184 drives (for the particular model I have) which doesn’t seem that bad considering how some drives score.
A randomly selected western digital caviar 250 gig had 32 falures and 3 doa out of 176
a randomly selected maxtor diamond max 9 160 gig had 134 falures and 6 doa out of 437 dirves

By the way, did you get it working? Someone corect me if I am wrong (I usally use the manufactures disk), but doesn’t she have to go into disk managment and format the drive if she didn’t use the oem disk?

#17

Oh yea, rip a DVD while running that benchmark… :wink:

As per official Comptia guideline, basic training, and many other dead reliable sources, mixing a HDD with an optical will lower the HDD to run as fast as the Optical. If the optical stays idle we don’t always see this. In some cases, esp with HDD with 2mb cache, it is also not always easily seen. It’s just a general rule of thumb to follow and within normal guidelines.

I pesonally did no testing with this, I figured why try to re-invent the wheel, I will just take the info as provided to me. :bigsmile:

#18

OK No i haven’t got it going…yet
and YES i would have used the manf…disk…but its broken and for some reason…the cd reader won’t read a broken disk…(4 pieces)

i will look more closely at the bios this afternoon…i was just hoping that someone would say…oh thats easy do this …1 …then 2 this…and Volia…it be done…guess its not going to be that easy …

oh well…thanks guys i’ll see about installing it that way…thanks…your the greatest…

and X-man…sorry about posting in here without warning you first…:flower:

#19

1: take your pc
2: buy a flight ticket to germany / cologne airport
3: fly to germany (with your pc, of course)
4: i’ll get ya from tha airport
5: i’ll install your hdd (5 mins + formatting)

6: do whatever you like :flower:
:smiley:

#20

Now that sounds simple enough…

Heres a screen shot of some bios info…now what?