Adding extra hard drive

[HeathQuad]

I have a Dell Dimension 8200 and I have an extra 120 GB 7200 rpm Maxtor hard drive laying around. How hard would it be to install this hard drive onto my computer? I would like maybe to use it to store pictures, install the children's games and other installations I don't deem necessary on my original drive.

I know all the connections are there but I'm not sure about securing it inside the case.

Heath C4/5

[StevenM]

it should be very simple, depending on whether there are any free 3.5 in. internal drive bays.. it would just be a matter of setting this drive to slave ( I assume this drive is IDE ) and conecting it to the free IDE connector on the channel with the other harddrive. (you might need a new IDE cable if dell originally used a single connector cable).. windows will recognize the drive and you just have to partition and format it and you're good to go.

[CapnGimp]

What he said. All the connections are cable specific, ie, Hard to mess up as there are no cables that fit in wrong places. The cable you plug into your hard drive has ONE way it fits, there is a pin blocked, careful and don't try toput it in upside down. The power cable only fits one way.
If you have a hard drive and a cd/dvd on the same cable, you just have to get another cable to attach the new drive to.
There are places for TWO cables on the motherboard to place hd's and cd/dvd's. The other similar(smaller place is for the floppy.
If you want help formatting, or anythiong else, holler.
If need be, I can post pictures of these things for ya here to better identify the cables and ports, etc. Just let me know, think I'll post a couple anyway, just for you to see better, gimme a sec.

[CapnGimp]

here are a couple of pics, I'll edit the points after they load...

[CapnGimp]

first shows proper cable to hd placement, push it straight, don't wiggle side to side,

hd pinout note the notch and missing pin below it where cable goes, this is where ya wanna be careful as SOME cables do not have the protrusions(and have a blocked pinhole) to prevent you putting the cable in upside down...bending the pin

ide conn where the drives are plugged into motherboard, ide 0 is sometimes a color other than black and is the default boot drive ide1 is second, usually black though not here,lol red/ white

atop drive will be a chart showing the placement of the jumpers for choosing master slave or cable select, some also specify a second jumper to determine capacity recognition, as this one does, I don't think your maxtor has more than one

power connector, can only go in right way due to shape of plug

the one here shows the ribbon cable varies with a blocked pin for missing pin on hd, or a variety that has all holes but a tab atop connector that prevents insertion wrong, just eyeball yours usually was older cables that you could reverse, only happened to me once, used hemostats to straighten the pin, I even soldered a new one on for someone once

last one shows drive bays, usually put them in the smaller bays, larger are for cd/dvd and in the top one here, a removable hot swap bay, used to do back ups on and take home, lot cheaper and faster than USB drives. Some cases are upgrade unfriendly with no space, you can mount it in bigger bay if ya want. I tossed a floppy and mounted one there before in a cramped case.

[Susan M]

Yep, it's done exactly this way, plus, if there is not enough room to secure the new drive inside the box, it won't hurt it at all to just dangle there. Also, you wouldn't even need to reformat it. On our old Windows 98 PC, the Operating System (OS) got corrupted, so we removed the hard drive and hooked it up to my PC and are running the drive from my XP OS.

Susan

[Hunker]

If I have a 95 win HD and am not sure what is wrong could I get a virus? Could you do this with an internal hard drive? http://www.addonics.com/products/io/adideu2.asp

[CapnGimp]

Hey Hunker,
do you mean you are using windows 95 on your computer now and something is wrong with it?
As far as a virus, do you have an up to date antivirus program running on it all the time?
Try to describe your problem and we'll see if we can determine the cause.

[Hunker]

Hey Hunker,
do you mean you are using windows 95 on your computer now and something is wrong with it?
As far as a virus, do you have an up to date antivirus program running on it all the time?
Try to describe your problem and we'll see if we can determine the cause.

I have a 95 win sitting at work that will not boot and a ME at home. My question is can a internal hard drive be taken with a USB adapter? If so it would be easier than taking the case off etc.:)

[CapnGimp]

Susan, what you did works great and will work in any situation. But the reason I suggest Partitioning is multifaceted. He has a large driive and it really should be partitioned to use it more effectively and faster I might add.
For instance, with more than one child, a drive can be assinged to each one, so only they have access to their section with the ability to load games etc and not affect their siblings setup.
His data on another set of partitions and if anyone inadvertently causes a problem, only their section(logical drive) has to be 'fixed'
I know windows is set up for multi user accounts, but this is not a REAL solution. It's kinda hard to explain, one of those things you could say to each his own.
I have had to do a lot of info recovery that multi partitioning would negate from the get-go.

In a small school I helped with the computer lab, they started with just a couple. I partitioned them so the teachers could have seperate 'drives' to use for the different classes. That way if someone inadvertently caused a problem, it would not affect all classes. As each of the students used these same computers, it was the best thing for security.
In your situation you have a smaller capacity drive relative to what is sold nowdays and depending on it's size it may or may not be advantageous to multi-partition it. Since you already have another drive that has the OS on it, this one is acting as a 'logical' drive does on a single physical drive. All you had to do was plug n go. Deleting the old os and other unwanted files. That's the joy of more than one drive, which is basically what logical drives is all about.
Just be careful with a dangly drive, if it slides around and shorts the motherboard of pci cards, or itself for that matter, you could loose alot.
If you set one in the bottom, I suggest covering the bottom of the drive with a non-conductor and at LEAST duct taping that puppy to the case bottom so it doesn't move,lol.

Susan
I would also recommend reformatting that old drive anyway and making it NTFS file system instead of FAT16 or 32. It is way faster to defrag and more stable/secure. You can't index FAT which makes it a slower access by nature.

Folks I ain't trying to sound like a know it all here, I'm just tossing out recommendations, I knowto work at least in my experience. I have been told by family and friends that I often come across to those who don't know me or my motivation, as sounding like a know it all-my way or the highway type. Don't want ya to get that idea, at all.
Just want to help ya have a pleasant 'pUtin 'spear-Ence, if that is possible with a windows product,lol.

[CapnGimp]

I have a 95 win sitting at work that will not boot and a ME at home. My question is can a internal hard drive be taken with a USB adapter? If so it would be easier than taking the case off etc.:)

I'm sorta dense so excuse me,lol.Still not sure of the question but...
A usb drive IS in actuality an INTERNAL(regular ol' hd) drive that has an adaptor to work thru USB inside the little case. You can swap these drives willy nilly into the USB case and plug them in to a computer and use them.

Win 95 OSR2 was the first version written with USB in mind, supposedly having drivers. I have only SAW one that actually worked using a usb device.
I do not think that (if this is your question) you can boot a w95 era computer with usb drive, it is not available in BIOS setup.
Really not sure if this is possible with a winME either as I never tried it. I disliked 98 so bad I stuck with OSR2 and linux until Win 2000 came out, never used NT either.
I used each of these ON OTHERS computers when repairing them however.

You can use the drives from either of these machines inside of a USB device and access the drive on a working mache, instead of removing them and installing inside another case if that is what ya mean.
If you suspect a virus on one, I'd just reformat it when you install. If you used the executable files as a backup, the possibility of getting the virus is still there depending on what it is.

Did I get ya or am I still shooting at ghosts? :)

[Hunker]

I get it but would like to see the adapter,harware etc Like this http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/usb_hard-drive.html:) :)

[CapnGimp]

here ya go
the removable bay/case combo go INSIDE and runs at regular ATA100 speeds

the usb here is a 2.0 version fastest usb but MUCH slower than internal/removable bay which I recommend for LARGE file transfers over the usb

cat pic shows why i said insulate bottom of HD if ya are gonna let it dangle in case on another post

inside usb you see the basically ata 100 cable/connector to a small board to convert/power usb

[Hunker]

Thanks for the pics, Im sure we "all" have a HD sitting around.:)

[Susan M]

CapNGimp,

Thx. Good tips. I only know enough about this stuff to be dangerous. LOL

I actually defragmeted the 98 HD with my XP OS--worked slick. We are working on fixing the 98 OS, so I also copied the drive to my HD so we wouldn't lose data. I'm thinking of getting yet another drive so my daughter can store her itune files and sync her ipod without affecting performance of everything else.

[HeathQuad]

Thanks for all the information. I have a open bay so securing the hard drive should not be a problem and I also have dual CD drives so I might need to get another cable but I should be ready to start.

I know just enough about computers to be dangerous. Smart enough not to do major damage but dumb enough to screw something up if I'm not watching. The partitioning of the hard drive sounds great. I'll try to get the hard drive installed this week and then I'll have to start asking questions about partitioning.

Again thanks for all the help.
Heath C4/5

[bob clark]

I have a Dell Dimension 8200 and I have an extra 120 GB 7200 rpm Maxtor hard drive laying around. How hard would it be to install this hard drive onto my computer? I would like maybe to use it to store pictures, install the children's games and other installations I don't deem necessary on my original drive.

I know all the connections are there but I'm not sure about securing it inside the case.

Heath C4/5

Hi HeathQuad,

Here's a quick tutorial (http://www.mikeshardware.com/howtos/howto_connect_ide_hd.html) on connecting or slaving up another hard drive.

Make sure your computer is turned off before you start unplugging or plugging in electrical stuff.

It's simple to install a second hard drive in your computer case. Just look at how the existing hard drive is installed in its bay and do the same with your 120GB Maxtor. There should be a spare bay or two. If you have a choice leave some space between the two hard drives so air can more freely circulate. If you're not going to be moving the computer you don't need to screw it in but if you have the screws you may as well do the job right! Just don't jolt the hard drive... they're pretty delicate. There may be a "cage" that the hard drive screws into then that is slid into the bay until it clicks in place. Different computer cases use different designs.

If you connect it properly onto the IDE/ATA 100 cable (and the white 4 prong molex power connector) you should see it listed in "My Computer" as your D:/ drive. Double left click on it to see if there's anything in there that you want to transfer onto your active. C:/ drive.

You may have to change the jumper settings on the 120GB Maxtor to Cable Select, CS or CSEL. Or to the "Slave" jumper configuration.

To make it new and shiny you'll want to format it. This will erase or delete everything that's on it. Assuming that your current hard drive isn't partitioned (it's just shows up as your C:/ drive) right click on the D:/ icon in My Computer and select "Format..." then choose what type of file system you want. FAT32 or NTFS. Probably go with what file system you're already using on your current hard drive. If you're running XP then it's probably NTFS. Do a complete format... not the quick.

Since it's for storage there's probably no need to partition it. But if you want to partition it go to the Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management. To learn how to create partitions from within Windows go up on toolbar to "Help" and then "Help Topics" and search for "partitions". It's just a matter of:

Right-click an unallocated region of a basic disk, and then click New Partition, or right-click free space in an extended partition, and then click New Logical Drive.

In the New Partition Wizard, click Next, click Primary partition, Extended partition, or Logical drive, and then follow the instructions on your screen.

The partitions will show up as "drives" in My Computer and will automatically be assigned the drive letters D,E,F etc. And your optical drives CDROM DVD etc will move further down the alphabet.

Good luck.

[Lewis]

Heath, it is easy to install a second hard drive. I talked one of my PCAs through it a couple months ago when I experienced major corruption and wanted to easily backup songs/photos etc.


I used the instructions that came with the hard drive. The only part that was confusing because the instructions lacked clarity was that you have to take a little piece of plastic (http://carecure.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7760&d=1133126932) and make sure it is in the right position on the pins to indicate that it is the slave drive.

[Lewis]

Folks I ain't trying to sound like a know it all here, I'm just tossing out recommendations, I knowto work at least in my experience.
Last time I checked, confidence, knowledge, and patience were and still are always welcome on this forum.