We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.
This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Installing New Hard Drive
Zebra
Posts: 6,702 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
I've got a new hard drive I want to install in my pc.
I've been advised to install the new disc in tandem with the old one, and transfer everything across just leaving windows installed on the old disc.
Is this the best option to take - the old disc is working ok but is only small capacity (10GB)?
Or am I better replacing the old disc with the new disc? If so how do I do this?
I've been advised to install the new disc in tandem with the old one, and transfer everything across just leaving windows installed on the old disc.
Is this the best option to take - the old disc is working ok but is only small capacity (10GB)?
Or am I better replacing the old disc with the new disc? If so how do I do this?
0
Comments
-
Id put in the new 1 and transfer stuff across eg any documents etc, also dont forget to set the new 1 as the slave0
-
S'up to you, but you might as well keep the old disk too... easiest option is to just install the new disk (I'm assuming its an IDE one). Your motherboard will have 2 ide slots, and most likely one hard drive connected to one port, and the CD drive to another. The CD drive should be set as master already, via a jumper on the back, so set the new HD as slave and attach to the same cable as theCD drive. Once done, load the bios and let it autoconfigure. Once done, you're set to go and then jsut need to partition and format within windows. You can then reinstall programs on the new hd and copy stuff across.
If you've got lots of crap on the PC (Its a good 6 years old at a guess), then you could just reinstall windows on the new disk.0 -
How do I do that?dont forget to set the new 1 as the slave
Come again!The CD drive should be set as master already, via a jumper on the back, so set the new HD as slave and attach to the same cable as theCD drive. Once done, load the bios and let it autoconfigure. Once done, you're set to go and then jsut need to partition and format within windows. You can then reinstall programs on the new hd and copy stuff across.
It's actually fairly new with not much on - it was given to me as a replacement when my original one developed a fault.If you've got lots of crap on the PC (Its a good 6 years old at a guess), then you could just reinstall windows on the new disk.
I'm ok with physically installing the new disc - I've been showed how to do that
- but could do with some guidance on configuring it. 0 -
Ok, what are the makes and model numbers of both the old and new drives? This way, we can look up the jumper settings for the drives.
Ideally, the process should follow something like this:
1) Install new drive as a master, with the old drive disconnected.
2) Install the operating system (XP/Vista/Linux/whatever) onto the new drive.
3) Setup old drive as slave.
4) Install the old drive, making sure you keep the new drive on the end of the cable and old drive on the middle - if you put a master in the middle of the cable, and a slave at the end, you could have problems detecting the drives.
5) Transfer your documents, pictures, emails etc.
6) Once you have everything you need, full format the old drive and use it as a backup for all your important files.
Hope that helps!Everybody is equal; However some are more equal than others.0 -
Oh I forgot to ask how old your system is - what processor has it got, and what speed?
If it's an old system, and you've gone and bought a 250gb drive - you might not being able to see the whole 250gb. This is known as an LBA limit, and old motherboards sometimes cannot see the full size of the drive.
If the system can't see the full disk, don't worry - there are ways and means.Everybody is equal; However some are more equal than others.0 -
Put the new drive in on the end of the cable - did you mean the ribbon cable? Does it matter which of the other cable connections (the one with yellow black and red leads)?
Ive also noted the part numbers of the discs - the new disc is 160GB Im not sure of the processor at the moment, I can find that out in a minute.
Will I be ok to turn it on - I'm on the laptop at the moment?0 -
Sorry - just reading all the advice again - there seems to be a bit of conflict - do I want the old drive or the new drive as the slave?0
-
NEW drive as the slave:idea:0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 454.3K Spending & Discounts
- 245.2K Work, Benefits & Business
- 600.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177.5K Life & Family
- 259K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.7K Read-Only Boards