Fitting second HD

Jimpowers79 · 24 Sep 2009 at 10:37

Hi, i currently have a 160Gb SATA HD (now 4 years old). Whilst i want to keep this as backup storage, i have bought a 500Gb Seagate barricuda https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-206-SE

There is a blue cable that runs from my existing drive to the motherboard is this the SATA interface cable?, and another cable with several red and yellow cables that has an adjoining connector for another drive, is this the power adapter cable? Do i need another interface cable for the new drive, or is it merely a matter of connecting the power adapter cable?

How do you set the master and slave settings on two drives, is this done through BIOS?

Jimpowers79 · 24 Sep 2009 at 13:59

Cheers for that SMAndy. If i were to decide to do away with my old drive altogether, would i just replace my current drive with the connectors i have? Would the OS automatically be put onto my new drive?

Jimpowers79 · 24 Sep 2009 at 14:01

Oh and SMAndy, do you have any ideas on the memory problem i'm having?!

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18057973

Jimpowers79 · 24 Sep 2009 at 21:52

Ok thanks for that SMAndy, ha ha, i'm a million miles away from free postage, but i know what you mean! Does that mean that my system drive has data on it specific to the OS? I thought that when you perform a reinstallation of windows it requires you to format the HD anyway?

Jimpowers79 · 25 Sep 2009 at 21:53

Does that mean that when you format the HD, the OS will always remain?

Jimpowers79 · 26 Sep 2009 at 11:11

So when you do a reinstallation of windows, the back up cd you use is merely retreaving the OS that is still present on the HD. The reinstallation of windows does not first tollaly remove it from the HD, but resets it?

Jimpowers79 · 26 Sep 2009 at 11:17

Oh and another question concerning the SATA interface cable i will need for my new drive. Is the type of cable different depending on whether the drive is SATA or SATA II? Does my motherboard need to have a SATA II port?

Jimpowers79 · 26 Sep 2009 at 19:33

Thank you for that information. It can be misleading for novices like myself, i have seen interface cables for sale that have said to be specifically for SATA 2 drives!

Therefore, if i want my new drive to be the system drive i just replace my old drive and reinstall windows from my cd. My old drive can then be fully formatted and used as extra storage?

Jimpowers79 · 27 Sep 2009 at 10:50

So you mean if i were to have both drives connected, there is a chance that i would put windows back onto the same drive? If i start from scratch with my brand new drive i dont have to worry about what is left on the old drive (provide i have copied all files i wish to keep) which can later be formated, is that right? I'm confused now!!

How about this plan...

When i'm ready to do so i tell the computer to format my old HD. Then turn it off, replace the HD with my new one and install windows on it. Later the formated drive can be added. Does that work?!

Jimpowers79 · 27 Sep 2009 at 13:59

Great, that makes sense to me now! Sorry for the slow uptake, just wanted to make 100% sure before i did anything drastic! Cheers rpstewart.

... i don't suppose you could have a look at the memory problem i had on my other thread could you? No one appears to be interested in giving me feedback on it. I'm worried it isn't a straight forward answer!