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  #1   Report Post  
Darrell Klein
 
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Default Installing second hard drive

I know this may not be the most computer-focused forum to ask, but
since many r.a.p.ers are musicians-turned recordists who then needed
to become computer savy (as I did): how much of a pain is it to
install a second hard drive? And after installation, what problems may
surface?

I have added memory and installed PCI cards in my household-internet
PC (IBM PII)and on my audio PC (Dell PIII). I have replaced a bad sync
card in an ADAT and I have replaced the battery in a Korg M1 (hey,
don't laugh: that was the hardest of all the things listed). What I
anticipate doing is buying a Maxtor hard drive from the local Gateway
outlet (which has no service department!) and install it in the
household PC (the old drive -- the PC was new in 1998 -- is getting
very funky). If that goes well, I might add a second hard drive for
the audio PC. I have only used that PC for editing, not for tracking,
so I have only one hard drive in it now.

Any experiences to share? Thanks.
  #2   Report Post  
ar3a
 
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Default Installing second hard drive


"Darrell Klein" wrote in message
om...
I know this may not be the most computer-focused forum to ask, but
since many r.a.p.ers are musicians-turned recordists who then needed
to become computer savy (as I did): how much of a pain is it to
install a second hard drive? And after installation, what problems may
surface?

I have added memory and installed PCI cards in my household-internet
PC (IBM PII)and on my audio PC (Dell PIII). I have replaced a bad sync
card in an ADAT and I have replaced the battery in a Korg M1 (hey,
don't laugh: that was the hardest of all the things listed). What I
anticipate doing is buying a Maxtor hard drive from the local Gateway
outlet (which has no service department!) and install it in the
household PC (the old drive -- the PC was new in 1998 -- is getting
very funky). If that goes well, I might add a second hard drive for
the audio PC. I have only used that PC for editing, not for tracking,
so I have only one hard drive in it now.

Any experiences to share? Thanks.


Yes, IMO Maxtor has the easiest install software. It walks you through
setting up a new hard drive and migrating all that info to the new drive.
Of course, there's also reliablity...which appears to be really good (no
better no worse than any other drive I've owned). Good luck!


  #3   Report Post  
John L Rice
 
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Default Installing second hard drive

I think it's really pretty easy but doing that sort of thing has been at
least occasionally part of my day job for over ten years..

A few questions first :
- what OS are you using
- what hard drive interface and internal or external ( IDE, SCSI, SATA, USB,
Firewire, ect )
- besides your existing hard drive what other drives do you already have
connected ( like CDR, DVD, ZIP drives etc )
- are you planning on replacing the existing hard drive with the new one or
is it going to be a second drive for storage, etc

Also, check out http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/shop.asp for good prices and
service on hard drive and other computer components. I've shopped with them
for years.

Best of luck!

John L Rice


"Darrell Klein" wrote in message
om...
I know this may not be the most computer-focused forum to ask, but
since many r.a.p.ers are musicians-turned recordists who then needed
to become computer savy (as I did): how much of a pain is it to
install a second hard drive? And after installation, what problems may
surface?

I have added memory and installed PCI cards in my household-internet
PC (IBM PII)and on my audio PC (Dell PIII). I have replaced a bad sync
card in an ADAT and I have replaced the battery in a Korg M1 (hey,
don't laugh: that was the hardest of all the things listed). What I
anticipate doing is buying a Maxtor hard drive from the local Gateway
outlet (which has no service department!) and install it in the
household PC (the old drive -- the PC was new in 1998 -- is getting
very funky). If that goes well, I might add a second hard drive for
the audio PC. I have only used that PC for editing, not for tracking,
so I have only one hard drive in it now.

Any experiences to share? Thanks.



  #5   Report Post  
Arny Krueger
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

"Darrell Klein" wrote in message
om


I know this may not be the most computer-focused forum to ask, but
since many r.a.p.ers are musicians-turned recordists who then needed
to become computer savy (as I did): how much of a pain is it to
install a second hard drive?


It ranges from trivial to impossible, depending.

I do it all the time, but then again, I do it all the time.

And after installation, what problems may surface?


You may loose all of your data, so be sure it's backed up.





  #6   Report Post  
Darrell Klein
 
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Default Installing second hard drive

Hi John. Thanks. You've given me good advice in the past (kick mic's
and pedals). I tried to post this last night and could not, so I
e-mailed you. Now I can post so I'll put the post into the thread.

The IBM household computer is running Win 98OE; it has a Generic IDE
Disk Type 02; a CDROM Hitachi CDR-8430; and generic NEC Floppy drive.
It is connected to the Internet via Ethernet card-Road Runner cable
access. It is also connected to a p-n-p CRT monitor and an HP printer.
The new hard drive would be a replacement. Data preservation (we fear
the current HD is failing) is the motivation.

The Dell audio computer is running Win98SE; it has a Generic IDE Disk
Type 47; a CD burner Sony CD-RW CRX14OE and generic NEC Floppy drive.
It has never been connected to the Internet and is not connected to a
printer. Any added HD would be for storage.


P.S. The Maxtors I've looked at say they need Win98SE minimum. Adding
a Maxtor may be out. I may just get a new PC and transfer the data.


"John L Rice" wrote in message ...
I think it's really pretty easy but doing that sort of thing has been at
least occasionally part of my day job for over ten years..

A few questions first :
- what OS are you using
- what hard drive interface and internal or external ( IDE, SCSI, SATA, USB,
Firewire, ect )
- besides your existing hard drive what other drives do you already have
connected ( like CDR, DVD, ZIP drives etc )
- are you planning on replacing the existing hard drive with the new one or
is it going to be a second drive for storage, etc

Also, check out http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/shop.asp for good prices and
service on hard drive and other computer components. I've shopped with them
for years.

Best of luck!

John L Rice


"Darrell Klein" wrote in message
om...
[snip]how much of a pain is it to
install a second hard drive? [snip]

  #7   Report Post  
Arny Krueger
 
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Default Installing second hard drive

"Darrell Klein" wrote in message
om
Hi John. Thanks. You've given me good advice in the past (kick mic's
and pedals). I tried to post this last night and could not, so I
e-mailed you. Now I can post so I'll put the post into the thread.

The IBM household computer is running Win 98OE; it has a Generic IDE
Disk Type 02; a CDROM Hitachi CDR-8430; and generic NEC Floppy drive.
It is connected to the Internet via Ethernet card-Road Runner cable
access. It is also connected to a p-n-p CRT monitor and an HP printer.
The new hard drive would be a replacement. Data preservation (we fear
the current HD is failing) is the motivation.


If you think a hard drive is failing, address the issue yesterday or sooner!

The Dell audio computer is running Win98SE; it has a Generic IDE Disk
Type 47; a CD burner Sony CD-RW CRX14OE and generic NEC Floppy drive.
It has never been connected to the Internet and is not connected to a
printer. Any added HD would be for storage.


P.S. The Maxtors I've looked at say they need Win98SE minimum. Adding
a Maxtor may be out. I may just get a new PC and transfer the data.


I don't know of any problems with Win98OE and any particular brand of IDE
hard drive. I have installed enough Maxtors to know if there was one.
Firewire and USB-2 support might be a problem, but for internal drives, they
are irrelevant.

The only serious issue is BIOS support for hard drives 16 GB or 40 GB.
Most hard drive vendor's consumer-pack hard drives come with a utility for
copying the contents of hard drives, that address this issue on the fly.


  #8   Report Post  
Darrell Klein
 
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Default Installing second hard drive

If you think a hard drive is failing, address the issue yesterday or sooner!

Yeah, that's where I am. Close to being a day late (at least I'm not a
dollar short).

I don't know of any problems with Win98OE and any particular brand of IDE
hard drive. I have installed enough Maxtors to know if there was one.
Firewire and USB-2 support might be a problem, but for internal drives, they
are irrelevant.

The only serious issue is BIOS support for hard drives 16 GB or 40 GB.
Most hard drive vendor's consumer-pack hard drives come with a utility for
copying the contents of hard drives, that address this issue on the fly.


Thanks Arny. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the hard
drive could care less what OS is being run. It says it's a system
requirement on the Maxtor box. maybe that's for the
guide-you-through-the-process help that comes with it?

Either way, it's no big deal, as I am going to get a 40 GB drive, and
if it won't work on the IBM, I'll put it in the Dell. I have already
backed up every file that I can fit on floppys. There are two
databases that are huge, though that I have not been able to back up.

the BIOS, is there any way I could check? Again, this is not
critical: I am going to get a replacement PC anyway, and if the Maxtor
doesn't work on the IBM, it'll go into the Dell. The Maxtor drive is
an immediate short-term fix. I cannot believe how the prices have
fallen. 40 GB is $49.
  #9   Report Post  
Darrell Klein
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

If you think a hard drive is failing, address the issue yesterday or sooner!

Yeah, that's where I am. Close to being a day late (at least I'm not a
dollar short).

I don't know of any problems with Win98OE and any particular brand of IDE
hard drive. I have installed enough Maxtors to know if there was one.
Firewire and USB-2 support might be a problem, but for internal drives, they
are irrelevant.

The only serious issue is BIOS support for hard drives 16 GB or 40 GB.
Most hard drive vendor's consumer-pack hard drives come with a utility for
copying the contents of hard drives, that address this issue on the fly.


Thanks Arny. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the hard
drive could care less what OS is being run. It says it's a system
requirement on the Maxtor box. maybe that's for the
guide-you-through-the-process help that comes with it?

Either way, it's no big deal, as I am going to get a 40 GB drive, and
if it won't work on the IBM, I'll put it in the Dell. I have already
backed up every file that I can fit on floppys. There are two
databases that are huge, though that I have not been able to back up.

the BIOS, is there any way I could check? Again, this is not
critical: I am going to get a replacement PC anyway, and if the Maxtor
doesn't work on the IBM, it'll go into the Dell. The Maxtor drive is
an immediate short-term fix. I cannot believe how the prices have
fallen. 40 GB is $49.
  #10   Report Post  
Arny Krueger
 
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Default Installing second hard drive

"Darrell Klein" wrote in message
om
If you think a hard drive is failing, address the issue yesterday or
sooner!


Yeah, that's where I am. Close to being a day late (at least I'm not a
dollar short).

I don't know of any problems with Win98OE and any particular brand
of IDE hard drive. I have installed enough Maxtors to know if there
was one. Firewire and USB-2 support might be a problem, but for
internal drives, they are irrelevant.

The only serious issue is BIOS support for hard drives 16 GB or 40
GB. Most hard drive vendor's consumer-pack hard drives come with a
utility for copying the contents of hard drives, that address this
issue on the fly.


Thanks Arny. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the hard
drive could care less what OS is being run. It says it's a system
requirement on the Maxtor box. maybe that's for the
guide-you-through-the-process help that comes with it?


Usually the installer is a bootable floppy so your current OS release
doesn't matter.

Either way, it's no big deal, as I am going to get a 40 GB drive, and
if it won't work on the IBM, I'll put it in the Dell. I have already
backed up every file that I can fit on floppys. There are two
databases that are huge, though that I have not been able to back up.


Too bad.

the BIOS, is there any way I could check?


I know of no reasonable way to do that in advance.

Again, this is not
critical: I am going to get a replacement PC anyway, and if the Maxtor
doesn't work on the IBM, it'll go into the Dell. The Maxtor drive is
an immediate short-term fix. I cannot believe how the prices have
fallen. 40 GB is $49.





  #11   Report Post  
Arny Krueger
 
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Default Installing second hard drive

"Darrell Klein" wrote in message
om
If you think a hard drive is failing, address the issue yesterday or
sooner!


Yeah, that's where I am. Close to being a day late (at least I'm not a
dollar short).

I don't know of any problems with Win98OE and any particular brand
of IDE hard drive. I have installed enough Maxtors to know if there
was one. Firewire and USB-2 support might be a problem, but for
internal drives, they are irrelevant.

The only serious issue is BIOS support for hard drives 16 GB or 40
GB. Most hard drive vendor's consumer-pack hard drives come with a
utility for copying the contents of hard drives, that address this
issue on the fly.


Thanks Arny. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the hard
drive could care less what OS is being run. It says it's a system
requirement on the Maxtor box. maybe that's for the
guide-you-through-the-process help that comes with it?


Usually the installer is a bootable floppy so your current OS release
doesn't matter.

Either way, it's no big deal, as I am going to get a 40 GB drive, and
if it won't work on the IBM, I'll put it in the Dell. I have already
backed up every file that I can fit on floppys. There are two
databases that are huge, though that I have not been able to back up.


Too bad.

the BIOS, is there any way I could check?


I know of no reasonable way to do that in advance.

Again, this is not
critical: I am going to get a replacement PC anyway, and if the Maxtor
doesn't work on the IBM, it'll go into the Dell. The Maxtor drive is
an immediate short-term fix. I cannot believe how the prices have
fallen. 40 GB is $49.



  #12   Report Post  
xy
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

maxtor drives are whiney.

i have one right now, and it's annoying as hell.

going to bump it down to a usb backup drive soon.


put your new drive on the same ide ribbon as the system drive. set
the system drive jumpers to master, and the 2nd drive to slave. then
format the drive. new letters in "my computer" will appear for every
new partition. so if you partition the drive into 4, you will then
have 5 drives in your "my computer" section of your os. 1 original +
4 new

the letters will be C, D, E, F but might skip a letter if it's still
calling the cd rom E.
your system drive will stay C, the new one(s) will be the new letters.
  #13   Report Post  
xy
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

maxtor drives are whiney.

i have one right now, and it's annoying as hell.

going to bump it down to a usb backup drive soon.


put your new drive on the same ide ribbon as the system drive. set
the system drive jumpers to master, and the 2nd drive to slave. then
format the drive. new letters in "my computer" will appear for every
new partition. so if you partition the drive into 4, you will then
have 5 drives in your "my computer" section of your os. 1 original +
4 new

the letters will be C, D, E, F but might skip a letter if it's still
calling the cd rom E.
your system drive will stay C, the new one(s) will be the new letters.
  #14   Report Post  
Pooh Bear
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

Darrell Klein wrote:

I know this may not be the most computer-focused forum to ask, but
since many r.a.p.ers are musicians-turned recordists who then needed
to become computer savy (as I did): how much of a pain is it to
install a second hard drive?


How much pain does opening the case and plugging in a drive to the (
hopefully ) pre-exisitng wiring feel like ?

Just make sure it's set to be a slave ( set the jumpers ) assuming both
the IDE channels in your PC already have master drives on them ( normally
System disk and CD-ROM ).

You'll need to let the BIOS detect the drive. That's normally a case of
pressing the DEL key whilst booting - got to 'standard ? cmos settings'
and the Bios will usually have an auto-detect feature. Check your
motherboard manual.


And after installation, what problems may
surface?


You may have to format the drive. Otherwise none.

Any experiences to share? Thanks.


Don't even start. I've had dozens of SCSI drives hanging off video editing
kit. They normally work fine. Mixing the various 'flavours' of SCSI can
catch out the unwary though.


Graham


  #15   Report Post  
Pooh Bear
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

Darrell Klein wrote:

I know this may not be the most computer-focused forum to ask, but
since many r.a.p.ers are musicians-turned recordists who then needed
to become computer savy (as I did): how much of a pain is it to
install a second hard drive?


How much pain does opening the case and plugging in a drive to the (
hopefully ) pre-exisitng wiring feel like ?

Just make sure it's set to be a slave ( set the jumpers ) assuming both
the IDE channels in your PC already have master drives on them ( normally
System disk and CD-ROM ).

You'll need to let the BIOS detect the drive. That's normally a case of
pressing the DEL key whilst booting - got to 'standard ? cmos settings'
and the Bios will usually have an auto-detect feature. Check your
motherboard manual.


And after installation, what problems may
surface?


You may have to format the drive. Otherwise none.

Any experiences to share? Thanks.


Don't even start. I've had dozens of SCSI drives hanging off video editing
kit. They normally work fine. Mixing the various 'flavours' of SCSI can
catch out the unwary though.


Graham




  #16   Report Post  
Pooh Bear
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

Darrell Klein wrote:

P.S. The Maxtors I've looked at say they need Win98SE minimum. Adding
a Maxtor may be out. I may just get a new PC and transfer the data.


Rubbish !

They may need W98SE for their 'clever software' to run but doing it manually is prolly quicker.

*Any* IDE drive will install on any suitable motherboard even regardless of UDMA / 33 / 66 / 100 /
133 etc. Everything IDE is backwards compatible.

You could install a Maxtor ( or any ) drive on a DOS PC if you wanted. DOS will have to partition
it though and won't see over 9GB total - bit it'll still install !

Third party utilities *might* even get over the 9GB hurdle for DOS - haven't beent there for a
while.


Graham

  #17   Report Post  
Pooh Bear
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

Darrell Klein wrote:

P.S. The Maxtors I've looked at say they need Win98SE minimum. Adding
a Maxtor may be out. I may just get a new PC and transfer the data.


Rubbish !

They may need W98SE for their 'clever software' to run but doing it manually is prolly quicker.

*Any* IDE drive will install on any suitable motherboard even regardless of UDMA / 33 / 66 / 100 /
133 etc. Everything IDE is backwards compatible.

You could install a Maxtor ( or any ) drive on a DOS PC if you wanted. DOS will have to partition
it though and won't see over 9GB total - bit it'll still install !

Third party utilities *might* even get over the 9GB hurdle for DOS - haven't beent there for a
while.


Graham

  #18   Report Post  
Pooh Bear
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive


Arny Krueger wrote:.

The new hard drive would be a replacement. Data preservation (we fear
the current HD is failing) is the motivation.


What warning signs make you think that ?

Does your motherboard have 'SMART' capability for hard disks ? Self Monitoring
And Reporting Technology. Mine's 3 yrs old and does have. Needs enabling in the
BIOS.

Gives a status report at boot up. Mine says 'Status OK' every time.

If you think a hard drive is failing, address the issue yesterday or sooner!


Yup !

The only serious issue is BIOS support for hard drives 16 GB or 40 GB.
Most hard drive vendor's consumer-pack hard drives come with a utility for
copying the contents of hard drives, that address this issue on the fly.


Darrell said he wanted to 'add' a second hard drive originally. That's very
different to transferring the existing contents of the existing drive.

You need Norton Ghost, Drive Image or similar. Retail versions of hard drives
often come with one or other.

Then you have to make your new drive the master.


Graham


  #19   Report Post  
Pooh Bear
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive


Arny Krueger wrote:.

The new hard drive would be a replacement. Data preservation (we fear
the current HD is failing) is the motivation.


What warning signs make you think that ?

Does your motherboard have 'SMART' capability for hard disks ? Self Monitoring
And Reporting Technology. Mine's 3 yrs old and does have. Needs enabling in the
BIOS.

Gives a status report at boot up. Mine says 'Status OK' every time.

If you think a hard drive is failing, address the issue yesterday or sooner!


Yup !

The only serious issue is BIOS support for hard drives 16 GB or 40 GB.
Most hard drive vendor's consumer-pack hard drives come with a utility for
copying the contents of hard drives, that address this issue on the fly.


Darrell said he wanted to 'add' a second hard drive originally. That's very
different to transferring the existing contents of the existing drive.

You need Norton Ghost, Drive Image or similar. Retail versions of hard drives
often come with one or other.

Then you have to make your new drive the master.


Graham


  #20   Report Post  
Darrell Klein
 
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Default Installing second hard drive

"anthony.gosnell" wrote in message ...
While you are adding a second hard drive you should install a removable hard
drive bay. These are cheap and allow you to swap out your hard drive
without opening the computer. This means that you can very easily backup
your computer onto a hard drive which you then remove and store in a safe
place.

Removable hard drive bays only cost about $10.


Great idea. Will do.


  #21   Report Post  
Darrell Klein
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

"anthony.gosnell" wrote in message ...
While you are adding a second hard drive you should install a removable hard
drive bay. These are cheap and allow you to swap out your hard drive
without opening the computer. This means that you can very easily backup
your computer onto a hard drive which you then remove and store in a safe
place.

Removable hard drive bays only cost about $10.


Great idea. Will do.
  #22   Report Post  
Pooh Bear
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

Darrell Klein wrote:

I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the hard
drive could care less what OS is being run.


You were right !

I have already backed up every file that I can fit on floppys.


Scary thought ! Floppies ? A CD-writer is little more than $30 now !

the BIOS, is there any way I could check?


Yeah. Go into the BIOS, fiddle with the numbers and see what maximum size it
doesn't complain about ! Any half decent PC less than 3-4 yrs old will take big
drives. Later PCs can usually 'flash' the BIOS to upgrade. See manufacturer's
website.

Just remember not to *save* the changes - lol !


Graham

  #23   Report Post  
Pooh Bear
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

Darrell Klein wrote:

I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the hard
drive could care less what OS is being run.


You were right !

I have already backed up every file that I can fit on floppys.


Scary thought ! Floppies ? A CD-writer is little more than $30 now !

the BIOS, is there any way I could check?


Yeah. Go into the BIOS, fiddle with the numbers and see what maximum size it
doesn't complain about ! Any half decent PC less than 3-4 yrs old will take big
drives. Later PCs can usually 'flash' the BIOS to upgrade. See manufacturer's
website.

Just remember not to *save* the changes - lol !


Graham

  #24   Report Post  
Pooh Bear
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

xy wrote:

maxtor drives are whiney.

i have one right now, and it's annoying as hell.


Don't know the current ones but my ancient Maxtor 120MB - lol - was always
whiney.

IBM Deskstars are blisteringly fast, well priced and virtually silent. I
have 2 in a RAID configuration.

Ohhh, if you can afford it, the extra drive that is, and a RAID
controller, you can almost forget about the implications of hard drive
failure. Mirror 2 drives and if one fails, the other still has everything.

Like pro servers. This is also where drive caddies are useful too - the
neatest RAID sytems have 'hot-swapping' - i.e don't even need to turn off
the PC to replace a failed drive. No-one even knows - just 'rebuild' the
mirror onto the target drive.


Graham

  #25   Report Post  
Pooh Bear
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

xy wrote:

maxtor drives are whiney.

i have one right now, and it's annoying as hell.


Don't know the current ones but my ancient Maxtor 120MB - lol - was always
whiney.

IBM Deskstars are blisteringly fast, well priced and virtually silent. I
have 2 in a RAID configuration.

Ohhh, if you can afford it, the extra drive that is, and a RAID
controller, you can almost forget about the implications of hard drive
failure. Mirror 2 drives and if one fails, the other still has everything.

Like pro servers. This is also where drive caddies are useful too - the
neatest RAID sytems have 'hot-swapping' - i.e don't even need to turn off
the PC to replace a failed drive. No-one even knows - just 'rebuild' the
mirror onto the target drive.


Graham



  #26   Report Post  
Arny Krueger
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

"Pooh Bear" wrote in message

Arny Krueger wrote:.

The new hard drive would be a replacement. Data preservation (we
fear the current HD is failing) is the motivation.


What warning signs make you think that ?

Does your motherboard have 'SMART' capability for hard disks ? Self
Monitoring And Reporting Technology. Mine's 3 yrs old and does have.
Needs enabling in the BIOS.

Gives a status report at boot up. Mine says 'Status OK' every time.


SMART doesn't tell 100% of the story. If it says the disk is bad, then you
should replace the disk. If it does not say the disk is bad that doesn't
mean the disk is any good. It just means that SMART's limited testing finds
no faults.


  #29   Report Post  
see.kneel
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

(Darrell Klein) wrote in message . com...
If you think a hard drive is failing, address the issue yesterday or sooner!


Yeah, that's where I am. Close to being a day late (at least I'm not a
dollar short).

I don't know of any problems with Win98OE and any particular brand of IDE
hard drive. I have installed enough Maxtors to know if there was one.
Firewire and USB-2 support might be a problem, but for internal drives, they
are irrelevant.

The only serious issue is BIOS support for hard drives 16 GB or 40 GB.
Most hard drive vendor's consumer-pack hard drives come with a utility for
copying the contents of hard drives, that address this issue on the fly.


Thanks Arny. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the hard
drive could care less what OS is being run. It says it's a system
requirement on the Maxtor box. maybe that's for the
guide-you-through-the-process help that comes with it?

Either way, it's no big deal, as I am going to get a 40 GB drive, and
if it won't work on the IBM, I'll put it in the Dell. I have already
backed up every file that I can fit on floppys. There are two
databases that are huge, though that I have not been able to back up.

the BIOS, is there any way I could check? Again, this is not
critical: I am going to get a replacement PC anyway, and if the Maxtor
doesn't work on the IBM, it'll go into the Dell. The Maxtor drive is
an immediate short-term fix. I cannot believe how the prices have
fallen. 40 GB is $49.


Hi...

I've installed Maxtor drives on a couple of Windows PC's with fairly
little trouble. Here's a couple of thoughts that might help.
Get on to Maxtor's web site and download the most current instructions
for the drive. (should be in PDF format). That should be the most
reliable place to confirm the jumper settings on the drive.

My last couple of installs were on XP systems which admittedly made
life easier. But, if you are concerned about the BIOS, try having a
look at motherboards.org.
There are a lot of resources there which can help you determine
exactly what you've got and what settings to change without resorting
to the "what does this button do?" method.

One other thought, especially for the older machine. Have a look at
the watt rating of the power supply. You sometimes find that the
builder saved on costs by using a power supply with only enough oomph
to drive the compnents installed at build time. Case in point. I have
a fairly new pentium 4 clone which came installed with a hard drive,
and a DVD rom drive. After I added a second hard drive and a CD
Burner to the system I started having "flakey" errors. the system
would boot and not recognize the CD drives, or I couldn't burning a Cd
without getting odd errors.
A lot of research finally boiled down to low power conditions. I
changed out the 300 watt power supply for a 400 watt one ($60, 4
screws, one plug on the motherboard, and the power plugs for the
drives) and the problem dissapeared.
It is not something that you absolutely must do, but if you start
getting odd errors after the install it is certainly something to bear
in mind.

Hope this helps....
See.Kneel
  #30   Report Post  
Pooh Bear
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

Arny Krueger wrote:.


SMART doesn't tell 100% of the story.


Nothing can sadly !

Certainly won't help if the spindle motor packs up.

If it says the disk is bad, then you should replace the disk.


Yeah, that's the point really. Hopefully 99% of the time it should give
sufficeint warning.

If it does not say the disk is bad that doesn't mean the disk is any good. It
just means that SMART's limited testing finds no faults.


I believe that most of the reporting is based on tracking the read/write
retries and monitoring servo problems.

Of course, the message I get at boot-up is so quick, many ppl may miss it and
what's the chance that some ppl will have seen a warning but 'though it was ok
anyway' since it kept working ?


Graham




  #31   Report Post  
Arny Krueger
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

"pH" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 04:58:14 +0000, Pooh Bear
wrote:

[...]

Darrell said he wanted to 'add' a second hard drive originally.
That's very different to transferring the existing contents of the
existing drive.

You need Norton Ghost, Drive Image or similar. Retail versions of
hard drives often come with one or other.


A good freeware disk-to-disk copying utility :


http://www.xxcopy.com


I've used it in the past, and... well, it works (very well). I see
there's also a "pro" version, now. Don't know anything about it,
but... long as they didn't hobble the free one (which has
"flexibility" type options out the wazoo)... should be just fine.
(don't know about NTFS; that might be a problem.)


I don't see any claims that it copies boot sectors or that it copies system
files that have to be in certain physical locations to the right locations.
In short, I don't see any claims that it copies any FAT or NTFS bootable
drive and creates a bootable drive.

Copying bootable drives and creating bootable drives is what Ghost and Drive
Image do that makes them earn their keep. The retail hard drive packages
often come with utilities that can copy a bootable drive and create a
bootable drive. Last time I used a retail-pack drive copier, it wouldn't
handle NTFS, but I presume they've dealt with that issue by now.


  #32   Report Post  
Darrell Klein
 
Posts: n/a
Default Installing second hard drive

Hey guys, thanks for all the helpful ideas and comments. The
installation went slick, without a hitch using the Maxtor CD software.
I copied the failing hard drive and made the new Maxtor the boot drive
and then made it the master and took the old hard drive "out of the
loop" (but still physically in the PC case) as my power supply is only
200 watts.

Next up is additional storage for the audio PC. Everything went great,
and as always, r.a.p. was a great resource.

BTW: I found that the AT4033a was a little edgy in recording the
chattering of the failing drive. Also, while my 664 is great to drive
nails, it did not perform well as a screwdriver.
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