Want to install a slave hard drive

I found this little gem online and would like to use it as a slave drive, as my current drive is getting rather cramped for space. I've never used a second hard drive before.

Is it as easy as installing it and turning on the computer and it just recognizes it, or will I have to activate it in the CMOS? Will Windows PNP the new drive and be able to use it right away, or does it need to be formatted like a floppy?

Is converting from FAT32 to NTFS as simple as typing convert d: /fs:ntfs?

Thanks...

 

Shadowhawk,

When I put a second drive in my old IBM Aptiva with Win98, I just plugged it in and started using it. It came formatted, so I didn't have to worry about that. Not sure about the conversion though.

Mike

 

Thanks.

 

That is a very good drive. It comes with a full set of instructions also. You won't have any trouble setting it up and you won't have to format it before you can use it.

Important. Be sure you unplug your PC's power plug from the wall before you do anything inside your PC. And be sure to ground yourself to the case to dissipate any static before you touch anything inside.

The drive has a jumper. I think it is shipped in 'cable select.' All you have to do is move the jumper to the 'slave' position. The instructions are very good.

Install the drive in a bay. Then hook the IDE (ribbon cable) to the drive. Make sure your old drive is plugged into the end plug on the IDE cable. Your new drive should be plugged into the middle plug on the IDE cable. The drive comes with a new IDE cable if you need it.

Then plug the power cable (molex plug) into the drive.

That's it. Plug you PC back in and turn it on. You new drive will show up in 'My Computer' and you will be ready to use it.

 

At http://www.ntfs.com/quest3.htm has information on how to convert FAT to NTFS.

 

Most hard drives are shipped with Cable Select jumpered, as Meridianman stated...so if you change the jumper to "Slave" make sure you check the jumper setting on the "Master ". It should be jumpered to "Master ".

Most hard drives have the jumper settings right on the top of the hard drive for most HD configurations.

 

Can't believe what I'm reading. Just plug it in and go? hehehe .......... nothing could be further from the truth.

You need to partition and format that puppy before it will start barking. Personally, I'd recommend jumpering both drives cable select and then drive position on the cable is important (system drive on the last header please). Contrary to what you read, if you go master/slave jumpering, drive position on the cable has no bearing. If you're running XP or 2K, use Microsoft's disk management tools to partiton and format. If you're running 98, you'll need an ME boot disk to FDISK because of the drive size. Last bit of advice - don't use the WD drive overlay as instructed by WD. (You'd thank me for that one in particular if you only knew).

PS - Your same drive is 24% cheaper at New egg.

 

How do I partition a drive from within XP? I had my hard drive set on cable select when I first got it, and it wouldn't boot. Had to set it to master to get it to work right.

 

Thanks. I copied your post to a text file.