1. You are viewing our forum as a guest. For full access please Register. WindowsBBS.com is completely free, paid for by advertisers and donations.

Installing Slave HD

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by coboller, 2004/02/04.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. 2004/02/04
    coboller

    coboller Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/07
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    1
    Have new XP computer with 40GB HD, not partitioned. I also have on hand a 40GB HD that I recently removed from another computer. It had/has 5 partitions. I was able to delete the data and format each partition before removing the drive, but was not able to unpartition it. I want to install it on new computer as a slave with two 20GB partitions. Can I do this without disturbing any software or data currently on my present Drive "C "? Or will I have to start over and reinstall XP and all other software. Will XP handle the install or should I use disk that came with the HD?
    Any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

    BTW - the old computer this drive was a win98 system and the drive was fat32.
     
    coboller,
    #1
  2. 2004/02/04
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

    Joined:
    2002/12/17
    Messages:
    6,585
    Likes Received:
    74
    Hello coboller!

    The drive letters are not attached to the HDD but is in the Operating System.

    The first time You connect the drive to the system, WinXP will detect it and assign drive letters in sequence after those already present. I have just done that and the added partitions ended up after the CD-R/RW and DVD-ROM which isn´t very convenient.

    To avoid that, right-click the My computer icon and choose Manage > Disk management

    Right-click the optical drives one by one and choose "assign drive letter" and move it high up in the alphabet. My choise is X: for the CD-R/RW and Y: for the DVD.

    When You´re done, shut down and pull the power cord before opening the case. Check the jumper setting to be Slave on the added HDD, if it goes on the same cable as the current Master.
    Personally, I use the Cable Select jumping on all my drives. It requires 40-pin, 80-conductor cables to work but You will never need to bother about it again.

    When the case is closed (pun intended ...... :D ......) start the computer and go back to disk management.

    The added HDD will be present with its current five partitions. From disk management You can delete all those partitions by right-clciking and making the correct choise. Start with the blue logical partitions. When they are gone, the green extended and finally the black primary.

    Right-click the now empty HDD and choose create partition and now You will be taken through it step by step. When the screen with the size comes up, choose half of it and when done, repeat and choose the rest for the next partition.
    If You don´t let XP format the partitions immediately, You will have to do it later before You can use them. If You have no specific reason to use FAT32, then I would recommend the use of NTFS.

    HTH,
    Christer
     
    Last edited: 2004/02/04
    Christer,
    #2


  3. to hide this advert.

  4. 2004/02/04
    coboller

    coboller Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/07
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    1
    Christer,

    Gotcha on the drive lettering system. This drive was also a slave in the other computer. My biggest concern is if software and data already on the current drive will stay intact. And will slave drive need to formatted to ntfs since it was fat32 before? Not sure what you mean by 'cable select'. Is that the order that the drives are connected?
     
    coboller,
    #3
  5. 2004/02/04
    noahdfear

    noahdfear Inactive

    Joined:
    2003/04/06
    Messages:
    12,178
    Likes Received:
    15
    You should be able to install that drive, boot to the new XP drive, go to disk management from right click My Computer>manage, then right click on each partition of the old drive and delete, format or whatever you want with those partitions.

    EDIT

    Sorry Christer........slow fingers here (brain too)............go right ahead.
     
    Last edited: 2004/02/04
    noahdfear,
    #4
  6. 2004/02/04
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

    Joined:
    2002/12/17
    Messages:
    6,585
    Likes Received:
    74
    Yes, it will. WinXP disk management will not let You do anything to the partition it is installed on and since the current drive only has one partition, You´re in the clear of making mistakes.

    Yes, since You delete all partitions and create two new ones, they have to be formated. I probably edited my first post to cover this while You read it.

    There are three jumper positions, Master, Slave and Cable Select which control the way the disks behave.

    When jumpered for Cable Select, the drive will be Master if connected to the end connector on the cable but if connected to the middle connector it will be Slave.
    As I mentioned, it doesn´t work with the older cables but since Your computer is new it will work.
    Count the conductors, if they are 80 thin ones then it's OK, if they are 40 thicker ones then it won´t work.

    Christer
     
    Last edited: 2004/02/04
    Christer,
    #5
  7. 2004/02/04
    coboller

    coboller Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/07
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    1
    Thanks all,

    I thinkI got it.

    I thought Christer's post look different the second time I read it. Then I noticed it had been edited.

    I'll try this soon.

    Thanks again,

    Ed
     
    coboller,
    #6
  8. 2004/02/04
    coboller

    coboller Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/07
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    1
    One more point to consider. Under this configuration, Master drive operates at 7200rpm and slave drive operates at 5400 rpm. Should I be concerned about this?
     
    coboller,
    #7
  9. 2004/02/04
    noahdfear

    noahdfear Inactive

    Joined:
    2003/04/06
    Messages:
    12,178
    Likes Received:
    15
    Not at all. :)
     
    noahdfear,
    #8
  10. 2004/02/04
    coboller

    coboller Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/07
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    1
    Thanks again.:)
     
    coboller,
    #9
  11. 2004/02/05
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member

    Joined:
    2002/06/28
    Messages:
    2,221
    Likes Received:
    27
    coboller wrote:
    • "And will slave drive need to formatted to ntfs since it was fat32 before? "
    Christer wrote:
    • "Yes, since you delete all partitions and create two new ones, they have to be formated. "
    Not necessarily. A third-party program like PowerQuest's PartitionMagic will allow you to resize your existing partition without formatting, as well as create a new one. You can also use it to convert your FAT32 partition to NTFS if you want to.
     
    Last edited: 2004/02/05
    JSS3rd,
    #10
  12. 2004/02/05
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

    Joined:
    2002/12/17
    Messages:
    6,585
    Likes Received:
    74
    Jim,
    with all due respect, wouldn´t it be an overkill to invest in Partition Magic to partition and format an empty HDD?

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #11
  13. 2004/02/05
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member

    Joined:
    2002/06/28
    Messages:
    2,221
    Likes Received:
    27
    Hi Christer ...

    Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

    I had to go all the way back to coboller's original post but, when I did, found that I had misread it. For some reason (brain fart, no doubt) I thought he said that he had a 40GB HD with data on it, and wanted to create two 20GB partitions, retaining the original data. Hence my reply.

    Though I don't use it often, PM is an indispensible tool in my PC maintenance shed.
     
    JSS3rd,
    #12
  14. 2004/02/06
    coboller

    coboller Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/07
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    1
    :) :) :) :) :)
     
    coboller,
    #13
  15. 2004/02/06
    noahdfear

    noahdfear Inactive

    Joined:
    2003/04/06
    Messages:
    12,178
    Likes Received:
    15
    cocoller,

    I take it that means all went well?
     
    noahdfear,
    #14
  16. 2004/02/06
    coboller

    coboller Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/01/07
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    1
    Dave,

    Yep. All went very well. Thanks again for your interest and help.

    Ed
     
    coboller,
    #15
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Accept Learn More...