New Hard Drive
 

I can cope with most software stuff and don't have any probs putting new graphics cards etc in (not difficult :) ). However, I want to upgrade my hard drive as it's a) only 20Gb in size b) the noisest thing on the planet.

The computer is a Gateway PIII 600, running WinXP. The current drive is a Seagate Ultra ATA66 20Gb jobber.
I am thinking of getting a DiamondMax+ D740X 60Gb ATA133 (I can't find many ATA100 drives as those that there are seem to be the same price as 133 ones).
From what I've established so far, I need a PCI ATA133 card to actually run the drive. Looking at an Acard AEC-6280 if that means anything to anyone... :)

Question(s) is/are, then, how easy is it to install all this clobber? I want to fit the new drive + card alongside my current one and then do a new install of XP onto the new one. I would then transfer files to the new drive and eventually remove the old drive when done.
I assume that by fitting the new drive, my current XP will recognise it as an extra drive and assign it a new letter? Are there Master/Slave issues with this?

Can I then go into setup at startup and change the boot sequence to get it to boot to the new drive or will just recognise two OSs and offer me the choice?

Sorry for all the questions but hopefully there's a chief PC boffin on here that can answer all my questions and save me a large portion of cash by me not having to take it all to the computer shop for them to do :D :D :D

Ta ;)

Have a look here Seagate How to guide it explains most things.

I pesonally have used Seagate for 10 years or so and, so far have not had a major problem, I did use their Tech support once, they were quick and good.

As for the ATA 100/133 thing, I think if you put a 133 drive on a 100 connector it will work but only at 100.

Seagate use diskwizard installation software which is easy to use and simplifies things for you.

Hey Stop Start!

You have to start somewhere and fitting HDD is not a problem in itself as our friend spanners says .

I have just fitted a new 80gb Maxtor 7200 and it went well. However, I doubt that your pooter will see two OS's when it boots. It will boot as before. But you have to install the new drive and it will take up as D drive. Better be careful here 'cos the Seagate installtion disc can easily format your C drive in the process! :eek: You will have two drives - C will be your primary and your new drive will be D so it will boot from C. Still with me? C Drive will be the Master with the XP OS on it and you will have to set D drive as a slave with the jumps they give you.

I got a ATA card with mine and I don't use it, but when I did it dropped down to 100 from 133 and not the other way. In other words you don't HAVE to use it.

I would suggest that you install EVERYTHING before you even think about copying or such. But once settled in with the lot working well you can move anything over to C drive.

Why would you want to dispose of your old drive btw? It will make a great backup tool, which will duplicate your C drive if you want.

You can always mail me too.

Hope that helps.

Seagate, Maxtor, both good.

Important to go for the high speed - 7200 rpm - which you have. When I build my dream machine in the winter I may go for SCSI 15,000 rpm odd to provide the video data throughput quickly enough.

No dual boot will be available from just fitting a second HDD but you should keep the old HDD as the second IDE device for storage; however, if it is noisy, maybe it's trying to tell you something and you should think about changing soon!:mad:

If you've got access to Partition Magic, consider fitting the new drive as the slave to the original and doing a partition copy of the complete existing operating system partition to the new HDD. Make it active and shut down. (Making it "Active" is a very important step as I have learned).

While you are doing this, don't alter the existing Drive/Partition in any way in case you want to revert if something goes wrong.

Switch slave and master drives (ie jumper settings or cable positions) and, with any luck, when you next start up, your new HDD will be driving the show and you will have an Uncle Bob.

{Edit for a PS} Just thought about the effect of such a hardware change on the "Registration" of your Windows XP with Microsoft. Will XP run if it thinks it has been installed on a different PC because the HDD is different?

Thanks for the info folks, much appreciated :)

I'd like to keep the Seagate drive for extra storage but it is just too noisy for my liking (well, it's been like that since new - 2 years ago, but it's only just starting to annoy me now :rolleyes: ).

I want to do a clean install of XP just to clear out the last 2 years worth of rubbish I've accumulated on the disk as well as those programs that I never use but won't uninstall........just in case....... :rolleyes:

thanks again :)

fobotcso I believe you are allowed a certain amount of hardware changes to your pc before you have to reactivate XP again (I don't have XP) I think it's 6 items, not sure how changing a HDD would affect this.

StopStart it's not something to be afraid of doing, just be carefull and methodical, and before doing anything backup, backup, backup, the stuff you really need, drivers, documents etc etc.

A work mate recently had a new motherboard, CPU and HDD installed by a so called professional shop.

He kept getting a message that his HDD was only operating at ATA 66 instead of 100. After repeated calls to the shop and after checking his BIOS and numerous other things, he asked me if I had any ideas, I says check the cable, lo and behold they had fitted a 40 ribbon cable instead of an 80 ribbon cable. Professional my rs, I'll have to start charging for this soon!;)

Thanks spanners. For the general good, I went searching and on this Microsoft Web Page

http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/basi...ion/mpafaq.asp

found an article that included the following:

"Will Product Activation allow me to upgrade my hardware?

Yes, Product Activation does allow users to upgrade their hardware. One of the forms of piracy that Product Activation guards against is hard disk imaging. Not all forms of hard disk imaging are illegal. However, by forcing the copied software to be reactivated, Product Activation will prevent a pirate from copying data from one PC's hard drive to another's to illegally run the software on two PCs. It does this by comparing the hardware on which it was activated to the hardware on which it is now being booted. If the hardware is substantially different, then reactivation is required. If it is the same or similar, then the software will continue to work. Users who upgrade their PC’s hardware substantially may be asked to reactivate. Reactivation is easy and can be completed by contacting Microsoft to obtain another confirmation ID.

What components of the PC are used to create the hardware hash?

For security reasons, Microsoft does not disclose the exact components or number of components used to create the hardware hash.

How many components of the PC must change before I am required to reactivate? Are the changes cumulative? In other words, if I change one component today and one tomorrow, is that two component changes?

Common changes to hardware such as upgrading a video card, adding a second hard disk drive, adding RAM or upgrading a CD-ROM device will not require the system to be reactivated. The changes are cumulative; however, if a user is asked to reactivate, the hardware profile is reset to that new configuration.

If I reformat my hard disk, is reactivation required?

If the hard disk is reformatted and the software is reinstalled, reactivation will be required. The same grace periods for activation apply in this situation. Reactivation on the same PC can be completed as many times as required. The activation can be completed via telephone or Internet."

So, reactivation would be required.

Dear SS
You don't need a ATA133 controller to run a 133HD, it will just run a bit slower that's all, but I doubt if you would notice the difference. It's worth making sure you have the best ribbon cable for your motherboard, eg. ATA100. Having said that controller cards are quite cheap and give you greater expansion capability.
I have just bought a couple of IBM Deskstar HD's 80GB at 7200 rpm cost less than a quid per gig and this drive came no.1 in a number of mags. Check out www.dabs.com
ATB, PTC

As others have said, I wouldn't worry about the 133 thing.
In fact if you add the 133 card, you may need to mess about with a driver to get XP to pick it up.