Adding a 3TB Hard drive to Dell Dimension 9200 (XPS410)

Lunar21

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Sep 27, 2011
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Hello,

I want to add a 2nd internal hard drive to my Dell Dimension 9200 (XPS410) and would appreciate some advice.

I am currently using a 320.00GB (2x160GB) serial ATA (7200 Rpm) Hard Drive and I am considering adding a Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 3TB HDD SATA III 3.5 inch Internal Hard Drive.

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/internal-hard-drives/1284070/hitachi-deskstar-7k3000-3tb

Is the Hitachi Deskstar 3TB compatible with my computer? Can I keep the 320GB hard drive installed?

Expert reviews states that unless you have a motherboard that uses EFI, of which there are still very few available, the Hitachi Deskstar can’t be used as a boot disk.

Does my Dell Inc. OCT017, Intel P965/G965 motherboard use EFI?
If not I am using a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1TB USB2.0/3.0 Portable External Hard drive as a back up disk, could this be used as a boot disk?

What would be the best way to partition the Hitachi Deskstar 3TB hard disk drive so that I can have quick access to my data?

Do I need to purchase any accessories to install the Hitachi Deskstar Internal HD? Can you offer any advice on how to install a 2nd hard drive to without loss of data.

My current system has the following specifications:

Model: Dell Dimension 9200 (XPS410)
Windows Edition: Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
Motherboard: Dell Inc. 0CT017, Intel P965/G965, 82801HH (ICH8DH)
BIOS: Dell Inc. 2.5.3
Processor: Intel Core QUAD Q6600 SLACR 2.40 GHZ/8M/1066/05A
Internal Hard drive: 320.00GB (2x160gb) serial ATA (7200 Rpm)
External Hard drive: Seagate 1TB HDD
Power Supply Unit: OCZ - 700W ModXStream Pro ATX
Memory (Ram): 4.00GB (4 X 1GB PC2-5300 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM 240pin)
Video type: PCI Express
Expansion Bus: PCI x 3, PCI Express one x1, PCI Express one x4, and a PCI Express one x16

Thanks,
Lunar21
 
Solution
The HDD has a SATA interface, and so does youu motherboard. You should be good there.
Unless you intend to use it as a Boot drive (which if your keeping your old ones, I assume not) then the lack of EFI support shouldn't be an issue.

Partitioning the drive wont give you any performance boost, effectively its just a way of organizing the drive (for you). You can achieve the same thing with standard Windows folders.

Unless you count a Phillips Head screwdriver, screws and a SATA cable as accessories, no you dont need anything special.

How to install a 2nd HDD without losing the data on existing drives.
- Install 2nd HDD.
- Done :)
Theres no reason why putting in the 2nd drive would affect the others unless its been pre-loaded with some...
The HDD has a SATA interface, and so does youu motherboard. You should be good there.
Unless you intend to use it as a Boot drive (which if your keeping your old ones, I assume not) then the lack of EFI support shouldn't be an issue.

Partitioning the drive wont give you any performance boost, effectively its just a way of organizing the drive (for you). You can achieve the same thing with standard Windows folders.

Unless you count a Phillips Head screwdriver, screws and a SATA cable as accessories, no you dont need anything special.

How to install a 2nd HDD without losing the data on existing drives.
- Install 2nd HDD.
- Done :)
Theres no reason why putting in the 2nd drive would affect the others unless its been pre-loaded with some kind of virus.
 
Solution

Lunar21

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Thanks that was a big help. The drive I am installing will be new so viruses won't be a problem. To be on the safe side I will back up my hard disk before installing the new drive.

Thanks,
Lunar21