adding a 2nd hard drive

mrmjs

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Aug 1, 2006
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Ive been thinking of adding a 2nd hard drive to my pc, do i just drop it in and im done or what?? Ive never added another drive before and I dont know what all is involved. do i need to install windows on it?


thanks for the input...
 

rockyjohn

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Your pc manual should have instructions for installing the second drive. If you do not have one handy, maybe you can download it from the site of the system builder or motherboard manufacturer.

The first question is - will it be the boot disk - do you want to put the OS on it (for instance if you want OS on newer or faster drive). In which case you have one installation routine that does involve putting the OS on the new drive - and another choice, If so, do you want to do a fresh install of your OS - and probably all applications and data- or have the software installing the new drive simply copy over from the old one.

But you do not have to make it the boot drive - for instance if you just want it for data - and do not have to install the operating system - making the install much easier.

Then basically all you sould have to do is install the hard drive, attach the correct power connector, and attach the data cable.

Again refer to you manual on how to do this.

Note, hopefully before purchasing the drive you have already verified:
- what type you want - ide vs. sata
- whether you have the available power connector
- whether you have the available data connector
 

g-paw

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Jan 31, 2006
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If your commuter has SATA connections, which if it's not more than 5 years or so old, it should, get a SATA hdd. They're easier to install plus the newer Intel boards only have connections for 2 PATA drives. With SATA there is no Master/Slave. Even if you want to use the new one for your OS, I'd install it initially as a back up, foramt, and partition it and copy your data over to the new drive onto the partition that you will not put the operating system on. Then take out the old drive and install Windows and then reinstall the old one as a backup. If you're going to use the new one as the backup. just install it. If you don't have the power connector and data cable, you can order them when you order the drive. You can look at your PSU and see if it has any SATA power connectors and the data cables would have come with the computer or the mobo if you put it together yourself
 

g-paw

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148140

that is the hd i have now, i would get the samething again and just use it for data and to load games on only. am I able to load games on that drive ok?

If you're going to use one drive for the OS and programs, unless you really need the additional storage you could easily get by with a 60GB or 80GB and use the 320GB for storage. Personally, I think it is better to have a smaller drive for the OS and programs and one or two large ones for storage. That way if the OS/program drive gets corrupted, you don't have to worry about backing up data before fixing it and you can now get these smaller drives for less than $50.