Dell hard drive install

[zachbb]

Hello

I just swapped out the 80GB harddrive that came with my dell for a 500GB harddrive that I just bought, installed windows on it, and it works fine.

Is this a bad thing to do? I know that if you hold down a certain key as the dell boots, it loads a dell diagnostics program, which tests the hardware. Is this part of the harddrive that I swapped out? Or loaded in the firmware somewhere?

Also, now I have the old 80GB harddrive just hanging around. It would be fantastic to place it in as a secondary HD, but I am not sure how to do this. There is a clip that attaches to the back of the old SATA harddrive, allowing it to fit in the case. It's a bit like a plug. I only have one of these and I used it to install the new harddrive. Can I get another one of these somehow?

Thanks!

Zach

 

[aford10]

Windows runs a self diagnostic test called the POST (power on self test). This is where it will detect missing hardware or defects. Changing the HD won't change this.

You may be able to find the needed part here
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/DellPartsFamily.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&redirect=1

or on ebay

However, there are screw holes on the side of the HD that you can use to secure the HD to the case chasis.