Trying to add an additional HDD formated in XP to a CPU running vista

[cehauser]

Hello All,

My interest is trying to add a Western Digital WD2500JB (WD CAviar SE) HDD which is from an old cpu with files, pictures, etc I would like to access from my current computer as an additional HDD for file access/storage.

My current computer HP a6120n-is running 32-bit windows vista and the current HDD is a SATA drive, and the mother board has {PSLP-LS C745305 2Rx8 PC2-5300U-555-12} printed on it.

I am not sure that I can add this drive to my current computer and I might have to just buy another motherboard and fix the other cpu but was trying to completed as most cost effective as possible.

Any and all help/suggestions is much appreciated!

Thanks for taking the time to read my post,


Cecil

 

[cehauser]

Hello All,

My interest is trying to add a Western Digital WD2500JB (WD CAviar SE) HDD which is from an old cpu with files, pictures, etc I would like to access from my current computer as an additional HDD for file access/storage.

My current computer HP a6120n-is running 32-bit windows vista and the current HDD is a SATA drive, and the mother board has {PSLP-LS C745305 2Rx8 PC2-5300U-555-12} printed on it.

I am not sure that I can add this drive to my current computer and I might have to just buy another motherboard and fix the other cpu but was trying to completed as most cost effective as possible.

Any and all help/suggestions is much appreciated!

Thanks for taking the time to read my post,


Cecil

Ok. I found that the motherboard can accept my PATA WD HDD but not sure being it is formated in XP if I can run it slave with a Vista system...Any ideas?

Thanks


Cecil.

 

[ubernoobie]

it will work but why do you need both xp and vista? If you need more storage, just install the harddrive, boot up into windows format it and tada

 

[Jonmor68]

It's a 250GB EIDE drive, so if your motherboard has an IDE connector on it, you can fit it inside, if not you will need an external USB hard drive enclosure, make sure that you get an IDE enclosure.
Not all new boards have EIDE connectors.
It may be an easier option for you.
Like this one it's the first one at the top of the list IDE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007705%20600006254&IsNodeId=1&name=3.5%22
There may be others there it's just to give you an idea what to look for.

 

[Jonmor68]

Ok more info came while I was checking and typing.
You can install it as a second drive, but go into bios first and make sure it's set to first boot off the Vista drive before firing it up.
You can then get your files, but you may need to take ownership of them.
What I would do is get what files you want off it and copy them over to your Vista drive, then format it to use as as storage getting rid of XP system.

 

[Paperdoc]

I caught notes of "IDE" and "Slave" in this, so let's try to avoid misunderstanding and problems.

You have an older IDE HDD full of data you want to access, and a computer already working with a SATA HDD that holds VISTA. The computer's mobo has an IDE port you can use for the old drive.

Get this part clear. Any IDE port can support up to TWO devices on it with a ribbon cable that has 3 connectors - a blue one at one end that plugs into the mobo IDE port, and two others for the devices. Because there are TWO devices possible, they need to be made unique somehow, and the way always has been to mark them as either Master or Slave. Those two terms have meaning ONLY in the context of identifying devices on ONE IDE port. There is no such thing as a Master or Slave on SATA ports. There is no such thing as a Master Drive for the whole machine, with a bunch of Slaves hanging around. If you have two IDE ports, EACH of them will need to have a Master to be used, and MAY have a Slave also.

ANY IDE port / cable in use MUST have ONE Master device on it. To do that, you look at the diagram on the HDD case and it shows you how to set a jumper on pins at the back edge, between the data connector (40 pins) and power connector (Molex 4-pin). Set one device as Master, and it really should be connected to the black connector on the END of the ribbon cable. (A few drives have different jumper settings for Master with No Slave, or Master with Slave Present.) IF this is the only device on the port / cable, you're done.

IF you are connecting two devices on the port / cable, set the jumpers on the second one to Slave, and connect it to the MIDDLE (grey) connector. If you have both a HDD and an optical drive sharing the cable, it is better to have the HDD be the Master, and the optical as Slave.

In OP's case it sounds like he / she MAY have NOTHING on the IDE port now. In that case the old HDD MUST be set as Master of the port. It will be a drive like any other in your system.

Quite separately from all this, in BIOS Setup you must specify which HDD in the system is to be used to boot from. (In olden days, it was VERY common for the BOOT drive to be the Primary IDE Port Master unit by default, and hence the confusion.) As Jonmor68 said, check your BIOS' Boot Priority Setting as soon as you fire up the machine with the old drive installed. Most people would set it to try the optical drive first, the SATA unit that has Vista on it second, and NO other possibilities allowed. Save and Exit, and the machine should continue to boot as always, but you will find the old drive as an additional data storage device in My Computer with all its files available.