Can i add a sata 3gbs to a computer with a sata 6gbs installed as a second drive

Hi Norm, & Welcome to Tom's Hardware!

First thing to do is go into the BIOS at the splash screen, and with both HDD's attached at boot, see if they are both recognized as attached devices.

Then in Advanced BIOS features, make sure the HDD is first, the DVD or CD burner is second in order, and USB is third. On the same page click on the Hard Disk Boot Priority, and select the original 500 GB drive to be first. Sometimes this is hard to find in that you have to click on the heading to get to the choices. You choose which HDD get addressed first, you don't put them in order.

Also on the SATA config section, is that set to IDE or ACHI? And are both these drives SATA drives? I assume so by the notation.

click F10 to save and exit and see if that solves the problem. With the proper boot order and priority, you should be fine.

yes.

Still does not work! BootManager is first and is the only way it will boot. The unit has a biostar A880gz motherboard with a AMD FX4100 processor.

Hi Norm,

Not sure what you mean by BootManager showing up. Do you mean you get a Boot Menu with 2 or several choices to pick the OS to run? Is so, does your 500GB WD drive contain an OS that you have used in the past?

Best thing to do is go to Disk Manangement, and upload a screenshot to post to your response so we can see exactly what configurations are chosen. Would do that booting up, then connecting your WD drive so it will be recognized, then obtaining the screenshot

In the BIOS under BOOT it lists Windows Boot Manager then PO: WDCWD500AAKX then P1: TSSTCOCP CDDUDW Then PHOTOSMART D53001.00. I can not use the WD drive to boot first. It will not boot. The drive that I am trying to add hyas always been used for data never did it have a OS installed.

Hi Norm,

What specifically is the make and model # of your MB? Possibly we can look up the entries in your BIOS.

You found the Attached drives the BIOS recognizes. That's great. However I don't see the second WD HDD you mentioned in your first post. The model you listed (WDC WD500AAKX) does not exist. WD does have an AAKS, which the 3Gb/s data drive. Do you have it connect to the computer? If not, connect it, reboot and go to this same entry. Now usually in the Advanced Bios (depends on your MB setup) there will be an entry called Device Boot Order, or something similar. You have to click on that entry, and it will give you a list of HDD's to choose from. Choose the ONE drive you want to boot first. It will be the 6gb/s HDD with the OS on it. (will be one of the WD 500GB drives you initially mentioned) You check the one you want to boot first. Click enter, then F10 to save and exit, usually have to confirm with a Yes. and it will save your choice, and boot from that drive each time.

Hi John,

The Motherboard is a Biostar A880GZ which I originally purchased in March of 2012, It was replaced by Biostar in September because of this problem. I am running the Windows 7 64 Bit OS. If I look at the SATA config in the BIOS it sees both hard drives. The numbers on the drives are as previously mentioned The AAKX is a 6 GB/s drive. When I go to the boot is the bios it looks like this:
Windows Boot Manager
P0: WDCWD500AAKX
P1: TSSTCOCP CDDUDW
PHOTOSMART D53001.00

The photosmart D53001.00 isfrom the 1 printer on USB. The other hard drive WDCWD500AAKS
does not appear in this BOOT screen. That drive does show on the SATA config screen however.

Norm

Norm,

I went thru your BIOS manual.
On the ADVANCED TAB: there is a choice SATA/IDE Configuration. In the list of 4 items, you should have bothl SATA drives listed
WD....AAKX
WD....AAKS

The printer is USB so it won't be on there, the TSST CD/DVD should also be there.

Then On the BOOT TAB: there is a choice Boot Options Priorities #1, #2, #3. #1 should be HHD, #2 should be CD/DVD, #3 should be USB. You can change the order of these items so it is correct.

There is also a choice Hard Drive BBS Priorities down a bit further. Click on it and please check the WD....AAKX as the first drive to boot from. That's the 6Gb/s drive. In most BIOS settings, you can check, or select the item. In cases where you have multiple HDDs on a computer, this tells the BIOS which to load the OS from.

See if that clears up the boot order problem.

Other thing that would be very very helpful, is if you could go to Disk Management (My Computer, right click Manage, Computer Management. Click Disk Management in the lower left area) and upload a screenshot of the Disk Management dialog box to post it here, so we can see if there is any problem in Drive recognition and labelling that might be interfering with proper loading.

I will try to send a snapshot as requested. If I set the boot order as suggested the computer immediately goes to a cursor at the top left of the screen. If both drives are n or not. With both drives installed the OS starts saying "STARTING WINDOWS" then across the bottom is says "LOADING FILES" then the cursor appears at the top left.


Can not get the snapshot to this page. Will not allow paste.
Norm

Norm,

Regarding the screenshot of the Disk Management dialog box, in Win-7 with the clipping tool or snagit, or other screenshot tools, save it as a file, upload it to a file sharing server like Photobucket, and from there, select the "forum" url or

Hi Norm,

You are welcome. I suspect it had the "Active Flag" set when it was used on another computer.
It's always a good feeling when you solve a computer problem, and with a little help, you picked out a successful solution yourself.