Adding 2nd 120 gig drive to computer questions

[spectr17]

I'm trying to upgrade a Gateway 450 mhz PIII computer with 256 megs of SDRAM and running Win98SE. The computer already has an IBM Deskstar 18 gig drive in it and the jumper is set for cable select and it's running off a Promise Ultra66 card. I have a 120 gig Western Digital drive I would like to add to ghost over the IBM drive data and keep the IBM as a backup drive image. I have a CD burner and and a DVD drive on the other IDE connector on the same cable set as master and slave. Only other drive is a floppy.

Should I first upgrade the Promise card? Which drive should I set to master? I want to use System Commander to boot to either drive.

I've seen from researching here that Win98SE has trouble with drives over 64 gigs. One person posted they got around 1 problem by setting his own virutal memory settings. Did I get too big of a drive? How should I partition the new WD drive? I use this computer for huge digital map files and pics, surfing the net and email with no gaming or video use.

Smack me upside the head with a big tuna if this thinking is backwards and please set me straight

Thanks for any help.

<b>~spectr17</b>

 

[siliconjon]

Well, if I were you I would invest in a new motherboard if the fasted IDE you have is 66, and you want to use 4 IDE devices, one of which is a high performance HD, and the other a CDRW that requires high priority DMA. But, I'm guessing that you have an ATA33 IDE controller on that there mobo, although it seems that ATA66 was popular when that PC was released...but those damn prefabs...you know them, never got what you need when you take it apart. I would go for putting all but the 120HD on the mobo's IDE controller for starters (unless you have already found this to be a problem), and running the 120 off the PCI card. If this brings about problems, then try the CDRW and the 120HD on the PCI controller and see if you can get reliable and decent speeds with that combo (don't forget to force your boot to the PCI rather than the onboard IDE). And I would partition your 120 into two equal parts, for safety reasons more than any, incase you were to get a virus or some other corruption, you are more likely to lose less data this way. And since you have 98se, I would do a dual boot with 2000pro on the second partition just for kicks.

If I don't get my 90THz AMD Quadraplex system soon, I'm afraid I may just combust right here.

 

[spectr17]

thanks siliconjon,

I was thinking of a new mobo also, Fry's just had a killer AMD and SOYO deal. Any chance I can gut the Gateway MOBO and still use the same case and power supply with a new mobo?

At least you didn't beat me up about the Gateway. I learned my lesson 3 years ago.

<b>~spectr17</b>

 

[siliconjon]

I just gutted a Gateway PII233, and the only extra part I needed to salvage the bones was an ATX extension (as it was a "repair" and not a major upgrade), due to the power supply in it's case had an ATX cable just long enough to reach that mobo only. But, you have a 450, and if you're planning on upgrading that CPU, I would highly advise a new power supply, in which case you won't need an ATX extension. But the rest will be salvagable (unless there's onboard components which you will need to replace). Everyone who does much of anything with a PC quickly learns that the prefabs are not what they're cracked up to be. Does that PC have a 220W Psupply in it?

If I don't get my 90THz AMD Quadraplex system soon, I'm afraid I may just combust right here.

 

[spectr17]

Thanks again siliconjon.

I think I'll just upgrade the HD in the Gateway and just build a new computer for my main work. Not sure what wattage that P/S is. Have to take a peek.

Need redundancy and looking at using Abit KR7A Raid mobo with 2 drives using RAID 1. Can I hot swap 2 WD 120gig HDs if one fails? Any troubles using Win 98SE in this setup? Looking at the AMD Athlon XP 1700+ for cpu.

Thanks.


<b>~spectr17</b>

 

[siliconjon]

Don't know if that HD is hot-swappable. Anybody? Are they making that a standard yet? But I know you could cold swap them, which would require a brief down time if it's not hot-swappable, and a bit of [array] rebuild time (which ya get anywho). Good idea on building a seperate PC. Having two [or more] around comes in more handy than you might think, if you're savvy. And I don't forsee any problems with 98se...I still use that OS on my systems (along with W2kPro - dualies). I just have not run into any usage that requires any other os's...yet.

Have you already bought the CPU&Mobo? I was shopping this morning and found a killer deal at Newegg.com - 256MB Corsair CAS2 PC2400, Soyo Dragon retail Mobo, XP1700 retail, for like $368 after shipping (I think there was a Volcano in there as well). That would make for a delicious core...nice and overclockable, too! They have a good deal on a 512MBPC2700, but they're outta stock. DOH!


If I don't get my 90THz AMD Quadraplex system soon, I'm afraid I may just combust right here.

 

[Crashman]

Hot swap is easy with IDE, just set the drive as removable in device manager. But as to how the RAID controller handles it, I don't know. I used to hot swap my second drive all the time, in a standard drive tray.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?