fitting hard disc with data still on

[seamore]

I have a hard disc drive with programs and data on that I need to access...If I install it on my new system -XP,as a slave drive, will Windows accept it? any experience?

 

[_WW_]

Set it up as a slave on primary channel or as the master or slave on secondary channel and you should be okay...However it could depend on what version of windows you're running as to whether it will read a NTFS partition.

....WW (5.0)

 

[Guest]

So if wanted to install a new hd and use the old one, how do you go about that? Do you install everything except old hd, and then after installing windows on new drive, you add in the old hd as a slave on primary or master or slave on secondary? Also, is it possible to use my old eide WD 80gb 7200rpm 8mb buffer HD with a newer one, say that WD raptor 74gb?

<font color=green> Woohoo!! I am officially a <b> Journeyman </b>!! </font color=green>

 

[_WW_]

Do you install everything except old hd, and then after installing windows on new drive, you add in the old hd as a slave on primary or master or slave on secondary?

Yes. If you are using windows XP move everything out of the MY DOCUMENTS to the SHARED folder or you may have trouble accessing them.

Also, is it possible to use my old eide WD 80gb 7200rpm 8mb buffer HD with a newer one, say that WD raptor 74gb?

Yes, but don't do it in a RAID array.

....WW (5.0)

 

[Guest]

Ok I'm kinda confused here. I read the forum FAQ, but I'm not sure about how i would use the 2 drives togther if they're not in a Raid array. They would still both run at full speed (right?), but would i have to reformat my current drive to do this, or could I just add it in as is? One would just be an ide, and the other would be a serial ata, but I guees I'm lost on how exactly they would work together, if at all. Lastly, is it even worth trying something like this?

<font color=green> Woohoo!! I am officially a <b> Journeyman </b>!! </font color=green>

 

[_WW_]

Well now...I'm a little confused as to what it is you are trying to do. I'll assume you want to boot from the SATA drive. If you RAID-0 or JBOD the Raptor with the other drive your performance will be that of the slower of the two drives, thus negating the reason for having the Raptor in the first place. However you can set up a RAID-1 and mirror to the 7200rpm drive and probably not notice a difference in performance on the Raptor...at least i think this is what should happen.

For saftey disconnect the other drive during this operation.

If you just want two seperate drives,(e.g. one for the OS and one for storage) but want to boot from the Raptor you will need to enable booting from a SCSI device in your BIOS. During POST you should see the option to enter the RAID configuration utility. Enter it and just setup a single disk array. You should now see the disk/partition during the XP install. During the XP install watch the bottom of the screen and it will tell you to hit F6 to install RAID drivers. I can't remember if this comes before or after you format so just keep watching until you see it. If possible have the drivers on a floppy to insert at this point. These drivers should have come with your mobo or be availabe at their site.

Once XP is installed and working reconnect the other drive and your BIOS and windows should see it.

....WW (5.0)

 

[Guest]

Lol sorry, I kinda confuse myself sometimes. Anyways, yes I was thinking about just having 2 drives, but Im not alll sure how that would work. If I have one for storage and one for OS, then can the OS drive still be used for storage? I assume booting from the Raptor would be better since it is faster. I'm wondering if its even worth doing this, or would it just be better to try 2 raptors. Mainly I want to increase my overall storage space and add a very fast drive, is this possible in this setup or will one drive simply bottleneck the other? I just figred that since my current drive works ok, I'd like to try and continue to use it since the raptor actually has less overall storage space than my current one.

<font color=green> Woohoo!! I am officially a <b> Journeyman </b>!! </font color=green>

 

[_WW_]

Ok...now we're getting somewhere. Use the Raptor for the OS. You can still use it for storage or whatever also. The best way to probably do this would be to create seperate partitions. Setup C: at around 10-11GBs and install the OS to it. Depending on your third party program list this should still give you plenty of space for overhead. During setup you can leave the rest of the disk as unallocated and partition it later from within XP.

After this is up and running reconnect the other drive as master on the primary EIDE. These two drives will now be completely seperate and both capable of running at peak performance simultaneously.

Fairly simple really, and by disconnecting the current drive while setting up the new one, it becomes a backup in case things go to hell in a handbasket with the Raptor.

....WW (5.0)

 

[Guest]

Wow, that does sound simple. So aside from that 10 to 11gb for OS everything else is still useable for storage? Just curious, but when I actually go to store something (i.e. install a game), how does it get split up into the partitions, do I get to choose or is it done automatically? I've never used a partition before or multiple HDs before (obviously lol!). And BTW, thanks for all the info, you've been most helpful

<font color=green> Woohoo!! I am officially a <b> Journeyman </b>!! </font color=green>

 

[_WW_]

Yeah you get to choose. Just think of the partition as a giant folder..heh heh..When you click on MY COMPUTER it will show up as a seperate drive. Every game I have ever installed has given me the option of an installation path...usually it begins with Crogram Files/bla bla bla...Just change the C to whatever drive you want. I actually have a 40GB drive dedicated to just games, another for music, etc. etc.

With the OS on its own seperate partition when you reinstall or restore from an image it doesn't affect anything on the other drives.

....WW (5.0)

 

[Guest]

Cool, I bet that can save you a lot of headaches if you have windows problems

<font color=green> Woohoo!! I am officially a <b> Journeyman </b>!! </font color=green>

 

[Guest]

Ok I was at western Digital's site and I noticed something. The 74gb Raptor I want uses TCQ, a variant of NCQ. Good review of it <A HREF="http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200406/20040625TCQ_sp.html" target="_new"> here </A>. TCQ is an ATA4 standard, so how do i know if this <A HREF="http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_us.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=3471&CATEGORY_TYPE=LP&SITE=US" target="_new"> DFI nf4 UT Ultra-D mb </A> will support it? I can't seem to find any mention of it on their site.

<font color=green> Woohoo!! I am officially a <b> Journeyman </b>!! </font color=green>

 

[_WW_]

According to this:
<A HREF="http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=eoyraid&page=3&cookie_test=1" target="_new">http://www.gamepc.com/labs/view_content.asp?id=eoyraid&page=3&cookie_test=1</A>
I think you're okay.

<i>"This means the nForce4 can support <b>Native Command Queuing (NCQ),</b> Staggered Spin-Up, and Hot-Plug technologies, which most other onboard solutions cannot. nVidia's Serial ATA-II solution also supports transfer rates up to 300 MB/s, as opposed to some other SATA-II solutions which still peak out at 150 MB/s."</i>

That's a nice looking board.


....WW (5.0)

 

[Guest]

Thanks. All I need is for Uncle Sam to get me tax return back and I'm gtg lol. The only thing that concerns me in that article is that they're talking about using the raptor in a RAID setup, and remember I can't do that. Do you think that makes a difference, as I seem to remember reading that TCQ and NCQ are not compatible. I will also try to contact WD to get their opinion.

<font color=green> Woohoo!! I am officially a <b> Journeyman </b>!! </font color=green>

 

[Guest]

Well from what I can determine so far, TCQ will not function on a ata controller that supports NCQ (which I beleive that DFI nf4 Ultra does), but it seems that it should still work. I have emailed them for info, and the ref# is 050222-001756. Hopefully this should provide some answers

<font color=green> Woohoo!! I am officially a <b> Journeyman </b>!! </font color=green>

 

[_WW_]

I find it hard to believe anyone making a mobo called <i>Lan Party</i> would configure it so that it would NOT accept a Raptor...

....WW (5.0)

 

[RichPLS]

All TCQ and NCQ drives are backwards compatable with all older SATA controllers....

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[Codesmith]

Command Queing benifits servers more than home PCs.

In many cases turning off command queing will improve performance. It just depends on how you are using the drive.

 

[Guest]

I was just making sure, I want to get all my components right and avoid as much problems as possible. In any event, they replied to me and they're saying that it will work fine, but TCQ will not run on a controller that supports NCQ, and vice versa. As long as the damn thing works, it's ok

<font color=green> Woohoo!! I am officially a <b> Member </b>!! </font color=green>

 

[Guest]

Are you sure about setting up a single disk RAID array for the boot drive? I just read this in another forum:

If your SATA controller is set as RAID in BIOS, but used with only one drive, this may lead to some problem. Using the SATA controller on a nforce3 or 4 board as a regular controller doesnt need to press F6 at windows installation.

So, I would check in the BIOS to make sure that RAID is disabled for SATA controller, as well as for IDE controller.

The option should look like;

SATA 1 RAID: disabled. I dont have this board, but I've seted up some nforce3 and 4 board only with one SATA drive and I"ve noticed that RAID is enabled in BIOS by default.

Have you heard anything like this before, or you think this guy is wrong?

<font color=green> Woohoo!! I am officially a <b> Member </b>!! </font color=green>

 

[_WW_]

I gather from what you quoted he is talking about RAID-1. For a boot drive you will want to create a RAID-0 and this should be possible with a single drive. I have a single drive RAID-0 on my ASUS-P4PE which I have partitioned for swap files and use the remainder to write temp DVD files to.

Also it would appear that you have a second option:
<i>"Using the SATA controller on a nforce3 or 4 board as a regular controller doesnt need to press F6 at windows installation."</i>

I think you are gonna be fine...one way or another.


....WW (5.0)

 

[Guest]

Ok, thank you for all the help. Maybe I worry too much, but I'd rather be careful than be in a #@$%& pickle I appreciate your patience, and all the advice. Rock on!!

<font color=green> Woohoo!! I am officially a <b> Member </b>!! </font color=green>