Installing second hard drive - newbie advice!

[dog_3074]

Hi all,

After frying my first desktop PC by trying to install some RAM that wasn't compatible I've bought a new desktop PC from a mate and want to install my old hard drive into this new unit as a slave for additional memory. I have searched and searched and have figured out that the current setup is all IDE - the hard drive is an IDE master and the DVD drives are also connected via IDE. There is a SATA slot (which my old hard drive is) and from looking at how to's etc online I've connected everything properly - I'm happy that there's power going to the SATA drive and the data cables are connected properly.

When booting the computer and going into the CMOS section etc there's supposed to be an option to autodetect new drives (?), which I can't see nor do I really know what I'm looking for. Currently it says this:

Primary IDE Master : JLMSXJ - HD166S
Primary IDE Slave: ATAPI DVD A DH2
Secondary IDE Master: WDC1600AAJB-OOP
Secondary IDE Slave: Not installed

It then goes to Third IDE Master / Slave and Fourth IDE Master / Slave which all have "not installed" next to them

When loading up my computer I've also gone to the disk management utility to try and partition (?) it from there but it's not found it so I have no idea what I'm doing wrong and I'm really nervous about messing around too much in case I ruin this PC too! Ideally I'd like to install the second drive and keep the data as there was photos etc on it but if I have to reformat it then so be it.

Here's my PC information:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name CONNOLLY-7F9A7B
System Manufacturer MICRO-STAR INC.
System Model MS-6728
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 3 Stepping 3 GenuineIntel ~3000 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. V3.5, 05/02/2004
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United Kingdom
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
User Name CONNOLLY-7F9A7B\Administrator
Time Zone GMT Daylight Time
Total Physical Memory 2,048.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 1.48 GB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 3.85 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys


Furthermore -

I have 4GB of RAM that I bought sitting here and I would love to be able to increase the memory of my PC but I'm shit scared of setting it alight again (I think my wife would divorce me!)

The RAM is:
1. Kingston KTH - XW4400C6/2G
2. Transcend 2G DDR 800 DIMM CL5 (518178-4865)

Anyone know if any will be okay? Please PM me if not need additional information or anything as I'll be only to happy to oblige!

Thanks in advance everyone

Andy

 

[PohTayToez]

SATA drives are very easy to install, and don't require changing any jumpers or anything like that. When you plug it in, it should automatically be detected, and you shouldn't have to change anything in the BIOS (CMOS).

Are you sure you're looking at it correctly? Unless you have a very unusual motherboard, there shouldn't be a third and fourth IDE slave/master.

Also, the new hard drive that is plugged in, can you hear it spin up when you turn the computer on?

 

[dug987654]

Can you just clarify what you have - 2 DVD drives (both IDE), 2 HDD (one SATA, one IDE)..? Correct?

If so, the SATA drive will plug in a SATA slot (obviously), and you will have the two DVD drives and a HDD drive in IDE (in two slots).

Primary IDE Master : JLMSXJ - HD166S -- DVD 1
Primary IDE Slave: ATAPI DVD A DH2 -- DVD 2
Secondary IDE Master: WDC1600AAJB-OOP -- IDE HDD
Secondary IDE Slave: Not installed

The SATA HDD shouldn't be in this list. Is it showing up in 'My Computer'...? Doug.

 

[dug987654]

And for the RAM, you need to make sure that the speeds are correct for your motherboard. Google the mobo name and it will tell you.

Ideally you want identically spec'd pieces of RAM. Hope that helps, Doug.

 

[dog_3074]

Hi Doug and everyone, thanks for the response.

I'm working away from home this week so I don't have access to the desktop, although in answer to the questions I can't really remember hearing it 'fire up' so to speak - I'm fairly sure I've got the bits all plugged in properly etc. I'll take a photo at the weekend of how it all looks which should hopefully make things a little clearer!

The HD isn't showing up anywhere on my computer / disk manager etc which surprised me as I was under the impression that it would automatically find it and just need formatting. Although it's taking a little more work I'm enjoying being able to chat with you guys to resolve the problem, so thank you.

With regards to the RAM - I'm so nervous about plugging it in, I don't think the Kingston one will work but the Transcend one - I think it's a DDR which I think would work but I'm so reluctant to put it in just because I'm liable for big arguments with the wife if it all went wrong again! I'll take a photo again for you to see, and also try to provide more computer information.

Thanks again for all your help and support,

Andy

 

[dog_3074]

Can you just clarify what you have - 2 DVD drives (both IDE), 2 HDD (one SATA, one IDE)..? Correct?

If so, the SATA drive will plug in a SATA slot (obviously), and you will have the two DVD drives and a HDD drive in IDE (in two slots).



The SATA HDD shouldn't be in this list. Is it showing up in 'My Computer'...? Doug.

And, sorry yeah you're right -

IDE slot 1 = DVD
IDE slot 2 = DVD
IDE slot 3 = IDE HDD

SATA HDD plugged into SATA data bit and mounted under the IDE HDD

Hope this helps

 

[dog_3074]

Hi all - okay, little more information for you. Firstly, computer information from my Spotmau:


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System
Host Name : CONNOLLY-7F9A7B
User : CONNOLLY-7F9A7B\Administrator
Windows Version : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 (build 2600)


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Processor
cpu count : 1

Model : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
speed :2 GHz
Cores per Processor :
Cache Level 1 :
Cache Level 2 :Size-0 KB Speed-0
L2 On-board Multiplier :0

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Mainboard
Bus : PCI Bus PCI Bus PNP Bus PNP Bus PCI Bus ISA
System BIOS :American Megatrends Inc. Version 1.00 V3.5
Manufacturer :MICRO-STAR INC.

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Physical Storage Devices
WDC WD1600AAJB-00PVA0 (Standard disk drives) Fixed hard disk media 149 GB
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Video System

Model :NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT
VGA Compatible :yes
Total Memory :256 MB

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Logical Storage Devices
A: 3 1/2 Inch Floppy Drive A: Total:0MB Free:0MB A:
C: Local Fixed Disk NTFS Total:152617MB Free:101065MB
D: CD-ROM Disc D: Total:0MB Free:0MB D:
E: CD-ROM Disc E: Total:0MB Free:0MB E:
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Network Services
802.11g USB 2.0 adapter 00:0B:6B:6D:C6:2F

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Memory
Total Physical Memory : 2047 MB
Free Physical Memory : 1 MB


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Audio
Name : Realtek AC'97 Audio
Error Code :
Setting manage : no
Description : Realtek AC'97 Audio
Manufacturer: Realtek
ProductName: Realtek AC'97 Audio
Status: OK


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Port
Communication port : Communications Port (COM1)(OK)
Max baud rate : 115200


Communication port : Communications Port (COM2)(OK)
Max baud rate : 115200


Parallel Port Name : LPT1(LPT1)


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No some images of my set up for you to see:

 

[dog_3074]

more images:

Hopefully it'll give you enough of an idea of how it looks - you can see the hard drive that I've installed at the bottom with the data cable in. On the hard rive itself there appears to be (from what I can see) two power connectors: 1 on the left that you can't really see but it's black and has a lead going in from the power supply and 1 on the right which is white as you can see on the photograph.

The RAM is also included, albeit blurry but the model number etc is in my first post so if someone could let me know if it's compatible I'd be grateful.

Thanks for your help all

Andy