2 SATA Drives in one PC?

[Huxley2k7]

Hey guys,

I'm aware this may very well be a very basic question, but i'm going to ask it anyway, before i go ahead and commit myself to it later this morning.

I'm putting in my new WD 500GB SATAII (5000AAKS) hard-drive tomorrow in replacement for my old 80GB SATA Maxtor HD. I'm hoping to see a big performance increase! Anyway, i'm stuck on backing up all my old files from the Maxtor because;

A) My DVD-R drive blows and won't work.

and

B) Network seems to not be responding, so can't copy across any files to my old mans PC.

So i'm sitting there stuck, with at least 10GB's worth needing to be backed up. My old man comes in and suggests i unplug the old 80GB, plug in the new 500GB and set it to 1st Boot Device in Bios, setup windows and get it all up and running. Then, plug in the 80GB HD, set it to 2nd Boot Device in Bios, delete windows and then simply copy across the files from the 80GB to the 500GB, using the 80GB as just a dud hard-drive.

I've never done this before, and while it may seem basic, i just want to know if this is possible - if so, is there anything i should know first and will it have any performance impact on my PC at all?

Cheers all!

Hux.

 

[FatForester]

Your dad is right. Take out the 80gig and install Windows on the 500gig. Then put the 80gig back in and set the 500gig to 1st boot device. Then you can copy as you please.

 

[kwchang007]

Hey guys,

I'm aware this may very well be a very basic question, but i'm going to ask it anyway, before i go ahead and commit myself to it later this morning.

I'm putting in my new WD 500GB SATAII (5000AAKS) hard-drive tomorrow in replacement for my old 80GB SATA Maxtor HD. I'm hoping to see a big performance increase! Anyway, i'm stuck on backing up all my old files from the Maxtor because;

A) My DVD-R drive blows and won't work.

and

B) Network seems to not be responding, so can't copy across any files to my old mans PC.

So i'm sitting there stuck, with at least 10GB's worth needing to be backed up. My old man comes in and suggests i unplug the old 80GB, plug in the new 500GB and set it to 1st Boot Device in Bios, setup windows and get it all up and running. Then, plug in the 80GB HD, set it to 2nd Boot Device in Bios, delete windows and then simply copy across the files from the 80GB to the 500GB, using the 80GB as just a dud hard-drive.

I've never done this before, and while it may seem basic, i just want to know if this is possible - if so, is there anything i should know first and will it have any performance impact on my PC at all?

Cheers all!

Hux.

The old man's got it right. Just make sure you defrag after copying.

 

[Huxley2k7]

Thankyou lads! God i love this place, instant, helpful replies!

So i guess the old fart was right. HOW DARE HE!

Is there anything i should know, any performance issues or anything?

Cheers,

Hux.

 

[kwchang007]

Thankyou lads! God i love this place, instant, helpful replies!

So i guess the old fart was right. HOW DARE HE!

Is there anything i should know, any performance issues or anything?

Cheers,

Hux.

Yeah just the defrag part that I mentioned. It'll probably be fragmented...or maybe not, but it's always good to defrag after installing an os.

 

[Huxley2k7]

Stuck!

Bah!

I've hit a dead-end whilst trying to install my new HDD and i need help!

So i just put in the new Western Digital 5000AAKS hard-drive onto my motherboard and have ran into problems installing XP!

Spent all afternoon trying to get it to simply install XP! So here's the 'Low Down:'

The BIOS is recognizing the hard-drive and detecting it as the WD5000AAKS, which is good! All BIOS settings are correct as far as the manual goes, with controllers set to IDE as it states.

However,

When i boot up from my WinXP Pro Corp edition an hit 'Prepare my hard-drive for Windows XP installation' i get these errors; ''Invalid drive specification, bad command or file name' then the cmd line just sits there waiting for me to do something. All i can do is reboot.

There is probably a really basic explanation for this, i just need some dudes to think outside the box. I have limited HD knowledge as i never mess with them! Even more so limited with SATA's. Any help is as always much appreciated. For now i'm going to put back in my old HD, and try and format the WD from there.

Cheers,

Hux.

 

[newtekie1]

How are you installing XP? I don't remember there being an option to prepare the hard drive. You just select the drive you are installing it to and format it, you can also partion it somewhare in there too.

Is the Windows XP install even recognizing the drive?

Also, you won't see a performance increase.

 

[Huxley2k7]

How are you installing XP? I don't remember there being an option to prepare the hard drive. You just select the drive you are installing it to and format it, you can also partion it somewhare in there too.

Is the Windows XP install even recognizing the drive?

Also, you won't see a performance increase.

/facepalm.

It was just me being stupid and using an old, haggard CD. Oh my god, how embarassing. Bah. Thanks anyway.

BTW - What do you mean i won't see a performance increase, what makes you say that?

Hux.