How do I combine two physical HDs into one drive letter

wcology · Apr 20, 2009, 03:33 AM

I have a HP dv9540us laptop with two hard drives, how do I set them up so it'll only appear as one HD in windows with combined size?

BrooksyX · Apr 20, 2009, 03:34 AM

You will have to raid them together. Does your laptop have an onboard raid controller?

Apr 20, 2009, 03:35 AM

JBOD is also an option, but RAID is better if it's supported.

wcology · Apr 20, 2009, 03:36 AM

donno... How do I find out?

the motherboard is Quanta 30CB and the last time checked I don't see RAID in BIOS. I think they're in SATA but i donno what that means either

BrooksyX · Apr 20, 2009, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twilyth

JBOD is also an option, but RAID is better if it's supported.

Your computer still has to have a raid controller to do JBOD. It is a form of raid even though there is no stripping or redundancy.

Apr 20, 2009, 03:49 AM

It just be easier if ya set the drive up as a dynamic folder under your c drive. You'll have to wipe the partition and repartition through disk management in windows to do so. After your done, c:\whateveryouwant\ will be equal to hard disk 2. Note I've never done this, just due to what happens if ya wipe out your c drive and need to re-install. Though I imagine there some way to recover it.

wcology · Apr 20, 2009, 03:52 AM

here's the device manger screen. I don't think it has RAID controller.

where can i find detailed instructions on how to setup dynamic folders?

Apr 20, 2009, 03:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wcology

donno... How do I find out?

the motherboard is Quanta 30CB and the last time checked I don't see RAID in BIOS. I think they're in SATA but i donno what that means either

First, disable the logo screen you get when the machine boots up. Can do that in bios.

If you have RAID, there will be a line that pops up during boot up that says something like 'press f6 to enter configuration utility'. If you don't see a prompt like that, you probably don't have RAID as an option on the mobo.

Apr 20, 2009, 04:06 AM

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb726994.aspx

Should get ya started, note ya need something better the xp home installed on your pc though.

wcology · Apr 20, 2009, 04:11 AM

it shouldn't be different for Vista Ultimate SP1 should it?

Apr 20, 2009, 04:15 AM

nope should be pretty much the same

FordGT90Concept · Apr 20, 2009, 04:20 AM

ICH8M does not support RAID, ICH8M-E does. It says above that you do not have the E varient so RAID is not available.

http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/313056.pdf

Edit: AFAIK, JBOD isn't possible either.

wcology · Apr 20, 2009, 04:27 AM

so in order to setup dynamic folder with C:/ and D:/ and C being system, do I have to delete D to make it unallocated?

also how can I make D into C:\Users? that folder cannot be deleted.

Apr 20, 2009, 04:37 AM

Like I've said I've never done it... Though from what I've read on that link, some disks can be upgraded to dynamic, otherwise you'll have to wipe it.

Geofrancis · Apr 20, 2009, 04:16 PM

if the laptop doesnt support raid then your screwed and you cant use the windows software raid because you have to convert the drives to dynamic and if you do that then they are unbootable.

Apr 20, 2009, 03:33 AM	#1
wcology Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 5 (0.00/day) Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	How do I combine two physical HDs into one drive letter I have a HP dv9540us laptop with two hard drives, how do I set them up so it'll only appear as one HD in windows with combined size?

System Name:	Main / Home Media Serever
Processor:	Intel i5 2500k @ 4.75ghz / AMD AM3 5200+ x2
Motherboard:	ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance / Biostar 790GX
Cooling:	Xigmatek Dark Knight / XIGMATEK Apache
Memory:	16gb of G.Skill Value Series DDR3 / 4x 1gb DDR2
Video Card:	XFX Radeon 6870 1gb / Asus Radeon 5450 512mb
Hard Disk:	2x Samsung 830 64gb SSD Raid 0 & 750gb WD Blue HDD / OCZ Vertex 30GB & 8TB of HDD Space
Optical Drive:	Blu-ray Rom & DVD-RW / DVD-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	2x Acer 20" LED 1600x900 / Samsung 40" LED
Case:	Xigmatek Asgard II / APEX PC-389-C
PSU:	OCZ Stealth Power 500w / Antec EArthwatts 380w
Software:	Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 / XBMCBuntu 11.10

System Name:	Main / Home Media Serever
Processor:	Intel i5 2500k @ 4.75ghz / AMD AM3 5200+ x2
Motherboard:	ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance / Biostar 790GX
Cooling:	Xigmatek Dark Knight / XIGMATEK Apache
Memory:	16gb of G.Skill Value Series DDR3 / 4x 1gb DDR2
Video Card:	XFX Radeon 6870 1gb / Asus Radeon 5450 512mb
Hard Disk:	2x Samsung 830 64gb SSD Raid 0 & 750gb WD Blue HDD / OCZ Vertex 30GB & 8TB of HDD Space
Optical Drive:	Blu-ray Rom & DVD-RW / DVD-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	2x Acer 20" LED 1600x900 / Samsung 40" LED
Case:	Xigmatek Asgard II / APEX PC-389-C
PSU:	OCZ Stealth Power 500w / Antec EArthwatts 380w
Software:	Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 / XBMCBuntu 11.10

Apr 20, 2009, 04:20 AM	#12
FordGT90Concept "I go fast!1!11!1!" Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: IA, USA Posts: 10,655 (6.23/day) Thanks: 1,788 Thanked 2,634 Times in 1,987 Posts System Specs	ICH8M does not support RAID, ICH8M-E does. It says above that you do not have the E varient so RAID is not available. http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/313056.pdf Edit: AFAIK, JBOD isn't possible either. __________________ Golden Rule of Programming: Never assume. try { SteamDownload(); } catch (Steamception ex) { RageQuit(); }

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Memory:	3 x 2 GiB OCZ Gold DDR3-1600 @ DDR-1066
Video Card:	Sapphire Vapor-X HD 5870 1 GiB (reference clocks)
Hard Disk:	2 x Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200.7 RAID0, Seagate Barracuda 3TB 7200.14
Optical Drive:	Samsung 16x DVD-ROM, Pioneer 16x DVD+/-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung Syncmaster T240 24" LCD (1920x1200)
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Sound Card:	Realtek Onboard, HT OMEGA Striker 7.1
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Apr 20, 2009, 03:34 AM	#2
BrooksyX Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 3,572 (1.79/day) Thanks: 511 Thanked 570 Times in 527 Posts System Specs	You will have to raid them together. Does your laptop have an onboard raid controller?

Apr 20, 2009, 03:35 AM	#3
twilyth Guest Posts: n/a (0/day)	JBOD is also an option, but RAID is better if it's supported.

Apr 20, 2009, 03:36 AM	#4
wcology Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 5 (0.00/day) Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	donno... How do I find out? the motherboard is Quanta 30CB and the last time checked I don't see RAID in BIOS. I think they're in SATA but i donno what that means either

Apr 20, 2009, 03:49 AM	#6
thraxed Guest Posts: n/a (0/day)	It just be easier if ya set the drive up as a dynamic folder under your c drive. You'll have to wipe the partition and repartition through disk management in windows to do so. After your done, c:\whateveryouwant\ will be equal to hard disk 2. Note I've never done this, just due to what happens if ya wipe out your c drive and need to re-install. Though I imagine there some way to recover it.

Apr 20, 2009, 03:52 AM	#7
wcology Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 5 (0.00/day) Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	here's the device manger screen. I don't think it has RAID controller. where can i find detailed instructions on how to setup dynamic folders?

Apr 20, 2009, 04:06 AM	#9
thraxed Guest Posts: n/a (0/day)	http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb726994.aspx Should get ya started, note ya need something better the xp home installed on your pc though.

Apr 20, 2009, 04:11 AM	#10
wcology Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 5 (0.00/day) Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	it shouldn't be different for Vista Ultimate SP1 should it?

Apr 20, 2009, 04:15 AM	#11
thraxed Guest Posts: n/a (0/day)	nope should be pretty much the same

Apr 20, 2009, 04:27 AM	#13
wcology Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 5 (0.00/day) Thanks: 2 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	so in order to setup dynamic folder with C:/ and D:/ and C being system, do I have to delete D to make it unallocated? also how can I make D into C:\Users? that folder cannot be deleted.

Apr 20, 2009, 04:37 AM	#14
thraxed Guest Posts: n/a (0/day)	Like I've said I've never done it... Though from what I've read on that link, some disks can be upgraded to dynamic, otherwise you'll have to wipe it.

Apr 20, 2009, 04:16 PM	#15
Geofrancis Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: SCOTLAND! Posts: 954 (0.61/day) Thanks: 100 Thanked 143 Times in 112 Posts System Specs	if the laptop doesnt support raid then your screwed and you cant use the windows software raid because you have to convert the drives to dynamic and if you do that then they are unbootable. __________________ machine XII AMD Phenom II x6 1155t, 8Gb XMS3 1600,Asus M4A88TD-M EVO/USB3, HD5970, 128gb sandisk SSD, mcubed t-balancer,water cooled HP EliteBook 2530p SL9400 Core 2 Duo ULV @ 0.9v, 4Gb ddr2, 80Gb Intel X-18m G2, 64Gb express card SSD, Ubiquiti SR71-E 400mw wifi, 21mb HSPA+ ESXI Server Intel i5 2400, Asus P8H67-M, 12Gb ddr3, IBM M1015 sas, Dell sas 6i, 10 drive 8tb UNRAID array. Old Builds :watercooled matx rig\|Water Cooled ITX rig \|EeePC 701 7" netbook \| ITX Gaming raid build

System Name:	Machine XII
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Memory:	8Gb ddr3 1600mhz XMS 3
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Hard Disk:	128Gb Sandisk SATAIII 6G/s
Optical Drive:	Laptop Blue-ray drive
CRT/LCD Model:	19" + 23" + 17"
Case:	micro atx case
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PSU:	750W
Software:	Windows 7 x64 Ultimate

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