how to install two IDE hard drives?

dpagan · Jul 11, 2004, 11:49 PM

just ordered an 80GB seagate 8mb cache hard drive at best buy (by the way after rebates it's around 39.99)
i already have an 80gb hard drive on my system and i want to install it once it gets here now i want to make sure i do it correctly i know how to physically install the drive but is there anything else i have to do once install? if some one can give me a good run down on diff configurations, performance tweaks and so on i won't be doing a raid i will use it more for storage, another question is can i install just games in one drive or do i have to include the OS to, thanks in advance

apoch003 · Jul 11, 2004, 11:55 PM

If running XP, the system will ask if you want to format the drive as another bootable master, or as extra (contiguous) storage device.

That's pretty much the only decision you'll have to make.

Judas · Jul 12, 2004, 12:05 AM

simply partition to your liking and format... volla... If you want to use raid IF that is optional.... ask!

dpagan · Jul 12, 2004, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by apoch003
If running XP, the system will ask if you want to format the drive as another bootable master, or as extra (contiguous) storage device.

That's pretty much the only decision you'll have to make.

whats the difference between both? and can i install and run my games on it with out having it as a bootable master?

dpagan · Jul 12, 2004, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Judas
simply partition to your liking and format... volla... If you want to use raid IF that is optional.... ask!

my mobo only supports sata raid and the drives i have are IDE, i believe i would need a pci ide raid card to be able to run them off IDE drives i do have an abit ide to sata adapter i wonder if a get another abit adapter if i would be able to set them up as a raid set up?

**dj_stick** · Jul 12, 2004, 02:35 AM

you can get sata-ide adaptors to run IDE drives on sata ports

apoch003 · Jul 12, 2004, 02:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dpagan
whats the difference between both? and can i install and run my games on it with out having it as a bootable master?

Yes, of course you can. I just added another 80gb hdd to my system, and left windows on C: but moved every game I had to the new drive (using the "added storage device" option). It was very easy.

pr0digal jenius · Jul 12, 2004, 03:29 AM

unless you are runnign dual boot, i would leave it as a storage drive

dpagan · Jul 12, 2004, 04:02 AM

thanks to all for the info all of you have been helpfull and now i have a good idea of what to do

**dj_stick** · Jul 12, 2004, 04:38 AM

yeh i have 3 hdd's atm, one is set to boot - the other are storage drives

Rayder · Jul 12, 2004, 01:42 PM

Well....let's see.....

First, make sure you set the jumper on the drive to a Slave. Pretty simple. You said you knew how to physically install the drive, but I'm just stating the obvious. Some may overlook that little thing and go nuts when the drive doesn't work for them.

IF Windows doesn't see the drive and the jumper is set correctly (it happens), I personally pull a trick on it. I take an old Win98 or WinME statup disk and throw Primary DOS on the new harddrive, but I don't format it with the startup disk. Yank the startup disk and boot to Desktop. It will see it My Computer and allow you to format it right out of the right-click menu for the new drive. It might not be the most efficient or elegant way to do it, but it works. You can partition the drives with the startup disk too and just use My Computer to format the individual partitions.

I do that all the time. I've never encountered any problems using this method.

Another option is to just use the disk that came with the drive to format and/or partition it quickly (like...a thousand times faster

), but you will then have to rename the drive(s) after the format as it tends to give it a generic "allocation" title (DISK1 PARTITION1...or some lamo thing like that), instead of a regular name.

Those are MY abridged poor-man methods anyway..... hope that's useful to someone.

Judas · Jul 12, 2004, 10:55 PM

Rayder.. i was going to go into detail about the physical installation.. but dpagan said that he/she knew what to do..... as for raid dpagan... don't use the first IDE TO SATA converters released by ABIT.. they tend to corrupt drives.. (i heard of this then i learnt about it myself with the 2 i have)..... Serrialo 2 i think is what you'd want from ABIT if you got ABIT

dpagan · Jul 12, 2004, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Judas
Rayder.. i was going to go into detail about the physical installation.. but dpagan said that he/she knew what to do..... as for raid dpagan... don't use the first IDE TO SATA converters released by ABIT.. they tend to corrupt drives.. (i heard of this then i learnt about it myself with the 2 i have)..... Serrialo 2 i think is what you'd want from ABIT if you got ABIT

thanks for the info judas, i do have a seriellel 2 adapter but i would need another one, so it is posible to set them up as a sata raid configuration! thats good to hear i might try it, it the way i'm a he

Judas · Jul 12, 2004, 11:46 PM

Running them in SATA RAID will be excellent... but i can only think of one possible problem... i've heard that hardrives setup on sata (that are IDE) with a converter tend to run hot.... so it might be wise to keep an eye on them... if you've got good cooling shouldn't be anything to worry about.. i haven't HEARD of anything happening to the hardrives when they were warm

Dyre Straits · Jul 13, 2004, 12:12 AM

I have two computers using ABIT motherboards and don't use the RAID option of either one. I only use the option for additional storage. One system has 4 HDs, 2 CD-ROM devices; the other has 2 HDs, 2 CD ROM devices.

I also saw that 80 GB 8 MB Cache deal at Best Buy and am really considering getting one. My newest drive was bought last summer and is a Seagate 80 GB, but doesn't have the 8 MB Cache.

Good luck to you. I like Seagate drives, but have mostly Maxtors that are between 2 - 5 years old now.

dpagan · Jul 13, 2004, 12:35 AM

by the way i forgot to mention the hard drive i have on my system is a maxtor 80gb 8mb cache and the one i ordered is a seagate barracuda 80gb 8mb cache mixing different brands won't matter, will it? specially if i'm just going to use it as extra storage

Dyre Straits · Jul 13, 2004, 01:16 AM

Different brands shouldn't matter. The only thing I'd recommend is not putting them on the same cable if you can avoid it.

Judas · Jul 13, 2004, 07:08 AM

Raiding together 2 different drives is highly not recommended as most controllers just won't work well .... however. i've had no problems at all with my highpoint controller mixing 2mb cache and 8mb cache and 30gb and 40 gb drives in raid 0 arrays.... only problem.... you will lose 10gb off the 40 as raid 0 array has to take the lowest GB hd to get a base start from... or else it just wouldn't work..

Jul 11, 2004, 11:49 PM	#1
dpagan DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 249 Rep Power: 0	how to install two IDE hard drives? just ordered an 80GB seagate 8mb cache hard drive at best buy (by the way after rebates it's around 39.99) i already have an 80gb hard drive on my system and i want to install it once it gets here now i want to make sure i do it correctly i know how to physically install the drive but is there anything else i have to do once install? if some one can give me a good run down on diff configurations, performance tweaks and so on i won't be doing a raid i will use it more for storage, another question is can i install just games in one drive or do i have to include the OS to, thanks in advance

Jul 11, 2004, 11:55 PM	#2
apoch003 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: usa Posts: 214 Rep Power: 0	If running XP, the system will ask if you want to format the drive as another bootable master, or as extra (contiguous) storage device. That's pretty much the only decision you'll have to make.

Jul 12, 2004, 03:29 AM	#8
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,648 Rep Power: 0	unless you are runnign dual boot, i would leave it as a storage drive

Jul 12, 2004, 04:02 AM	Thread Starter #9
dpagan DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 249 Rep Power: 0	thanks to all for the info all of you have been helpfull and now i have a good idea of what to do

Jul 12, 2004, 01:42 PM	#11
Rayder Mostly lurking lately.... Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 2,161 Rep Power: 73	Well....let's see..... First, make sure you set the jumper on the drive to a Slave. Pretty simple. You said you knew how to physically install the drive, but I'm just stating the obvious. Some may overlook that little thing and go nuts when the drive doesn't work for them. IF Windows doesn't see the drive and the jumper is set correctly (it happens), I personally pull a trick on it. I take an old Win98 or WinME statup disk and throw Primary DOS on the new harddrive, but I don't format it with the startup disk. Yank the startup disk and boot to Desktop. It will see it My Computer and allow you to format it right out of the right-click menu for the new drive. It might not be the most efficient or elegant way to do it, but it works. You can partition the drives with the startup disk too and just use My Computer to format the individual partitions. I do that all the time. I've never encountered any problems using this method. Another option is to just use the disk that came with the drive to format and/or partition it quickly (like...a thousand times faster ), but you will then have to rename the drive(s) after the format as it tends to give it a generic "allocation" title (DISK1 PARTITION1...or some lamo thing like that), instead of a regular name. Those are MY abridged poor-man methods anyway..... hope that's useful to someone.

Jul 13, 2004, 12:35 AM	Thread Starter #16
dpagan DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 249 Rep Power: 0	by the way i forgot to mention the hard drive i have on my system is a maxtor 80gb 8mb cache and the one i ordered is a seagate barracuda 80gb 8mb cache mixing different brands won't matter, will it? specially if i'm just going to use it as extra storage