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Simple instructions for adding second HD to 4700?
Hello,
I'm interested in popping in a second HD into my 4700. Is there anything as far as a basic walkthrough to doing this? I assume I'll need an SATA rather than an ATA HD, correct? I know I'll probably need a bracket, and possibly a "tri-branched" IDE cable? Does IDE power it as well or will it need a power connection? As far as setup (I'm using VISTA), do I just plug it in and go, or will it require BIOS or VISTA setup in some manner? Also, if I need to know anything about RAID, please let me know and I can read up on that. As of now I know nothing about that, but I've seen the topic tossed around here on the board.
Thanks
Message Edited by ezatnova on 11-25-2007 01:09 PM
shesagordie
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Posted November 25th, 2007 19:00
ezatnova
Yes, there SATA to IDE adaptors available, one of the better units, is shown here.
Personally, I would install a SATA hard drive, because the adaptors can be unreliable.
Bev.
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Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.- I misspoke about Vista, I am running XP on that machine. Anyway, I keep reading on here, including in this thread, that I'd need to buy some extra SATA data cable. But, wouldn't the hard drive kits come with this kind of cable? For exampleDetails
- In the box
- 3.5-inch SATA internal hard drive
- SATA interface cable
- 4-pin to 15-pin power adapter
Wouldn't that "SATA interface cable" be the "data cable" referred to above?
Just to clarify more, this is the drive I was looking at getting
Maxtor / Seagate 500GB SATA II 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 3.5 inch
Manufacturer Part Number: STM305004N1AAAS-RK
Message Edited by ezatnova on 11-27-2007 10:50 AM
Message Edited by ezatnova on 11-27-2007 10:50 AM - In the box
shesagordie
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Posted November 27th, 2007 18:00
ezatnova
These are generic instructions for installing an additional hard drive using Windows XP Disk Management, they are by Seagate, but apply to all makes
Only the retail boxed version of the hard drive have the data cable included, the OEM version does not.
The retail boxed Maxtor, STM305004N1AAAS-RK ahould fine.
One question, how long is the warranty, there's one to five years on hard drives.
Bev.
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Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered- Thanks Bev,The warranty says "3 years limited warranty" on the box. Should I be concerned?! I was thinking of using the included software CD to clone my current 80 GB to the 500 GB and use the 500 as my new main primary drive, and the old 80 GB as the new secondary. Should I not do that? Am I asking for trouble?BTW, Office Depot has this thing (retail box obviously) for $109 with no rebate hassle, on sale this week...so it seems like a good deal given the specs (500GB, SATA 300 and 16 MB cache)
Message Edited by ezatnova on 11-27-2007 03:36 PM
Message Edited by ezatnova on 11-27-2007 03:36 PM shesagordie
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Posted November 27th, 2007 23:00
ezatnova
Three years is fine, just did not want you to buy a drive with only one year.
Cloning the drive should fine, but make certain the imaging utility will, expand the C:/ partition size to fit the new hard drive.
That seems a good price for a 500gb SATA retail box drive, especially as I believe, that Maxtor includes the excellent Acronis imaging utility.
Bev.
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Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.- Thanks Bev,I went ahead and just installed the drive as a second unit and I think I'll keep Windows on the original 80 GB and not mess with cloning. The install went fairly smoothly thanks to the help on here. I had two minor glitches, one comical.1. I installed the drive and put EVERYTHING back together, feeling confident...plugged it in and - NO POWER. Pressing the power button did nothing. I felt sick to my stomach thinking I fried the machine somehow. Then I remembered I yanked that green plastic power button housing out of the clip on the inside of the case, to make finagling the HD brackets easier...and I forgot to put it back, so the "button" on the front of the case was pressing into air, not the switch, DOH!2. After managing to get power to it, I turned it on and my Disk Manager didn't see the drive. I restarted again and went into the F2 system setup and noticed the SATA2 was disabled "off", so I turned it to "on" and restarted again, and the Disk Manager saw it after that, and I could initialize and partition/format.ThanksI guess I got the upgrade bug now. Just noticed that 1 GB DDR2 chips are dirt cheap even for name brand ones. Picked up a pair of 1GB Kingstons for $44 shipped. 2.5 GB total should keep it happy.
shesagordie
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Posted November 28th, 2007 21:00
ezatnova
Thank you for the feedback, pleased to hear the installation went well.
Bev.
Ps. The 'upgrade bug' can really get to you, I'm always finding ways to 'improve' my systems.
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shesagordie
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Posted November 25th, 2007 18:00
Yes, you need a SATA hard drive.
How to install a second SATA hard drive in the D-4700,
SATA does not use "Slave-Master" jumper settings, the connectors on the motherboard determines the C: / hard drive.
The primary C: / hard drive, connects to SATA-0 and the second [Slave] drive to SATA-2,
See here.
Dell's instructions for installing a second hard drive, are here.
There should be a spare SATA power connector inside the case, but you need to buy SATA data cable for the second hard drive.
After the drive is installed, check in the setup that the hard drive is set to "Auto" [on].
Then the hard drive, must be patitioned and formatted. These are generic instructions for installing an additional hard drive using Windows XP Disk Management, they are by Seagate, but apply to all brands.
For instructions for installing an additional hard drive using Windows Vista Disk Management, check out the generic procedures in Option 2 Here.
Bev.
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Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.
Message Edited by shesagordie on 11-25-2007 02:58 PM