Adding 2nd hard drive

[DaleT]

I recently parted out and older computer that I no longer have any use for as a whole, some of the components have already been scavenged to update my other units. What I'm looking to do is take the hd, 40g Wester Digital (WD400) and use it a slave drive. After I add it to the system I will re-format it as there are no files on it that I need. I'm currently running winXP pro with one 40g hd on a 1gig pentium processor with 352mb ram. My question is what do I need to do to add this drive? Is it a simple plug and play operation or are there setting that I have to adjust manually either prior to adding the drive or after? Also after the unit reconizes the drive what is the easies way to format it?

 

[Mark42]

Re: Adding 2nd hard drive

Go to the western digital website. They have all the drives listed they ever made. Look your model up, and it will tell you the different jumper pin settings for master, slave, cable select, etc. If you are adding it as a secondary drive, then use the slave or cable select setting. The PC should have the existing drive connected to the cable using the last (end) connector. Add the new drive to the connector in the middle of the cable. <br /><br />You should find answers to all your questions about adding a second drive on the WD website. I like them, partially because of the support they offer.

 

[petryshyn]

Re: Adding 2nd hard drive

No drivers required. As Mark says, set the jumpers appropriately. Formatting is easy. Just right mouse click the drive from "Explorer" and select format

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Adding 2nd hard drive

Formatting HDDs gets easier with Win XP. Right-click on My Computer in the Start menu; choose Manage; then choose Disk Management. Everything you need to partition, (re)name, and/or format a HDD is in there. It’s pretty much self-explanatory, won’t wipe out anything unless you conform two or three times.<br /><br />After you add the second HDD, it will show up in the disk management tool, but won’t be named or mounted. Click on the pane for that disk and the options become available.<br /><br />I’m in an out-of-phase time-warp, so a couple other folks here can probably help you if you get stuck with the disk management tool.

 

[timfromfc]

Re: Adding 2nd hard drive

No drivers is correct. Most computers these days support plug and play and most use the "Cable Select" jumper settings on the drive. Formatting may not be necessary, but if you do, using the "NTFS" option has some advantages over the "FAT32" option - particularly if you want to store files that are >4GB.

 

[DHPMARINE]

Re: Adding 2nd hard drive

DaleT, Before you do this (I realize you HAVE a drive you want to use) look into external hard drives.I've seen 80 gig units around $70.00.Easy connect,no muss or fuss.<br /><br />DHP

 

[harkawy]

Re: Adding 2nd hard drive

DaleT,<br /><br />Also consider an external USB2 case. The case comes with a power supply and cable for less than $50. This way, you can unplug it from one computer and plug it into another. Makes for transfering files reeeaaalll easy, short of a LAN. I have two; an 80gig and a 240gig. I use the 240 for storing Norton Ghost images for the other drives. Saved my a$$ a few times.

 

[jimalsk]

Re: Adding 2nd hard drive

Dale it is easy. 1)Move the jumper pin to slave on the back of the old hard drive, make sure the new drive is pinned to master. 2) Hook up the IDE ribbon to the drive, the one in the middle of the ribbon goes to the slave and the one on the end goes to the master drive,it may be marked secondary or slave. 3)Hook the power lead to it, it looks like the same one going to the master drive, that is if your power supply has one most likely it does. 4) Power up the computer windows should recognize the new hardware. Click on my computer and you should see an icon for the slave drive. If it does not go to control panel,administrative tools,computer management and lastly disk management.Assign it a letter and your good to go. I assume you know how to reformat the drive if not right click on the slave icon and click reformat. Hope this helps

 

[beezee28]

Re: Adding 2nd hard drive

When you get to the disk management section, click on the new drive and make it active. You can reassign new drive letter here and also make partition too.