Adding a second hard drive check ?

[kevh]

Hi

 

Just about to order a second hard drive for my home Dell and thought i d double check here that it is ok to do and if there are any tips/extra parts cables etc or reasons not to :)

 

Documentation My Home Dell Spec

 

Samsung 250GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 8MB Cache - OEM - Ebuyer Hard Drive

 

Cheers Kev :cool:

[Dalo Harkin]

Hi Kev,

 

The documentation says it will support 4x SATA devices so you have no problems upgrading.

With expansion you need to check the cost per GB, while the one you listed is around £25 for 250GB a 1TB drive is only around £50-£60 now if that.

just get the biggest you can afford as you will be amazed how much you store on it when you have the space readily available.

 

I have a WHS with over 10TB and im running out of space :D

[kevh]

Hi Dalo

 

Thanks for reply

 

From what i ve read it seems its just a matter of fixing in place , attaching power and sata cables and turning on is that about right. ( No jumpers with sata ?)

 

Is there drivers to install or does it just run?

 

10TB!!!:eek: man what have got on there, all the politicians expense claims or something!!!! :D

 

Might go for WD 500gb (£15 more) then to be on save side and to match a external HD for backup.

 

Cheers Kev

[Dalo Harkin]

lol - yeah its just a case of fixing in place like you would an optical drive BUT I would have thought you have a specific section in the PC for HDDs, if you whip the side off and they have used drive rails then you need some of them too they basically attach either side of the HDD and make it the same width as an optical drive ;)

 

plug the SATA cable in (SATA2 latch cables are best as they click and hold into place) whereas the SATA1 just plugged in and had a habit of wabbling loose :eek:

you will have to go to control panel>advanced options>disk management and initialise the disk for it to be seen in windows but thats it

 

No jumpers with SATA no they are all primary (the witchcraft that you MOBO does may show it differently in the post screen but dont worry :D)

 

No I dont have the disk that the Government 'misplaced' (there have been so many misplaced it would probably accumilate to more than 10TB :p)

 

If you have plenty of PCs/do lots of streaming and have some old kit lying around then it does automated backups, streams, duplicates data. I love the WHS OS as its based around Server 2003 and any old drives can just be added to the storage pool or backup pool and away it goes.

 

Just checking I covered all your points before I got carried away trying to plug WHS :D

Edited May 12, 2010 by Dalo Harkin

[kevh]

No I dont have the disk that the Government 'misplaced' (there have been so many misplaced it would probably accumilate to more than 10TB :p)

 

LOL

 

Thanks Dalo youre a star!

 

Cheers Kev :cool:

[Dalo Harkin]

No worries and if you do have any issues then you know where we are :)

[kevh]

Hi

 

Just got around to fitting new second hd :rolleyes:

 

When i switched on no listing in Computer , Disk management or in the bios :(

 

Is there something i need to switch on or is i t a duffer?!?:confused:

 

Only thing i might try is that Sata no.3 was white plastic and no.4 was black so might try changing over .

 

Cheers Kev :cool:

[kevh]

piccy:cool:

[kevh]

Have tried both ports on motherboard and 2 different cables , only thing to try is to install in Work pc (not too keen on doing) to see if any good , else it will be return to Dabs .:rolleyes:

 

Cheers Kev:cool:

[kevh]

Works perfectly on my work pc!!! :confused::confused::confused::confused:

 

Kinda didnt want that to happen as if faulty would get new one sent and off id go.

 

Any ideas what to check on my Home pc (Dell 531) to get the drive working would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheeers Kev :cool:

[kevh]

Hi Joe

 

Thanks for reply you are a star, had just found simalar info on another site too:

 

Re: Only 2 SATA ports working on Dell 531

hey had the same problem, here is the solution

go into the bios by hitting F2 at start up

once in the bios goto "Advanced"

Hit <Enter> on "Integrated Peripherals"

and then Hit <Enter> on the Sata -ATA Configuration

and set it to Sata 1+2

save your bios and your drives will now work.

Cheers

 

 

Bloody DELL!! 2 evenings wasted messin all because of one discreet bios setting. :rolleyes:

 

In what situation would you gain from having 2 ports switched off !!??

 

Well i'll be very happy now if it works later at home .

 

Thanks for help

 

Cheers Kev :cool:

[kevh]

Its ALIVE!!!!!! :D

 

The info in the previous post worked a treat and now have an extra 500gb to play with

 

Glad i didnt go thru the hassle of sending back to Dabs!

 

Still not happy with DELL but then its all working again :)

 

Thanks all for help.

 

Cheers Kev :cool2: