Installing a second SATA hard drive.

[vbnm247]

Hi all. Well my current Hard drive is a 74gig WD raptor and is starting to run out of space. To my good fortune I have managed to buy a second 74gig WD raptor on the cheap and want to install this along side my current drive. I have consulted my motherboard manual and the internet and it seems pretty straightforward: I connect the second hdd into sata port 2, hook it up to the power supply and thats pretty much it. So I have a couple of questions before I go ahead:

1)) Is it really this easy?

2)) The second drive has an installation of xp, will this be formatted automatically or could it cause issues?

3)) Raid configurations confuse me a little bit, is there a particualr option I should go for?

Installing graphic cards and sound cards are all I am experienced in so I want to be sure I dont mess things up

Thanks for any advice.

[jamin]

Hi dude,

In answer to you questions:

1) Yep... but when you fire up you need to enter the bios config (del or F10 or F12 etc.) and make sure the new drive is detected and that the boot drive is still set to your original drive.

2) Providing you don't boot from the new drive it shouldn't cause problems and defo wont be formated. unless you format it yourself. Its not ideal to have another drive with an OS from another PC though.

3) Don't set up raid mate. Leave well alone if you want to keep both disks seperate and their data intact.

I have assumed that you want both drives structure left intact and you wont be booting from the new drive

[vbnm247]

Hi dude,

In answer to you questions:

1) Yep... but when you fire up you need to enter the bios config (del or F10 or F12 etc.) and make sure the new drive is detected and that the boot drive is still set to your original drive.

2) Providing you don't boot from the new drive it shouldn't cause problems and defo wont be formated. unless you format it yourself.

3) Don't set up raid mate. Leave well alone if you want to keep both disks seperate and their data intact.

I have assumed that you want both drives structure left intact and you wont be booting from the new drive

Thanks for the quick reply.

Well I figured I would use the second drive for storage only and boot from original drive. I have never had two hardrives before so, as silly as this might sound, I am a bit unsure how they will be used. I mean if I install games on the second drive will that cause probs due to the windows installation being on the original drive?

[peterb]

No it wont, however it might be a better idea to move all your personal data to the new drive and continue to use the original drive for the operating system and applications only. But if you do install applications on the second drive, it shouldn't cause any problems.

[jamin]

Ok, prob the best thing would be to copy/backup everything you need from the new drive and then format it. Theres no need to keep the XP install on it unless you plan on putting back in the pc it came from or you are otherwise attached to it. If you try booting from the new drive with an XP install from another PC on it, you won't get very far.

Once formatted you should have no probs installing games to the new drive, just select where you want them installed when you run the installer. But installing to a second drive doesn't mean you can swap it into another PC and play your games on it.

[vbnm247]

Thanks for the help guys. There is nothing on the second drive I need or that the friend I got it from needs. I would like the full 74gig to go towards storage, i.e games heh, cos there are a lot of games coming out that is going to put me over my current 74gig limit (down to last 15gig :O).

So installing the drive looks pretty easy, once it is connected and showing in the bios as a second drive is it a simple process to format the second drive and have the pc recognise it as simply a second drive?

[jamin]

Bingo.... once installed it should show up as a new drive letter mate... then format the badboy... then install your games..

[vbnm247]

Ok, thanks a lot peterb and jamin, great advice. Gona install it now. Tried to thank ya's for the help but couldnt see the option.

[jamin]

No worries, thanks button is on the lower right of each individual post m8.

[vbnm247]

I checked lower right of posts but it only shows Send pm, quote, multi-quote and quick reply

Well I tried installing second hdd and it is not detected either in the bios or windows. Double checked the connections and still no luck. Searched the internet and a bios upgrade was mentiond (in general not spicifically for my board), didnt try a different SATA port as posts suggest SATA 2 should be fine. Might be the drive.

[TAKTAK]

I checked lower right of posts but it only shows Send pm, quote, multi-quote and quick reply

the thanks button only becomes available after a certain post count

see my sig for details (post counts and other rewards)


and as to your problem, what happens if you force the drive into SATA1 (using the jumpers on the back)

[vbnm247]

the thanks button only becomes available after a certain post count

see my sig for details (post counts and other rewards)


and as to your problem, what happens if you force the drive into SATA1 (using the jumpers on the back)

That explains why i cant say thanks then, shame

I checked my drives and they dont have the small plastic block to change the jumper settings, but I just read "there's no need to jumper anything, since SATA does not know "Master" or "Slave" drives, but is purely point-to-point", I am trying to google for answers but not sure what to try next, dont really want to mess with a bios update. My friend can give me my money back for the drive, but it would have been a bargain at £20

[jamin]

Is sata channel 2 active in the bios mate, you may need to enable it.

[vbnm247]

Is sata channel 2 active in the bios mate, you may need to enable it.

SATA 2 shows [Not Detected]. When I enter it it gives me a list:

Type [Auto]
LBA/Large Mode [Auto]
Block (Multi-sector Transfer) [Auto]
PIO Mode [Auto]
DMA Mode [Auto]
Smart Monitoring [Auto]
32Bit Data Transfer [Enabled]

Under SATA Configuration it has:

SATA Configuration [Enhanced]
Configure SATA as [IDE]

Dont know if I needed to type all that so sorry if I went a bit overboard

Thanks for all the help, apreciate it a lot

[jamin]

I made the assumption that you plugged the drive into sata 2, but can you chack which port it's actually plugged into mate. The manual for your board says you have 6 sata ports... I don't want to teach granny to suck eggs but lets confirm we are looking at the correct port. I know from bitter experience how easy it is to miss the most basic of problems.

Have looked at the manual for your P5K3 deluxe mate. Firstly try changing this biios setting:

Configure SATA as [IDE] (Change this value to AHCI to switch away from IDE)

Only do this for the port your new drive is plugged inro mate.

If I have understood an new option which you need to select should now appear:

AHCI Configuration

Select the port in question and confirm the following options are set:

SATA Port [Auto]
Smart Monitoring [Auto]

The SATA Port option above Will disable the port if set to [Not installed]

Your Bios will autodetect Sata devices on all 6 ports if correctly set.. So if your new drive isn't detected on the port you plugged it into on your board we are probably looking at a hardware/cable/connector issue.

Check that the new drive is spinning up when you boot up, swap the power connector, swap Sata cable, swap port, check connectors for damage/debris.

And if all the above fails I would think the drive is faulty mate.

[vbnm247]

I made the assumption that you plugged the drive into sata 2, but can you chack which port it's actually plugged into mate. The manual for your board says you have 6 sata ports... I don't want to teach granny to suck eggs but lets confirm we are looking at the correct port. I know from bitter experience how easy it is to miss the most basic of problems.

Have looked at the manual for your P5K3 deluxe mate. Firstly try changing this biios setting:

Configure SATA as [IDE] (Change this value to AHCI to switch away from IDE)

Only do this for the port your new drive is plugged inro mate.

If I have understood an new option which you need to select should now appear:

AHCI Configuration

Select the port in question and confirm the following options are set:

SATA Port [Auto]
Smart Monitoring [Auto]

The SATA Port option above Will disable the port if set to [Not installed]

Your Bios will autodetect Sata devices on all 6 ports if correctly set.. So if your new drive isn't detected on the port you plugged it into on your board we are probably looking at a hardware/cable/connector issue.

Check that the new drive is spinning up when you boot up, swap the power connector, swap Sata cable, swap port, check connectors for damage/debris.

And if all the above fails I would think the drive is faulty mate.

Thanks again for all the help. Tried everything you said and still no luck. I am just going to get my money back for the drive as it might be faulty. Thanks again for the advice, very much appreciated