Adding HDD,s

  • Thread starter Thread starter +q
  • Start date Start date
Q

+q

Hi ,
I have a PIII computer and I run 3 hard drives plus a DVD burner . My
question is can I somehow add another HDD ? there are only 2 IDE sockets ,
and I have two drives on each cable , plus the BIOS only has 4 options
listed . I know its an old system , but I am just wondering if anyone has
any tips if this could be done or not ?

Thanks
 
Hi ,
I have a PIII computer and I run 3 hard drives plus a DVD burner . My
question is can I somehow add another HDD ?
Yes

there are only 2 IDE sockets ,
and I have two drives on each cable , plus the BIOS only has 4 options
listed . I know its an old system , but I am just wondering if anyone has
any tips if this could be done or not ?
Click to expand...

You need a PCI controller card (unless you wanted an
external drive, but your system probably has only USB1, not
USB2, so it'd be incredibly slow).

There are commonly SCSI, SATA, and PATA (IDE). Since your
present drives are PATA, that'd be most compatible. If you
want forward-support for the newest drives you could get
SATA, but then it'll only support any future drives
purchased, not present. SCSI, well, really not
cost-effective for your present setup.

Most commonly used solution to your problem would be adding
a "Promise Ultra133 TX2" card., though there are several
other makes & models.
 
kony said:
You need a PCI controller card (unless you wanted an
external drive, but your system probably has only USB1, not
USB2, so it'd be incredibly slow).

There are commonly SCSI, SATA, and PATA (IDE). Since your
present drives are PATA, that'd be most compatible. If you
want forward-support for the newest drives you could get
SATA, but then it'll only support any future drives
purchased, not present. SCSI, well, really not
cost-effective for your present setup.

Most commonly used solution to your problem would be adding
a "Promise Ultra133 TX2" card., though there are several
other makes & models.
Click to expand...

..............
Thanks very much for the info . Would I have to change the BIOS to recognise
the extra drive ?
 
+q said:
.............
Thanks very much for the info . Would I have to change the BIOS to
recognise
the extra drive ?
Click to expand...

shouldnt need to do anything in BIOS

slap the card in, windows shuld recognise it, install drivers, re boot

plug extra IDE drive into whichever IDE controller card you go for

boot up

wehay and extra drive appears in windows

it really is that simple
 
Christo said:
shouldnt need to do anything in BIOS

slap the card in, windows shuld recognise it, install drivers, re boot

plug extra IDE drive into whichever IDE controller card you go for

boot up

wehay and extra drive appears in windows

it really is that simple
Click to expand...

......................
being able to add another HDD solves a lot of problems , thanks .
 
+q said:
.............
Thanks very much for the info . Would I have to change the BIOS to
recognise
the extra drive ?
Click to expand...

Not the "normal" BIOS, but I recently added an expansion card in a friend's
computer, and that had it's own BIOS. It shows up after Your normal BIOS has
gone by during boot-up, and then You have to press a certain key combination
(shown on the screen) to enter the setup. There, the HDD is auto-detected.
It is really very simple and I am sure You'll manage!

Good luck, hoping to have been of help to You.
Sincerely,
Rene

P.S. If You would ever decide to use a drive connected to the card as boot
drive, You probably would have to choose "Boot from SCSI first" in the
normal BIOS. Even though it is not SCSI at all (took me some time to figure
that out on my friend's computer). I mention this because Your new harddrive
and the expansion card will probably be much faster than Your current
interface/drive, making it an attractive option to use Your new stuff as
primary controller/drive.
 
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