Jim:
Not to make your life more complicated (insofar as it pertains to the
topic under discussion of course!), but since we're on this interesting
topic and one which I hope others may be interested in, let me suggest
even another option for your consideration. If nothing else, it will
broaden your understanding of different approaches that one can consider
to accomplish a desired objective.
Assuming we're dealing with a desktop PC (which apparently is so in your
situation) and the computer case presently has available a vacant 5 1/4"
bay (that area which generally will contain a CD/DVD optical drive for
example), you might want to consider a removable HDD for your system.
For many years now we have strongly recommended this approach for desktop
PC users whose computer case contains one or more of the needed available
5 1/4" vacant bays. There are significant advantages to installing a
removable HDD in one's desktop PC. (As a matter of fact we even recommend
the installation of *two* removable HDDs when the physical requirements of
the desktop case are present, i.e., two vacant 5 1/4" bays are available).
I'm reasonably certain you're not familiar with these devices and I'm
similarly certain most other users aren't either, so let me provide some
details about these devices and enumerate their advantages...
The removable HDD is also known as a "mobile rack" device. The rack itself
is nothing more than a container for the removable HDD. It's a two-piece
affair - the rack itself which is affixed to the 5 1/4" bay in much the
same way one would install an optical drive, and the inner tray or caddy
(in which the hard drive resides) that slides in (and out of) the rack.
These mobile racks come in all-aluminum models or a combination of
aluminum-plastic or all-plastic models ranging in price from roughly $25
to $50. So they're not particularly expensive items. Mobile racks come in
various versions, depending upon whether the hard drive to be housed is an
IDE/PATA, SATA, or SCSI device. A Google search for "removable hard drive
mobile racks" will result in a wealth of information on these products and
their vendors.
(BTW, for the past three years or so since we've been primarily working
with SATA HDDs, we've been using the Athena Power MR-125 model which
newegg sells for about $21 (incl. shipping) - See
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817123302
It's an all-plastic model but has proven very reliable. We've installed
scores of these devices in various machines and have experienced very few
problems re defective units or other issues. One of its nice features is a
whisper-quiet 80 mm bottom-mounted fan.)
The installation of these devices is simplicity itself - no more difficult
than installing an optical drive. After the rack is installed you just
plop the hard drive into the removable tray (caddy), make two simple
connections (power & data cable - and depending upon the design of the
tray & rack even those connections are frequently unnecessary), and slide
the tray into the mobile rack. The SATA data cable and power cable from
the rack to the motherboard's SATA connector and the power supply
respectively are accordingly connected. Note that the removable hard drive
mobile racks we are discussing are designed to be installed in desktop
computers and not laptop or notebook computers. The size, weight, and
design considerations of laptops/notebooks do not allow for this hardware
configuration.
These mobile racks are nearly always equipped with a ON-OFF keylock, so
that
a simple turn of the key, in effect, activates the HDD. For added security
you can push or pull the removable tray in or out of the rack using the
tray's handle, thus electrically/physically connecting or disconnecting
the HDD from the system. Doing so is no more difficult than opening or
closing a small desk drawer.
Understand that the removable hard drive affairs we're discussing treat
the HDD in its mobile rack/removable tray as an *internal* HDD, not an
external HDD, so you have *all* the advantages of using that HDD as a
bootable, internal HDD.
Can you see the enormous advantage of this type of hardware configuration
as it applies to one's day-to-day computer activities? Consider these...
1. Now you will be able to maintain your working internal HDD "clean",
while you install this or that program on the removable HDD. You can "play
around" with all sorts of programs & configurations on that removable HDD
knowing that your "real" HDD is completely isolated from any problems that
may arise.
2. Assuming you have installed an operating system on the removable HDD or
(using a disk imaging/disk cloning program) "cloned" the contents of your
present internal HDD to the removable drive, you can boot to either HDD
without the need to enter the BIOS or use a third-party boot manager.
There is no need to modify the boot.ini file or any other system file.
3. Each drive is effectively isolated from each other, but if for any
reason you want both drives connected during bootup, you can easily
achieve that configuration as well by simply activating the removable HDD
to its "ON" position . It's an ideal system for computing with multiple
operating systems or meeting one's special interests.
4. Still another significant advantage of using a removable HDD is that
now a user can have an *unlimited* number of HDDs at his or her disposal
by simply using additional removable trays to house the drives. So that
another important advantage of using this hardware configuration is that
the user will be able to employ another removable HDD as the backup drive
for one's day-to-day working HDD or for any reason whatsoever.
5. Finally, since the HDD is easily removable from its mobile rack
container (no more difficult than ejecting a small desk drawer), the drive
secure in its tray is inherently mobile and can be physically removed to
another location for additional security should that be desired.
Thus, with a removable HDD one has all the advantages of an internal HDD
together with the security advantages of an external HDD.
We've worked with these removable hard drive affairs for about ten years
now and have helped hundreds of users install & operate this kind of
configuration. We have found this hardware arrangement a most desirable
configuration for many users. We've encountered no negative performance
issues using these devices in comparison with internally-installed HDDs
and find the flexibility and peace of mind a PC user gains from this
hardware arrangement an enormous advantage for him or her. Virtually every
user we've encountered who equipped their desktop PC with one or more
removable HDDs has had but one regret - that they didn't do it sooner.
In addition to the other approaches that have been suggested do give this
one some thought perhaps as a future option.
Anna
