Answers inline.
Brian said:
9Tb is unnecessary right now. Later on, probably. I just was asking to get an
idea.
I asked about FAT32 and the NTFS files in another post. It's ironic that
this is what I am looking for to know and that it is posted here. Does
installing hard-drives have to do with paritioning? I read off microsofts
site that I can even parition a drive myself. But do not want to if
un-needed. I may even bring my tower into the store so they do it. Do drives
ever come paritioned? I assume not and that in this year/era it is
unnecessary.
You install a hard drive, to increase the storage space in the computer.
You partition a hard drive, according to whatever scheme you want to use
for organizing the information on it. To give an example, one of my drives
has FAT32, NTFS, and an EXT2 partition. The EXT2 is used to boot a Linux
OS. The FAT32 and NTFS are for Windows. The NTFS is reserved for storing large
files, such as that movie I recorded with a WinTV card. The FAT32 is used
for trivial stuff, like my Windows OS. There is still a danger, that the
4GB limit of FAT32 could cause me some grief in daily usage. At least one
tool I use (VirtualPC) is clever enough to use multiple files to get
around the 4GB limit.
On the specs for my computer (from ACERs web-site) it says: Storage: Up to
400GB Hard Disk Drive SATA (selected models). But in that same section, it
talks about (selected models) containing floppy disk drives or a 9 in 1 card
reader, etc. So I didn't want to think 400Gb is all the computer could handle.
SATA or Serial ATA, is based on the preceding ATA standards. It already supports
48 bit LBA, so should be able to handle large drives.
You should be able to plug in a 2TB drive and have it work.
Before doing so, you would make sure that WinXP is updated to at least
Service Pack 1. SP1 is what provided proper support for SATA (on the Southbridge)
and also for large disks. You want your WinXP patched to at least that level, to avoid
potential corruption issues. *Note* - When using large disks, if you're using
more than one OS (i.e. booting Win2K and WinXP), you want to make sure that
both OSes can handle large disks. If an OS cannot handle large disks properly,
there is a risk of corrupting the file system. On my current computer, I
run Win2K SP4 and WinXP SP3, as dual boot, and both of those patch levels
are sufficient to handle a 2TB disk without problems. Back when I was running
Win2K SP2, if I had a large disk connected, it could have corrupted it if I
attempted access of the large disk. (I avoided that problem, for a period of
months, by not defining any partitions above the 137GB mark.) So make sure
you're patched along far enough, to avoid a problem like that. Since Acer says
you could have a 400GB disk, that implies the version of WinXP shipped with
the machine, must have been at least SP1.
If you weren't patched to at least that level, this is how you avoid problems.
If all in use partitions are below 137GB, they won't be harmed. I ran this
way with WinXP SP2 and IDE disks for a while and nothing bad happened.
If I'd defined a partition further up, it would have been a problem. Now
that Win2K is patched to SP4, I'm able to use more of the space.
<----------- 137GB --------> <-------------- ~1300GB --------------->
+-------+-------------------+---------------------------------------+
| MBR | NTFS | Empty |
+-------+-------------------+---------------------------------------+
I don't think I need 10,000W yet. Yes, I have run out of plug-ins and bought
another extension cord. But I do unplug my external drive when not in use.
I'm using a SATA drive. I think PATA is older, I don't need that. There is
one more SATA connector from the power supply.
You need a 7 contact SATA data connector on the motherboard. You need a 15 contact
SATA power connector on the power supply. Plug in both cables to the drive.
Make sure the drive is secured inside the computer, using screws, the sliders,
and make sure the clips on the sliders are clicked into place. That helps avoid
accidents if you're moving the computer around in your room. Some computers have
screw-less tooling for drives, where the slides or retention mechanism just
snaps into place.
The original SATA connectors were not very secure, and could fall off a hard drive.
Later generations of cabling and connectors, have a bit better retention. If you
have problems where the drive disappears, you might suspect the connector has
fallen off. Also, be careful not to break off the connector on the hard drive.
SATA hard drives are not as robust to damage, as the PATA ones. At least,
I've heard of more people breaking the contacts on their SATA drives, than
doing something nasty to a PATA drive. (On PATA, you can bend and crush pins,
but I haven't seen a posting lately from someone who has done that.)
I know I can get model numbers and (I assume) look at specs, but how do I
tell what type of Watts my system needs with what is in there and what I want
to get inside? In a different post I received a mathematical equation. If
that is what I have to do, then I'll use it. But each product will state what
that product needs on the product specifications, not what all the products
need while booting up and when being used.
I have a simple rule for that, involving no math. Roughly speaking, if you
have fewer than a total of four hard drives, you can effectively ignore power.
Sure, there might be a prehistoric Emachine with 250W supply, drawing close
to that limit, where adding a single hard drive would "tip it over". But generally
speaking, in round terms, up to four hard drives, there is no math to do.
Otherwise, you'll force me to calculate it for you
If this is just the
second drive in your system, I would not worry. When you get to the point,
you want to add the six 1.5TB drives, come back and see me. It would take
a whole posting to address it properly.
This situation relates to me maybe upgrading my graphics card , putting in a
blu-ray-rom(?), a fan (?) and a tv tuner (?) etc. I don't want to blow the
system by not having adequate power. I wouldn't be going for what is exactly
the newest products or versions (blu-ray or large internals would be the
newer products I'm looking at). If I wanted completely new right now, I may
as well get a new computer (I know.).
If you want me to do a power calculation, you need to provide:
1) Picture of the power supply label. If you don't have a link to a picture to
offer me, you must copy *all* the numbers printed on the label on the side
of the power supply. They're all important.
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/6100/imgp2726p.jpg
2) Complete hardware inventory. Just telling me the model of computer isn't
enough, because more junk may have been added. The more thorough you are,
the more accurate I can be.
<<snip>>
A separate drive is great for scratch, such as temporarily storing my 132GB
recorded movie from the WinTV card.
Just remember to disable System Restore on the new drive. WinXP has an awful
habit of enabling System Restore on every drive it can find. System Restore
should only really be tracking partitions where your programs and operating
system are stored. If you "go backwards in time" with System Restore, it can
erase your most recent downloads. So you'll want to go into the System control
panel, look at the System Restore tab, and keep System Restore running for whatever
partition(s) have your installed programs or the OS. On my machine right
now, only C: has program installations and the OS, so that is the partition
where System Restore is enabled. It is a good thing I just checked my Video
drive, because I hadn't turned off System Restore for that one yet. If I
were to go backwards a week in time, my 132GB video file would have been
erased
System Restore allows going back to a different point in time. System Restore
only tracks certain areas of a disk. For example, it doesn't track the
contents of My Documents, so your downloads would be safe in there, as would
your personal data files. If you had a directory like C:\downloads, the
changes there would be tracked, which could be disastrous if you need to
use a restore point.
Paul
