for data storage ONLY

[Bill & Sue]

Ok, I have just bought a new 80Gb hard drive and just want to use it as a
slave drive for mp3's, videos and the like. Just data, no OS. It's
preformatted.

Can I just plug it in and go, or have I to do something else? Everywhere I
seem to look they are on about preparing drives for various operating
systems, primary, logical and extended that fit into logical.

I am a bit confused and as you can guess know nothing about the workings of
a computer.

Thank you

S

( XP Home by the way with access to Partiton manager)

 

[Rod Speed]

Ok, I have just bought a new 80Gb hard drive and
just want to use it as a slave drive for mp3's, videos
and the like. Just data, no OS. It's preformatted.

Can I just plug it in and go,

If it really is preformatted, yes.

or have I to do something else? Everywhere I seem to
look they are on about preparing drives for various operating
systems, primary, logical and extended that fit into logical.

I am a bit confused and as you can guess know
nothing about the workings of a computer.

( XP Home by the way with access to Partiton manager)

Just plug it in and see if its visible in XP.
It should be if its been preformatted.

 

[JonBoy]

... I just don't want my beloved mp3's to go down the tubes so I
will load a few in at a time and see what happens

If you're feeling unsure, maybe you should test the drive first:
Right-click on drive E: in Windows Explorer
Select Properties from the drop-down menu
Click the Tools tab
In the Error-checking box, click the Check Now button
In the pop-up that follows, select both Check Disk options
Click the Start button.