Adding second hard drive questions
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From: Just me on 16 May 2010 10:05 I have a Studio XPS 8100 with Windows 7 Home Premium, one hard drive and one DVD drive. The hard drive (c:) uses sata connector #1 on the motherboard. The DVD drive (f:) uses sata connector #2. I want to add a second hard drive and I want it to be drive e:. Can I just use either of the remaining sata connectors on the motherboard (#3 or #4) or should I switch the DVD drive to connector #3 and use connector #2 for the new hard drive? If I have to switch connectors for the DVD drive, will Win7 remember that it is drive e: or will I have to reassign it? Will the bios automatically pick up the new hard drive? Thanks! George gearlnospamno(a)nospamcomcast.net
From: Christopher Muto on 16 May 2010 18:04 Just me wrote: > I have a Studio XPS 8100 with Windows 7 Home Premium, one hard drive > and one DVD drive. The hard drive (c:) uses sata connector #1 on the > motherboard. The DVD drive (f:) uses sata connector #2. > > I want to add a second hard drive and I want it to be drive e:. > > Can I just use either of the remaining sata connectors on the > motherboard (#3 or #4) or should I switch the DVD drive to connector > #3 and use connector #2 for the new hard drive? > > If I have to switch connectors for the DVD drive, will Win7 remember > that it is drive e: or will I have to reassign it? > > Will the bios automatically pick up the new hard drive? > > Thanks! > > > George > gearlnospamno(a)nospamcomcast.net you can use any of the connectors for the new drive. you will need to enable the connector in the system bios before the drive is reconized. drive letter assignment depends on several things, but you can always reassign the designated drive letter to one that you want.
From: Daddy on 16 May 2010 21:20 Just me wrote: > I have a Studio XPS 8100 with Windows 7 Home Premium, one hard drive > and one DVD drive. The hard drive (c:) uses sata connector #1 on the > motherboard. The DVD drive (f:) uses sata connector #2. > > I want to add a second hard drive and I want it to be drive e:. > > Can I just use either of the remaining sata connectors on the > motherboard (#3 or #4) or should I switch the DVD drive to connector > #3 and use connector #2 for the new hard drive? > > If I have to switch connectors for the DVD drive, will Win7 remember > that it is drive e: or will I have to reassign it? > > Will the bios automatically pick up the new hard drive? > > Thanks! > > > George > gearlnospamno(a)nospamcomcast.net Use either SATA 3 or SATA 4. I chose SATA 3. Your choice of SATA connector has nothing to do with the drive letter assigned to your drive. Daddy
From: Tony Harding on 16 May 2010 23:58 On 05/16/10 10:05, Just me wrote: > I have a Studio XPS 8100 with Windows 7 Home Premium, one hard drive > and one DVD drive. The hard drive (c:) uses sata connector #1 on the > motherboard. The DVD drive (f:) uses sata connector #2. > > I want to add a second hard drive and I want it to be drive e:. > > Can I just use either of the remaining sata connectors on the > motherboard (#3 or #4) or should I switch the DVD drive to connector > #3 and use connector #2 for the new hard drive? > > If I have to switch connectors for the DVD drive, will Win7 remember > that it is drive e: or will I have to reassign it? > > Will the bios automatically pick up the new hard drive? Needs to be AUTO/ENABLED/ON/etc., but it should. You can set [almost] any drive to whatever you want, use Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management (might depend on your local Win 7 settings), right click on a drive and click on Change Drive Letter & Paths. Win might issue a caution, but go ahead. I've done it many times starting with XP. If the new HDD needs to be formatted, you have an opportunity to specify a drive letter then. What's the deal with D:? PS: I said [almost] because you cannot change your boot drive this way, nor can you change any drive which has a Paging File on it. Might be other exceptions I'm unaware of?
From: Michael Arm on 17 May 2010 19:06
On Sun, 16 May 2010 23:58:46 -0400, Tony Harding <tharding(a)newsguy.com> wrote: >On 05/16/10 10:05, Just me wrote: >> I have a Studio XPS 8100 with Windows 7 Home Premium, one hard drive >> and one DVD drive. The hard drive (c:) uses sata connector #1 on the >> motherboard. The DVD drive (f:) uses sata connector #2. >> >> I want to add a second hard drive and I want it to be drive e:. >> >> Can I just use either of the remaining sata connectors on the >> motherboard (#3 or #4) or should I switch the DVD drive to connector >> #3 and use connector #2 for the new hard drive? >> >> If I have to switch connectors for the DVD drive, will Win7 remember >> that it is drive e: or will I have to reassign it? >> >> Will the bios automatically pick up the new hard drive? > >Needs to be AUTO/ENABLED/ON/etc., but it should. > >You can set [almost] any drive to whatever you want, use Administrative >Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management (might depend on your local >Win 7 settings), right click on a drive and click on Change Drive Letter >& Paths. Win might issue a caution, but go ahead. I've done it many >times starting with XP. If the new HDD needs to be formatted, you have >an opportunity to specify a drive letter then. > >What's the deal with D:? > >PS: I said [almost] because you cannot change your boot drive this way, >nor can you change any drive which has a Paging File on it. Might be >other exceptions I'm unaware of? D: is probably his CD/DVD. My personal preference is to start at Z: and work backwards for things like that. He change his DVD Drive at the same time. Mike |