[bluetown]

Hello all,

I want to replace my existing 16GB 5200RPM Hard drive for a 160GB 7200 RPM hard drive.

I have taken the casing off my PC and found the hard drive which has an IDE connection.

I feel able to physically take out and replace the hard drive but concerned about getting the PC usable again.
Once the hard drive is replaced, do I just press the start up button and insert my Windows XP home disc and install that?

I am not comfortable with going into BIOS mode or any blue screens, will I need to do that?

Thanks for any information.

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Thanks for the reply.

That is a good point.

So I could take the old hard drive out carefully and store it, install the new hard drive and then try to install my Windows XP cd onto it.
If it works then that's fine and I can then add any software I want to.

Or if I can't get the Windows CD to install I can always get the original hard drive back in until I do some more research.

As long as the PC will work as normal after re-installing the old hard drive I feel comfortable at attempting this so will order one.

Would you please look at the following 3 and tell me which if any should be avoided for any reason?

SEAGATE HARD DISK IDE 160GB UDMA100 7200RPM 2MB OEM
Temperature Operating 0°C to 60°C
Width 102mm
Average Seek 11ms
Length 147mm
Capacity 160GB
Non-operating Shock 1ms 350G
Height 20mm
Buffer Size 2MB
Operating Shock 2ms 63G
Weight 380g
Average Latency 4.16ms
Temperature Non-operating -40°C to 75°C
Warranty 5 Years
Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Series Barracuda 7200.10
Enclosure Type Internal
Package Type OEM
Interface S-ATA/300
Model Number ST3160215AS
Special Features Ultra-fast performance‚Superb reliability‚Whisper-quiet operation‚Enhanced G-Force Protection against handling damage‚78 MB/s maximum sustained data transfer rate‚Clean Sweep calibration and Directed Offline scan diagnostics
Transfer Rates Up to 100MB/s

SEAGATE HARD DISK IDE 160GB UDMA100 7200RPM 8MB OEM
Temperature Operating 0°C to 60°C
Width 101.6mm
Average Seek 11ms
Length 146.99mm
Capacity 160GB
Height 19.99mm
Non-operating Shock 2ms 350G
Operating Shock 2ms 63G
Weight 380g
Average Latency 4.16ms
Temperature Non-operating -40°C to 70°C
Warranty 5 Years
Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Buffer Size 8MB
Series Barracuda 7200.10
Enclosure Type Internal
Package Type OEM
Interface P-ATA/100
Model Number ST3160815A
Special Features Ultra-fast performance‚Superb reliability‚Whisper-quiet operation‚Enhanced G-Force Protection against handling damage‚Clean Sweep calibration and Directed Offline scan diagnostics‚RoHS (restriction of hazardous substances) compliant
Transfer Rates Up to 100MB/s

WD HARD DISK IDE 250GB UDMA 100 7200RPM 2MB 1YR
Net Weight 0.60Kg
Gross Weight 0.60Kg
Warranty 1 Year
Width 101.6mm
Length 147mm
Capacity 250GB
Height 26.1mm
Buffer Size 2MB
Non-operating Shock 2ms 250G
Operating Shock 2ms 65G
Average Latency 4.20ms
Temperature Non-operating -40°C to 65°C
Temperature Operating 5°C to 55°C
Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Average Seek 8.9ms
Enclosure Type Internal
Package Type OEM
Interface P-ATA/100
Transfer Rates Up to 100MB/s
Series WD Caviar
Model Number WD2500BB-OOFTA0

[bluetown]

Thanks for the reply.

That is a good point.

So I could take the old hard drive out carefully and store it, install the new hard drive and then try to install my Windows XP cd onto it.
If it works then that's fine and I can then add any software I want to.

Or if I can't get the Windows CD to install I can always get the original hard drive back in until I do some more research.

As long as the PC will work as normal after re-installing the old hard drive I feel comfortable at attempting this so will order one.

Would you please look at the following 3 and tell me which if any should be avoided for any reason?

SEAGATE HARD DISK IDE 160GB UDMA100 7200RPM 2MB OEM
Temperature Operating 0°C to 60°C
Width 102mm
Average Seek 11ms
Length 147mm
Capacity 160GB
Non-operating Shock 1ms 350G
Height 20mm
Buffer Size 2MB
Operating Shock 2ms 63G
Weight 380g
Average Latency 4.16ms
Temperature Non-operating -40°C to 75°C
Warranty 5 Years
Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Series Barracuda 7200.10
Enclosure Type Internal
Package Type OEM
Interface S-ATA/300
Model Number ST3160215AS
Special Features Ultra-fast performance‚Superb reliability‚Whisper-quiet operation‚Enhanced G-Force Protection against handling damage‚78 MB/s maximum sustained data transfer rate‚Clean Sweep calibration and Directed Offline scan diagnostics
Transfer Rates Up to 100MB/s

SEAGATE HARD DISK IDE 160GB UDMA100 7200RPM 8MB OEM
Temperature Operating 0°C to 60°C
Width 101.6mm
Average Seek 11ms
Length 146.99mm
Capacity 160GB
Height 19.99mm
Non-operating Shock 2ms 350G
Operating Shock 2ms 63G
Weight 380g
Average Latency 4.16ms
Temperature Non-operating -40°C to 70°C
Warranty 5 Years
Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Buffer Size 8MB
Series Barracuda 7200.10
Enclosure Type Internal
Package Type OEM
Interface P-ATA/100
Model Number ST3160815A
Special Features Ultra-fast performance‚Superb reliability‚Whisper-quiet operation‚Enhanced G-Force Protection against handling damage‚Clean Sweep calibration and Directed Offline scan diagnostics‚RoHS (restriction of hazardous substances) compliant
Transfer Rates Up to 100MB/s

WD HARD DISK IDE 250GB UDMA 100 7200RPM 2MB 1YR
Net Weight 0.60Kg
Gross Weight 0.60Kg
Warranty 1 Year
Width 101.6mm
Length 147mm
Capacity 250GB
Height 26.1mm
Buffer Size 2MB
Non-operating Shock 2ms 250G
Operating Shock 2ms 65G
Average Latency 4.20ms
Temperature Non-operating -40°C to 65°C
Temperature Operating 5°C to 55°C
Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Average Seek 8.9ms
Enclosure Type Internal
Package Type OEM
Interface P-ATA/100
Transfer Rates Up to 100MB/s
Series WD Caviar
Model Number WD2500BB-OOFTA0

[Kemasa]

BTW, some companies include a disk copy program so that you can transfer all of your data to the new disk. You just need to put both disks in at the same time, then run the program and after that remove the old drive (to save as a backup). You should be up and running on a larger disk.

[bluetown]

Thanks for the reply, I will go ahead and order.

I have been doing some reading and think I understand how to jumper the hard disk.

But why is it necesarry to format a new disc drive, I would have thought it would be empty/clean when new? (I understand format to mean wipe clean).

How do I "configure the systems CMOS so it knows that there is a drive?

[Kemasa]

Most recent machines the BIOS/CMOS settings are set to be automatic, so there is nothing that you need to do. You can set it to ignore a disk, but unless you did that, there is nothing to worry about. If you need to change it, you just go into setup and find the disk settings. The actual process depends on the motherboard firmware.

What is often called "formatting" is actually just creating a filesystem. It is best to recreate the filesystem just so that it is clean as you never know how it was actually created before, even from the manufacturer.

[bluetown]

Many thanks for all the help.
I have ordered and it should be with me by the 21st of May and I will let you know how I get on.

Regards