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Questions About New Harddrive To Windows XP SP2


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#1
VortexR18

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Hey guys quick questions. Well guys currently im running Windows SP1, im going to get a new hard drive and i wanted to install Windows XP SP2 on it because i want to go over 127gb and i cant do it with this hard drive as i have nothing to back up the data with if i was to reformat it to SP2. My question is, if i installed a new hard drive to this computer with SP2, could i use this current hard drive as a slave even though it runs on SP1? Also, im not quite sure if my computer can hold 2 hard drives. Is there any way or log i can let you guys see to check if i could.

I looked inside the computer myself and cant remember for the life of me if theres wires that let me hook up a new HDD to the power and motherboard. Im sorry im so confused. Thanks for the help and time.
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#2
Spyderturbo007

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It is more than possible to run the "old" drive along side the new drive, although there is no need to have two windows installations. I'm assuming you want to use the old drive for file storage or something like that? I personally have 3 hard drives in my PC currently, only because I'm too cheap to go out and buy a 1TB HDD. :)

Anyway, you'll have to crack open the case and see what type of drives are installed. There are two main types, IDE and SATA. If the drives are IDE, you'll see a wide, flat, gray ribbon cable connected to the back of the drive. If they are SATA, the cable will be much narrower and probably blue, red or yellow.

If they are SATA, it's cake to install the secondary drive. You'll just need another SATA cable to hook up the drive and off you go. If it's IDE, there is a little more work involved, but nothing too difficult. You'll need to check your current IDE cable for additional plugs. Typically, you'll see one end attached to the motherboard and the other attached to the back of the current hard drive. Somewhere between those two points, you'll see an additional connector for another hard drive. You'll want to change the jumpers on the back of both hard drives to a master slave relationship. Set the primary drive (the one with SP2) to master according to the diagram on the hard drive. Then set the secondary drive to slave. Boot to the BIOS, verify the drives are recognized and you're all set.
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#3
VortexR18

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You got it right, i wanted to run my old drive as a slave because i have SP1 and it only reads up to 127gb, so if i were to have my new 1TB HDD run slave, im assuming it would only read it as 127gb, dont want that. And yes sir you are correct, it is indeed SATA.

So if it is SATA, then all i need is jst another cable to plug into the back correct? No need for jumpers or a power cable?

Also, if i do indeed have SP2 running off of my new Hard Drive, will it be possible to go into my old 127gb HDD and partition the space that wasnt used? Again, Thanks For your help.
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#4
Spyderturbo007

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Typically, computers with SATA hard drives have multiple power connections for SATA drives. If not, you can always get an adapter. You would really need to open up the case of just to be sure. Here is what the power connector looks like, and here is an adapter if your power supply only has one.

When you format the old drive, you'll be able to use all the space available.

EDIT -> One thing that I forgot to mention is that you'll want to check the BIOS for your motherboard and make sure it supports large capacity disks. If it did, the installation of SP1 from the initial XP installation *should* have given back the missing space. Check the Disk Management Utility for a section of the drive listed as Unallocated Space.

You can get there by right clicking on My Computer, then Manage and finally Disk Management

Edited by Spyderturbo007, 22 December 2009 - 10:43 AM.

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#5
VortexR18

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Just opened up my case, I have the cords necessary to connect a new HDD according to what you showed me above.

Also, i wasn't planning on reformating this old drive, just to use it as a slave. And i did also check the instructions you posted and it doesnt have unallocated space. I know for sure though that if i were to reformat this harddrive with a CD of SP2, that I could use the remaining space. You mentioned that my motherboard had to be capable of reading higher memory HDD's. How do i check that?
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#6
dsenette

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um....why don't you just install service pack 2 or service pack 3 on the current hard drive? you don't have to install a new instance of windows to get the service pack
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#7
VortexR18

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well see i got this computer from a friend and the Windows key that was used wasnt a legit key, so i wanted to just get that new hard drive and put SP2 on it and use the SP1 HDD as a slave.
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#8
rshaffer61

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Then install a legal copy of XP on the new drive and have it update to SP3 or purchase XP with SP3 already with it.
Then format the old hard drive and use it for storage.
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#9
VortexR18

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Precisely, i have a legal disc and i want to put it on the new HDD, problem is, and the question ive been asking is, do i have to reformat my old HDD in order to use it as a slave? Or can i use it as a slave with reformatting.
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#10
rshaffer61

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Why would you not want to format it?
The drive would have a second OS on it that can't be used and does nothing but take up room on the hd.
Wouldn't you want the whole drive for storage or is there some data you need off the old hd first?
You can only boot to the main drive so having the second OS does you no good especially since the new HD will have the updated OS on it.
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#11
VortexR18

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Sorry i didnt clarify, i was going to move some data to the new HDD, i was just going to see if the old one would boot as a slave then i could transfer the data.
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#12
rshaffer61

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No the old one does not need to boot. Once you have the new HD loaded then you can just go through the Windows Explorer to copy the data you need from the old drive to the new drive. Then format the old drive after you are done.
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#13
VortexR18

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okay, thanks alot everyone
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#14
rshaffer61

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No problem and please let us know how everything goes or if you have any other questions we can answer.
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