[Denisejm]

The two gray slots are PCI the others are PCIe.  There are PCI 4 port SATA cards available.

 

Semlos 4 Ports PCI Sata Internal Raid Controller Card Sil3114 Chipset 013577 with 2 Sata Cables

 

$17.99

 

Would I have to buy 2 of these or can I keep the pci-e card that I have and keep the 4 hard drives connected to it and buy just one of these pci cards and connect 4 hard drives to it?  Would they interfere with each other?  (probably a very dumb question but I needed to ask)

 

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For your drivers, unzip them then go into Device Manager, right click on the adapter (may say unknown) and upgrade drivers.  Point it at the unzipped folder.

 

You should be able to use both the PCI SATA and the PCIe SATA at the same time.

[RKinner]

For your drivers, unzip them then go into Device Manager, right click on the adapter (may say unknown) and upgrade drivers.  Point it at the unzipped folder.

 

You should be able to use both the PCI SATA and the PCIe SATA at the same time.

[Denisejm]

The zip file doesn't appear when browsing for the file. 

 

I found this pci-e adapter card.  It has 10 ports.  I only need 6 ports but it looks like it meets all the requirements.

 

https://www.amazon.c... sata iii pci-e

[RKinner]

If it works.  Read the 1 star reviews.  It is Amazon so you can return it if it's a bad as they say.

[Denisejm]

Since my pc is JBOD and don't have a RAID array set up, it may not cause me some of the problems other people have had.  It's worth a try.  If it doesn't work, I can always return it and buy the pci 4-port card.

[RKinner]

Assuming UPS doesn't lose your return again.

[Denisejm]

Well, I received the adapter card in the mail, installed it, connected a hard drive to it and my computer won't boot up to Windows.  It stops when it reads the card and sees a hard drive connected to it, right before "Verifying DMI Pool Data."  If I don't have a hard drive connected to it, my computer will boot up to Windows.  Even though it's installed, it doesn't show up in Device Manager.  I've been writing to the manufacturer and they said that the card is probably not compatible with my motherboard.  They have no updated drivers for it.

 

So I'm back to square one.

[RKinner]

Time to try the pci 4-port card?

[Denisejm]

Ya think? Lol.

 

I also wrote to Gigabyte eSupport.  They said "Unfortunately this board is quite old and there are no full Windows 10 driver support for this board.  If you must use Windows 10, it would be suggested you look into a newer board with Windows 10 driver support.  We do not manufacture adapter cards."

 

I ordered the 4-port PCI card a few days ago and it's scheduled to be here on the 19th.  I'll keep the IO Crest 8-port PCIe card too.  Hopefully, they'll be no problem with the PCI card and no conflicts with having both installed at the same time.  My luck hasn't been too good with this conversion.  I lost 3 hard drives, too.  I haven't heard back from UPS about the 2 that I put in their drop box.  I've been really busy and haven't been able to call them back yet.  Tomorrow's out as I'll have another long day but Monday is free so I'll give them a call then.  I ordered 2 more from Western Digital because the hard drives that I received from Amazon were so old that when I checked their warranties with Western Digital, they had expired in 2016.

 

At least I can say that I tried to get what I wanted.

 

I'll let you know how the PCI card works.

[Denisejm]

I got the pci card in the mail today, installed it and connected a hard drive to it but the hard drive doesn't show up in My Computer/Disk Management.  The card came with a disk of drivers.  I know that I don't want to install the RAID driver but I don't know which driver I need to install.  I attached a screenshot of the drivers on the disk.  I also attached a screenshot of Computer Management.  In Computer Management, I told it to Scan for Hardware Changes and then I tried updating the driver for Storage Controllers but it says that I have the most up-to-date drivers installed.  Can you help?

 

Attached Thumbnails

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[RKinner]

Supposed to be plug and play in Win 10 per the Q&A.  You may not see the hard drive in BIOS/CMOS but it should show up in Disk Management.

[Denisejm]

This morning, I unseated the card and reseated it and it now works and shows up in Device Manager.  I have only 1 hard drive connected to it right now.  I'm keeping my finger crossed so that when I connect 3 others to it, they'll be available.

 

It was a long road to get here but we've arrived. 

[RKinner]

Let me know how it goes.

[Denisejm]

I just connected 3 hard drives and my DVD drive to the adapter card and they're all recognized in My Computer/Disk Management.  The PCI card is slower than the PCIe card but I have all of my hard drives available again.

 

Thanks for all of your help.  I couldn't have done it without you.  

[RKinner]

Now that you have Win 10 remember that you are no longer limited to 2 TB drives.  You might want to pick up a 4 or 6 TB during the cyber Monday sale (but not one from Seagate)

 

I'll give you my standard goodbye.  You don't need the cleanup stuff but you might find some of my recommendations useful:

 

Time to clean up:
If we used FRST to clean your PC:

right click on FRST.exe or FRST64.exe (whichever you used) and rename it to uninstall.exe.  Then right click on uninstall.exe and Run as Admin.

 
If we installed Speccy it needs to be uninstalled.  Process Explorer, VEW, AdwCleaner, JRT  and their logs and Speccy's log can just be deleted.

Also make sure you have the latest versions of any adobe.com products you use like Shockwave, Flash or Acrobat.  Flash is now the most malware targeted program so it must be kept up to date.  Be careful with Adobe.  They are fond of offering optional downloads like yahoo or Ask toolbars or that worthless McAfee Security Scan.  Go slow and uncheck the optional stuff.

Whether you use adobe reader, acrobat or fox-it to read pdf files you need to disable Javascript in the program.  There is an exploit out there now that can use it to get on your PC.  For Adobe Reader:  Start, All Programs, Adobe Reader, Edit, Preferences, Click on Javascript in the left column and uncheck Enable Acrobat Javascript.  OK Close program.  It's the same for Foxit reader except you uncheck Enable Javascript Actions.


If you use Chrome/Firefox/Edge then get the Ublock Origin extension.  For IE go to adblockplus.org  and get the program.
If Chrome/Firefox is slow loading make sure it only has the current Java add-on.  Then download and run Speedy Fox.
http://www.crystalidea.com/speedyfox. Close Chrome/Firefox/Skpe. Hit Optimize.   You can run it any time that Chrome/Firefox seems slow starting..
(If it complains about Chrome still running you can stop it with Task Manager or go into Chrome then go to:

chrome://settings/

Hit Advanced at the bottom of the page then scroll down to near the bottom where it says System.

Change
Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed
to Off (slide the blue thing to the left and it turns brown)
Close Chrome.

You can run it any time that Chrome/Firefox seems slow starting.

If the browser is still slow then go in and disable all of your extensions, close the browser and Optimize with SpeedyFox then restart the browser.  If that helps then one or more of your extensions is at fault.  Go back in and turn them on one at a time and see if you can figure out which ones slow things down the most.


If you use Facebook you need FB Purity: http://www.fbpurity.com/

To prevent a relatively new phishing attack:  In Firefox, type:

https://www.xn--80ak6aa92e.com/

If the URL changes to https://www.apple.cominstead of the correct value
type:
about:config

in the URL box and hit Enter.  You should get a new page of options (if you get a notice about voiding the warranty just cancel the warning).  In the Search box put in

puny

You should only get 2 options:
"network.IDN_show_punycode"
We want it to say True but by default it is False so double click on it to toggle from False to True.


 "network.standard-url.punycode-host" Leave this one at default of False.
Close and restart firefox.

If you are a Facebook user get the FB Purity extension for your browser:
http://www.fbpurity.com/
This will stop all of the suggested pages and ads so that Facebook loads much quicker.


Be warned:  If you use Limewire, utorrent or any of the other P2P programs you will probably be coming back to the Malware Removal forum.  If you must use P2P then submit any files you get to http://virustotal.combeforeyou open them.

Due to a recent rise in the number of Crytolocker infections I am now recommending you install:

https://www.bleeping...somware/dl/306/
It's currently a free version.

If you have a router, log on to it today and change the default password!  If using a Wireless router you really should be using encryption on the link.  Use the strongest (newest) encryption method that your router and PC wireless adapter support especially if you own a business.  See http://www.king5.com...0637284.htmlandhttp://www.seattlepi...ted-1344185.php for why encryption is important.  If you don't know how, visit the router maker's website.  They all have detailed step by step instructions or a wizard you can download.

Special note on Java.  Old Java versions should be removed after first clearing the Java Cache by following the instructions in:
http://www.java.com/...lugin_cache.xml
Then remove the old versions by going to Control Panel, Programs and Features and Uninstall all Java programs which are not the latest.  If in doubt uninstall all.  These may call themselves: Java Runtime, Runtime Environment, Runtime, JRE, Java Virtual Machine, Virtual Machine, Java VM, JVM, VM, J2RE, J2SE.  Get the latest version from Java.com.  They will usually attempt to foist some garbage like the Ask toolbar, Yahoo toolbar or McAfee Security Scan on you as part of the download.  Just uncheck the garbage before the download (or install) starts.  If you use a 64-bit browser and want the 64-bit version of Java you need to use it to visit java.com.
Due to multiple security problems with Java we are now recommending that it not be installed unless you absolutely know you need it.  IF that is the case then go to Control Panel, Java, Security and slide it up to the highest level.  OK.


Recommended software: (I'm not saying you should download these just that if you have a need for a new program these are safe and work)  
Compression:  7-zip.  Avoid WinRar and WinZip as the free versions have adware.
Video Player:  VLC  Unlike Windows Medi Player it never seems to need extra files to work.
Photo organizer and editor:  Google's Picasa.  While it has been discontinued by Google you can still get it at:
http://techfilehippo...-free-download/
Office like free program:  Open Office: https://www.openoffice.org/download/
or
LibreOffice: https://www.libreoffice.org/
Free Anti-Virus:  Avast
Free Malware prevention:  MBAM: Free version at https://www.malwareb...m/mwb-download/
Can run with your anti-virus.
Paid Anti-Virus:  Kaspersky or BitDefender
Utilities:
Root Kit Detector:  MBAR: https://www.malwareb...om/antirootkit/
Process Explorer:  Show you what is running on the PC.  Like Task manager but better:  http://live.sysinter...com/procexp.exe
WhoCrashed: Why did your system crash?
http://www.resplendence.com/downloads
Then click on Download free home edition
where it says:
WhoCrashed 5.51
Comprehensible crash dump analysis tool
for Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP/2012/2008/2003 (x86 and x64)
System Health:
Speccy:  
http://www.filehippo.com/download_speccy (Look in the upper right for the Download
Latest Version button  - Do NOT press the large Start Download button on the upper left!)  Decline CCleaner if offered.  Pay attention to SMART info on your hard drives and to temps.  If in doubt about temps try:
SpeedFan:  Try speedfan
http://www.filehippo...nload_speedfan/
Download, save and Install it (Win 7 or Vista right click and Run As Admin.) then run it.
Download Flash and Video.  To save flash video.  Works with Firefox.  https://addons.mozil...lash-and-video/This allows you to start a recording and then switch to a different window and record another video.

With Win 10 only there is a new Game recorder program.  It's supposed to only work for games but it works nicely to record any video you watch.  Hit the Win key + Alt + r to start the recorder.  The first time it asks you if it is looking at a game.  Just tell it yes.  After that it starts recording whenever you bring it up.  Videos are saved to the Captures folder under Videos.  You can only record what you watch so limited to only one video at a time.  Best to go to full screen before starting the recorder.

Avoid:  
Advanced System Care
SuperAntiSpyware
HitmanPro
Spybot S&D
Any P2P software especially if it comes from Conduit.
Registry Cleaners
Driver updating software.
PC fixing or Speed up software.
Running more than one anti-virus.
Seagate hard drives.  If you have one it's going to fail on you so backup your data now!