I have a new Gateway DX441x running Vista. It came with a single 500G
drive, but I would like to have a smaller drive for the OS and programs
and use the 500G drive for data only. The plan is to keep a drive-image
backup of this smaller disk that can be swapped in, eliminating any
serious down time in case of drive failure.
I've never installed a system drive or installed Windows from scratch
before, so I'm nervous. Are there any common pitfalls? Will any SATA
II/300 drive work? Is it either necessary or advisable to move the
large-capacity drive and put the smaller one in its bay?
I've made the "Software and Driver Recovery" disks and I have the
operating system disk, of course. Is there anything else I need to back
up or keep available? (I haven't put any of my own data on this system
yet.)
--
> I've never installed a system drive or installed Windows from scratch
> before, so I'm nervous. Are there any common pitfalls?
It's not too bad. When you go to buy a drive, be careful with it. They don't
like to be dropped, exposed to temperature extremes or magnetism. Keep it
away from those things when you bring it home and you'll do fine.
You may want to buy a drive in "retail" packaging. Such drives come with
pretty good installation instructions and a software disc (or disk) that can
help you set things up (although you probably won't need it). So-called
"OEM" drives are cheaper, but don't typically come with cabling,
instructions or set-up software.
Look inside your computer case to see how a second drive can be installed.
It used to be that you had to buy screws or rails to install the drive.
Today most computers have the extra pieces you might need snapped into place
on the side wall of the case.
> Will any SATA II/300 drive work?
Yes. I would recommend a Western Digital, Hitachi or Seagate drive. Any of
them would be a good choice. You do not want a Maxtor drive.
> Is it either necessary or advisable to move the large-capacity drive and
put
> the smaller one in its bay?
If you don't move it, there's less chance of it getting broken or dropped.
Even then those things are unlikely to happen. You will, however, have to
swap around some of the SATA cabling so the new drive is the one you start
up from.
Each SATA connector accepts one drive. There is no concept of "master" or
"slave" drives in a SATA system.
Once you get the drive installed, start your computer. It may display a
message telling you that a new disk has been installed, and you may be asked
to confirm this. Insert your operating system installation disc. It should
start automatically. Just follow the directions.
When you're done with the operating system, do the drivers next. Finish up
with any other software you have and want to use on the system.
Finally, you can use the software that came with the drive--or the disk
management tools built into Windows (look under Administrative Tools in the
Control Panel > Computer Management > Logical Disk Manager) to erase and
reconfigure the 500GB drive as storage. You could also try right-clicking
the 500GB drive in My Computer and just formatting it from there to blank it
out. That might be all that's required, so try that first.
> I've made the "Software and Driver Recovery" disks and I have the
> operating system disk, of course. Is there anything else I need to back
> up or keep available? (I haven't put any of my own data on this system
> yet.)
Nope. As long as you have those discs, you should be good to go. Good luck!
Thanks for the reassurance, William. This in particular is the sort of
information I needed:
"William R. Walsh" <newsgroups1@idontwantjunqueemail.walshcomptech.co m>
wrote:
>You will, however, have to
>swap around some of the SATA cabling so the new drive is the one you start
>up from.
>
>Each SATA connector accepts one drive. There is no concept of "master" or
>"slave" drives in a SATA system.
I've also learned that SATA drives can do something called staggered
spin-up. I'll have to figure out whether my BIOS supports it -- and
whether it is a good idea.
I've already found out that this system overloads my current UPS at
start-up.
--
(sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this...)
> I've also learned that SATA drives can do something called staggered
> spin-up. I'll have to figure out whether my BIOS supports it -- and
> whether it is a good idea.
This is really intended for RAID setups, or other configurations with lots
of drives. Were all these drives to start at once, you could overload the
computer's internal power supply. With the option set (in the days of SCSI
disks, it was done with an actual jumper on the drive that covered a set of
contacts--if your SATA drive has the option it will probably be enabled in a
similar fashion) the controller will send a spin up command to the drives
one by one.
With only two drives you shouldn't need to enable the setting if your drive
has it.
> I've already found out that this system overloads my current UPS at
> start-up.
You should give serious thought to a new UPS that is big enough for your
system. Running a UPS to near or over its capacity will put a lot of stress
on its internal circuitry and the battery.
Separate program drive for new system 
Linear Mode
