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Actually installing a harddrive.

DigitoDigito Registered User regular
edited December 2006 in Help / Advice Forum
Sorry, this is like... my third topic so far. >_>;; But I think I'm finally closing in on getting this thing done.


So I have the new harddrive, it looks zesty, it's physically inside of the computer, and the jumper is set to it's Master position. Furthermore, the jumper on the old harddrive is set to it's Slave position, which SHOULD work.


But I've yet to get an operating system on the new HD, and I just wanna double check something about the IDE cable, does the very end/black hookup have to be attached to the Master HD, and the grey/white hookup to the Slave HD? Or is it alright if I leave it like that? I wanna ask now before I end up putting the case back together, getting an OS installed, (or trying to) and then finding out I need to go and dismantle everything to rearrange the two HD's to hook up the cables like that.

Also, is it normal if the drive that's apparently the Slave drive is still bootable? Now the Master drive has no operating system yet, but I was under the impression you simply CANNOT boot from the Slave drive...


Basically I'm in the final stages of installing/getting my shiny new HD, and I'm concerned about screwing something up, being as this is my first HD installation <_<;

Digito on

Posts

  • MengerSpongeMengerSponge Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    To address your questions in reverse order:

    You set in the BIOS which drive to boot from. It can (typically) boot from either. The BIOS settings will allow you to choose a boot order, so just put whichever drive has the OS you want to use higher in the order, and it'll try that one first.

    As for the cables, as far as I can remember, it doesn't matter how they're physically connected, as long as the jumpers are set properly. But, you might want a second opinion; it's been over two years since I built my last desktop.

    MengerSponge on
  • vonPoonBurGervonPoonBurGer Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    MengerSponge wrote:
    As for the cables, as far as I can remember, it doesn't matter how they're physically connected, as long as the jumpers are set properly.
    I've seen cases where it doesn't matter, and I've seen cases where hooking them up backwards causes system instability. I think it depends on the IDE controller on your motherboard. For the record, the correct way to hook up two IDE drives on a single cable is to have the Master at the end of the cable and the Slave on the middle port.

    vonPoonBurGer on
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  • robaalrobaal Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    It shouldn't matter which drive is connected where on the cable. The master/slave designation for the cable are for when using "cable select" on the drives, so that you know which is which.

    robaal on
    "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra when suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
    At night, the ice weasels come."
  • DigitoDigito Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Ok uhh the drive is in, things are... not dandy. I copied the entire HD partition over to the new drive, however it won't boot because of some generic configuration error. It won't spare me any details either.


    So how exactly would I copy my entire existing drive over to the new drive, and not have to reinstall the operating system/install a new one? I'm using Arconis' Disk Director if that helps at all... I'm pretty well open to suggestions. The new drive works fine, works great, I just can't get the computer to boot from it. Or am I boned, and the only way to use a new harddrive is to put a new operating system on it?


    EDIT: Ok fixed that problem, turns out there was a second partition on my HD I forgot to copy over. Except when I try to boot from the new drive, it complains about a missing system file, even though it's a direct, perfect partition copy. So what's up now?

    Digito on
  • robaalrobaal Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    How/with what did you copy the partition?

    I've successfully copied system partitions with the drive manufacturer's software; I can't remember if it was Maxtor MaxBlast or Seagate Disc Wizzard... possibly both, as I've done it twice.

    robaal on
    "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra when suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
    At night, the ice weasels come."
  • DigitoDigito Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Acronis Disk Director is the program I'm using... I also heard something elsewhere about disk images, mind if I ask just what those are, and if they'd be any better for copying my existing system onto the new drive? o.O And if so, what programs handle them?

    Digito on
  • robaalrobaal Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Check your hard disk manufacturer's site for the software - maybe it will work better. It's not like they cost anything.

    I haven't used a disk imager myself, so I'll just link to wikipedia:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_cloning

    the guy that runs that site seems to know a lot about nearly everything...

    robaal on
    "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra when suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath.
    At night, the ice weasels come."
  • nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    If the drive is not being seen change your jumper on it to master ro slave. Cable select doesn't always work correctly.

    nexuscrawler on
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