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Some of you will recall from my prior thread that I had hard drive problems involving dead segments in W XP Pro.
It looks like the person who was going to help me recover my data is going to flake-out on me. Some suggested that I replace the drive and recover my data via slaving. (I don't know the exact terminology here.)
Here is my question: If I go the route of replacing my drive with something I bought off of the shelf, and "slaving" it over to the replacement drive pc, is this something that I can do myself, or should I resort to something like the big box stores' help services?
It's fairly easy. It would probably be better to have someone else do it, and you help them, the first time you attempt it, though. If that's not possible, there are a lot of tutorials (some with pics and/or video) that take you through it step by step.
First, you'll need to know what type of drive you have, so that you can purchase a replacement. What model Dell is your machine?
I haven't purchased anything yet, so I am open to suggestions. So far, all I did was go to the big box place to look at prices. It's clear that a larger drive than I've got can be had for a reasonable price.
this is what happened to me last year... and i honestly should have known better...
last year i was having issues so i just started replacing parts, and it turned out that my RAM died... but as long as i purchased a new HDD - i was going to install it and use the old one as a slave [which... i have yet to complete ... it's on my mental "things to do list".]
But... installed the new much larger drive with the old one still connected to the mother board [there was my mistake]
I reinstalled WinXP and all my software... then i used my back up to return my PC to the condition it was before the RAM died.
with that old drive still connected, and... since it was my complete hard drive, i was going to use that to replace what newer files were not included in my back up. [which, happened to be 3 months old... another lesson learned]
SO... when i used Ghost to "restore" my hard drive... it actually 'restored' BOTH drives [overwriting my entire drive]. SO -- i basically lost 3 months worth of data [much of which i could not replace or recreate]
so - learn from my mistake... if you are going to have 2 drives, making your old one the slave ... .make sure it's either in the "slave position" or disconnected while 'restoring" your hard drive.
Don't even leave the old drive in the machine, while re-installing your OS on the new drive. When you're finished setting up the new drive, THEN work on retrieving data from the old drive. ;)
andidandi:
This is the service manual for your machine. It tells you how to remove/install the hard drive (and a LOT of other info!).
I'm finally getting around to doing this project. I have a basic question - Can I replace an 'IDE" hard drive with a SATA one? Not even sure exactly what that means, but I think that's what I have and don't want to buy anything that's not compatible. Thanks.
And a follow-up - how can I be sure which I have? I have my system specs from the website, but am not sure which I have. Thanks. (I bought it in 2004, if that's relevant.)
Mind if I ask another question? Any thoughts on the adapters that allow you to use SATA in an IDE machine? I've seen mixed reviews. Also any thoughts on buying an OEM drive? I've read the replacement instructions (generic ones) online, and it seems somewhat simple. Is it worth the savings over regular retail versions?
My machine has both, IDE and sata connectors. I've never worked with using an adaptor... hopefully someone will chime in. Replacing a drive is a pretty simple procedure ... i dont think you will have any issues.
Thanks again Terese. I will check out that article. There aren't a lot of options for IDE drives these days. They are more expensive than new larger ones.
There aren't a lot of options for IDE drives these days. They are more expensive than new larger ones.
There's plenty of options. How large are you looking for? A 500GB drive shouldn't run more than $70.
And, FWIW, I haven't bought a retail drive in over a decade. There's no reason to spend that kind of money, and avoid "big box" stores like the plague. =)
Thanks Eggs. I've been up all night trying to do research to buy something because I really need to get this machine running. I truly appreciate your advice.
I'd like to get the largest I can get for IDE, but the largest I see is 500 mb. I had seen ads for what I now realize is SATA, and had hoped to get 1 TB. I am going to end up paying twice as much for half of the capacity.
From there the issue is cache. From what I can find, the jump from 8 (my status quo) to 16 costs about $20-25 on an IDE for drives of the same size drive.
What I would like to do (and I have no expertise) is to be able to get a couple more years out of my current system. The upgrade in space will be an improvement since the hd that died was nearly full. My concern is whether I need the 16 mb of cache. Am I in danger of not being able to run new programs or devices in the next 2 or so years if I don't go with the 16 mb? I am tempted to get the 16 mb, but that is the only difference in the drives as far as I can tell. Will I notice a difference in performance? My primary activities are online, word processing, and music. No gaming or anything like that.
Sorry andidandi but I'm not understanding your math here. You said:
Quoted:
I am going to end up paying twice as much for half of the capacity.
A 1TB OEM drive will run about $170. A 500GB OEM drive willl cost you $70. Looks to me that the 500GB is cheaper. You can also have more than one drive on a single IDE cable, so therefore, you can have your 1TB of space for $140.
If you're not doing games or video editing, and only internet and music, then I can't possibly fathom the need for a terabyte of space, if you're only wanting to get a couple more years out of it, unless the music you're putting on it isn't compressed in any way, shape, or form.
Can you give more of the system specs, such as the processor and RAM?
edited to remove a question I had, that was answered in an earlier post. =)
I am going to get the 500 mb one. ( There were no 1 tb drives for IDE, so that's where the notion that I am paying more comes in. I could get the 1 tb sata for the same money I'm paying for the 500 IDE. I should not have said "paying twice as much." I'm just getting less for the same amount.)
The issue at this point is whether the 16 mb cache is worth the extra $25 over the 8 mb one. That appears to be the only difference in the two.
1 K5198 Assembly, Removable Media Storage, Universal Serial Bus 64M, M-SYSTEMS
1 N1818 Kit, Speaker, 120V, A425, Zylux Corporation, Dell Americas Organization
1 C3776 Modem, V.92, Data Fax, Internal PC Interface, Dell Americas Organization
1 M1210 Assembly, Floppy Drive, 212, 2
1 R4751 Hard Drive, 160GB, I, 7.2K, 8MEGB Maxtor Calypso
1 K4394 Kit, Software, WKS-STE2KOEM English
1 W5810 Kit, Software, Norton Internet Security, 15-MTH, ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MFGR..., ENGLAND/ENGLISH...
1 G7624 Kit, Software, Overpack, WXPPSP2 Compact Diskette W/Documentation, English
1 P7128 Kit, Documentaton On Floppy Disk, Software, POWERDVD..., 5.3
1 D5421 Display, Flat Panel, 15, DV E153FPB, MIDNIGHT GRAY..., DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION...
2 J0201 Dual Inline Memory Module 256, 400M, 32X64 8K, 184
1 D7191 Assembly, Digital Video Disk Drive, 16X, Half Height, Hitachi Lg Data Storage, CHASSIS 2005...
1 Y6407 Assembly, COMPACT DISK READ WRITE..., 48X, HALF HEIGHT SAMSUNG, CHASSIS 2005...
1 5064R Techsheet, Legal, Condition
1 J6758 Guide, Owner, Dimension, 3000 ENG
1 N6350 PLACEMAT..., GETTING STARTED..., DIMENSION..., 3000, AMF/BCC
0 83535 INFORMATION..., PART, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ATTACHMENT PACKET INTERFACE..., DEVICE
0 83535 INFORMATION..., PART, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ATTACHMENT PACKET INTERFACE..., DEVICE
0 3152C INFORMATION..., ZIP DRIVE ON 1ST IDE CTL
1 F3865 Assembly, Heatsink, FMB1.0
1 T6952 ASSEMBLY..., CHASSIS..., DIMENSION..., NON PFC..., PENTIUM 4..., 3000, PWA INTEGRATED...
Once again - your help is really appreciated. I contacted the company that sold me the computer, and their primary interest is in getting me to buy more product. I am happy to come here and get real world advice.
500GB should last you quite a while, given the reasons you use the machine.
The Bad News:
I doubt you'll be able to slave the new drive (unless you remove something, first). The machine probably has two IDE channels, and it looks like both are full (1 HDD, 2 CD drives, and a Zip drive).
***
Are you sure that machine even has a SATA interface on the mainboard? (I'll venture a guess - no)
You won't need the 16MB cache (and chances are good that the board wouldn't support it, anyway.
Where are you getting the new drive? The prices I quoted were from newegg, and the 500GB drive is less than half the price (so your math is still wrong). =)
Later, I'll try and find info on the mainboard in that machine to confirm my suspicions about the cache and SATA support. It's been a difficult 12 hour day, so it may be tomorrow, sorry. Also, what size power supply is in the machine? That's a lot of hardware, which uses a lot of power.
I doubt you'll be able to slave the new drive (unless you remove something, first). The machine probably has two IDE channels, and it looks like both are full (1 HDD, 2 CD drives, and a Zip drive).
Does that mean that I should not bother buying an enclosure or a bracket and cable for that drive?
Inside the machine, you should find two, grey, very wide, "ribbon cables". These go from ports on the motherboard, and attach devices such as hard drives, cd drives, and in your case, also a zip drive. These cables have three "plugs" on them. One plug goes into the motherboard, and the other two attach to the devices. The one at the end of the cable is the Master, and the one in the middle is the Slave.
So, you have 4 available connections.
1 is connected to the hard drive.
2 are connected to the 2 CD drives.
The fourth one, I thought, was connected to a Zip drive. After re-reading your specs post, I see a "0" on the line about the Zip drive. If that's the case, then you should be fine, connecting the new drive as an extra, Slave drive. =) If you do have a Zip drive on that machine, then you'll need to decide if you can live without the Zip drive or one of the 2 CD drives. My apologies for the confusion. I've a feeling that I misread your post. =)
As far as I can tell I do not have a cable free for another drive. Is this something that I can buy? Can I buy a cable that will allow me to add another drive. There are many power outlets, but nothing that looks like it should go into an hd.
Thanks again. And take this all with the understanding that I am not sure what I am talking about.
Assuming that I am looking at the right cable - the one that is connected from the hd to the board - I have just my current hard drive. I have not added anything to this machine since I bought it with the specs listed above. The only free plugs appear to be for power.
Follow the cable from the hard drive to the board, and you should see another connector a few inches from the drive. (Not always the case. Sometimes companies will be cheap about it, and install IDE cables with the abiltiy to connect only one device.. If that's the case, then you'll need to replace the cable. I doubt that's true though. You have two CD drives, so at least one cable has the ability to connect two devices.) If you're unsure, look at how the CD drives are connected, and compare that cable with the one connecting the hard drive.
Edited to add: Your hd should be ide/eide ATA-100. 250w ps. New cable about $6.00.
You MAY be able to disconnect the dvd and cd-rom drives and connect your present hd
to that cable. Connect your new hd to the present hd cable. 2 hd's work faster if one is
on the primary controller and the other is on the secondary. Improves the R/W times.
Both would be jumpered as masters or single drives. Usually that is with NO jumpers
installed but check anyway.
Power supplies are an issue when adding hardware. I added a video card with 512
meg of ram which "recommended" at least a 300w ps. I have seen some of the
el-cheapo pc's with 200w supplies which, when running with a max load, will overheat
especially with a good coating of dust on all the components.
The specs for the '3000' are available on the internet. Just google 'dell dimension
3000 specs'.
To save yourself a lot of hair pulling, take the advice of some of the previous posts and
DO NOT have the old hd connected and live while you are partitioning, formatting and
installing the OS on the new hd. In the past for me, the OEM OS would not install if
there was another Windows OS on the pc. Upgrades would but full versions would not.
There are provisions for dual-boot systems but that would make no sense in your case.
Thanks once again. I was able to get the new drive installed and to access the old one - although it keeps shutting down when I'm transferring data - I wonder if that's a problem with the power supply on the enclosure or on the drive itself?
Thanks to everyone who pitched in with advice. The local people wanted $200 to do this for me. It took forever, but with your help I was able to work it out.
