Advice about Hard Drive

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Hi there

I need advice regarding a possible new hard drive. I currently have 2 harddrives - 80GB [1 single partition] and 200GB [2 partitions with 98GB each]. I want to buy another hard drive with 200GB [i thought that since i'm getting a new one, i may as well get a big-ish one]

A friend said that i should make sure my pc can have another hard drive, but i'm clueless as to what he's talking about. So far, i know my pc has an empty space to slot another hard drive in. But i think he's talking about my Windows and bios. I have read that Windows may have a limit on the capacity it can read large drives. But as i'm planning on partitioning my new drive, this wont be a problen right????

so basically, i dont know what problems there may be. I'm not really a techie person. Hence i thought i'd ask more knowledgable people about this. What [if any] are the problems about me buying a new harddrive? Like any foreseeable problems?

As i dont know much about things, i thought i'd just give as much information as possible regarding my pc.

MY SPECS >>>>>>>.
windows xp home, sp1

My pc is a Packard Bell. Here is a link to the specs of my motherboard for my pc - http://support.packardbell.com/uk/my...346320070#show

Here is a report from Everest [below]. As i dont know what info is needed, i just did a report on my whole motherboard which contains info about - motherboard, BIOS, chipset.

I just thought i'd give as much ino as possible regarding my pc. I hope its sufficient.

Advice appreciated, thanks

========================
=======================
EVEREST REPORT

--------[ CPU ]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU Properties:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 2800 MHz (21 x 133)
CPU Alias Northwood, A80532
CPU Stepping C1
Instruction Set x86, MMX, SSE, SSE2
Original Clock 2800 MHz
Min / Max CPU Multiplier 21x / 21x
Engineering Sample No
L1 Trace Cache 12K Instructions
L1 Data Cache 8 KB
L2 Cache 512 KB (On-Die, ECC, ATC, Full-Speed)

CPU Physical Info:
Package Type 478 Pin uPGA
Package Size 3.50 cm x 3.50 cm
Transistors 55 million
Process Technology 6M, 0.13 um, CMOS, Cu, Low-K
Die Size 131 mm2
Core Voltage 1.475 - 1.55 V
I/O Voltage 1.475 - 1.55 V
Typical Power 38.7 - 89.0 W (depending on clock speed)
Maximum Power 49 - 109 W (depending on clock speed)

CPU Manufacturer:
Company Name Intel Corporation
Product Information http://www.intel.com/products/browse/processor.htm

CPU Utilization:
CPU #1 0 %

--------[ CPUID ]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPUID Properties:
CPUID Manufacturer GenuineIntel
CPUID CPU Name Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
CPUID Revision 00000F27h
IA Brand ID 09h (Intel Pentium 4)
Platform ID 0Fh (Socket 478)
IA CPU Serial Number Unknown
Microcode Update Revision 27
HTT / CMP Units 0 / 0

Instruction Set:
64-bit x86 Extension (AMD64, EM64T) Not Supported
Alternate Instruction Set Not Supported
AMD 3DNow! Not Supported
AMD 3DNow! Professional Not Supported
AMD Enhanced 3DNow! Not Supported
AMD Extended MMX Not Supported
Cyrix Extended MMX Not Supported
IA-64 Not Supported
IA MMX Supported
IA SSE Supported
IA SSE 2 Supported
IA SSE 3 Not Supported
CLFLUSH Instruction Supported
CMPXCHG8B Instruction Supported
CMPXCHG16B Instruction Not Supported
Conditional Move Instruction Supported
MONITOR / MWAIT Instruction Not Supported
RDTSCP Instruction Not Supported
SYSCALL / SYSRET Instruction Not Supported
SYSENTER / SYSEXIT Instruction Supported
VIA FEMMS Instruction Not Supported

Security Features:
Advanced Cryptography Engine (ACE) Not Supported
Data Execution Prevention (DEP, NX, EDB) Not Supported
Hardware Random Number Generator (RNG) Not Supported
Montgomery Multiplier & Hash Engine Not Supported
Processor Serial Number (PSN) Not Supported

Power Management Features:
Automatic Clock Control Supported
Enhanced Halt State (C1E) Not Supported
Enhanced SpeedStep Technology (EIST, ESS) Not Supported
Frequency ID Control Not Supported
LongRun Not Supported
LongRun Table Interface Not Supported
PowerSaver 1.0 Not Supported
PowerSaver 2.0 Not Supported
PowerSaver 3.0 Not Supported
Processor Duty Cycle Control Supported
Software Thermal Control Not Supported
Temperature Sensing Diode Not Supported
Thermal Monitor 1 Supported
Thermal Monitor 2 Not Supported
Thermal Monitoring Not Supported
Thermal Trip Not Supported
Voltage ID Control Not Supported

CPUID Features:
36-bit Page Size Extension Supported
Address Region Registers (ARR) Not Supported
CPL Qualified Debug Store Not Supported
Debug Trace Store Supported
Debugging Extension Supported
Fast Save & Restore Supported
Hyper-Threading Technology (HTT) Not Supported
L1 Context ID Supported
Local APIC On Chip Supported
Machine Check Architecture (MCA) Supported
Machine Check Exception (MCE) Supported
Memory Configuration Registers (MCR) Not Supported
Memory Type Range Registers (MTRR) Supported
Model Specific Registers (MSR) Supported
Page Attribute Table (PAT) Supported
Page Global Extension Supported
Page Size Extension (PSE) Supported
Pending Break Event Supported
Physical Address Extension (PAE) Supported
Secure Virtual Machine Extensions (Pacifica) Not Supported
Self-Snoop Supported
Time Stamp Counter (TSC) Supported
Virtual Machine Extensions (Vanderpool) Not Supported
Virtual Mode Extension Supported

--------[ Motherboard ]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Motherboard Properties:
Motherboard ID 62-1029-001199-00101111-040201-SiS650$NECC000_8SIMLNF V2.0U
Motherboard Name Gigabyte GA-8SIML

Front Side Bus Properties:
Bus Type Intel NetBurst
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 133 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 533 MHz
Bandwidth 4267 MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties:
Bus Type SiS MuTIOL
Bus Width 16-bit

Motherboard Physical Info:
CPU Sockets/Slots 1
Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 CNR
RAM Slots 2 DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Video, LAN
Form Factor Micro ATX
Motherboard Size 230 mm x 240 mm
Motherboard Chipset SiS650
Extra Features EasyTune III

Motherboard Manufacturer:
Company Name Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Product Information http://tw.giga-byte.com/MotherBoard/Products/Products_NewProduct_List.htm
BIOS Download http://tw.giga-byte.com/Motherboard/Support/BIOS/BIOS_List.htm

--------[ Memory ]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Physical Memory:
Total 1023 MB
Used 497 MB
Free 526 MB
Utilization 49 %

Swap Space:
Total 1727 MB
Used 325 MB
Free 1401 MB
Utilization 19 %

Virtual Memory:
Total 2750 MB
Used 822 MB
Free 1928 MB
Utilization 30 %

Physical Address Extension (PAE):
Supported by Operating System Yes
Supported by CPU Yes
Active No

--------[ Chipset ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ North Bridge: SiS 651 ]

North Bridge Properties:
North Bridge SiS 651
Revision 01
In-Order Queue Depth 12

Memory Timings:
CAS Latency (CL) 2.5T
RAS To CAS Delay (tRCD) 3T
RAS Precharge (tRP) 3T
RAS Active Time (tRAS) 6T
Row Cycle Time (tRC) 10T
RAS To RAS Delay (tRRD) 2T
Write Recovery Time (tWR) 2T

Memory Slots:
DRAM Slot #1 512 MB (DDR SDRAM)
DRAM Slot #2 512 MB (DDR SDRAM)

Integrated Graphics Controller:
Graphics Controller Type SiS 315
Graphics Controller Status Disabled

AGP Controller:
AGP Version 2.00
AGP Status Enabled
AGP Device Gigabyte GV-R9000 (Pro)
AGP Aperture Size 128 MB
Supported AGP Speeds 1x, 2x, 4x
Current AGP Speed 4x
Fast-Write Supported, Disabled
Side Band Addressing Supported, Enabled

Chipset Manufacturer:
Company Name Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation
Product Information http://www.sis.com/products/index.htm#chipsets
Driver Download http://www.sis.com/download

[ South Bridge: SiS 961 ]

South Bridge Properties:
South Bridge SiS 961
Revision 04
Package Type 371 Pin BGA

AC'97 Audio Controller:
Audio Controller Type SiS 7012
Codec Name SigmaTel STAC9766/67
Codec ID 83847666h
S/PDIF Output Supported

Chipset Manufacturer:
Company Name Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation
Product Information http://www.sis.com/products/index.htm#chipsets
Driver Download http://www.sis.com/download

--------[ BIOS ]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BIOS Properties:
BIOS Type AMI
System BIOS Date 05/08/03
Video BIOS Date 02/09/16

BIOS Manufacturer:
Company Name American Megatrends Inc.
Product Information http://www.ami.com/amibios
BIOS Upgrades http://www.esupport.com/biosagent/index.cfm?refererid=40

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Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 782 • Replies: 5

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I'd just do it haphazardly, but that's me...

If you want to, just open up your compy and look on your motherboard to see if you have the appropriate number spots for the ribbon to connect (the ribbon being one of those flat groups of wires). Alternatively, you may need to get one of those nifty ribbons that have multiple connections so that you can hook two hard drives up to one ribbon...although, that may already be the case for the two that you already have. Just go to your local computer stores and ask one of the techies what to do if that's what's going on.

As for compatability issues, since the limit that you would normally have a problem would be at 137Gb and you already have one drive surpassing that, it shouldn't be a problem. If it is, it's a simple matter to do one or more of the following: update your Intel Application Accelerator, update the BIOS, install the latest Windows Service Pack, or, worst-case scenario, buy a PCI controller card. If you encounter any problems, your hard drive should come with a little booklet explaining each step above.

Whatever you do, make sure you buy the drive from a location that offers a good return policy.

0 Replies

thanks for the reply individual. You are right. i have checked my pc and there are no free slots on my motherboard Sad

on my motherboard, there are infact two slots. one ribbon thingy that connects to my current two drives, the other connects both my dvd rom and dvd writer.

I'm really scared of my 80gb hard drive dying on me so i want to take precautions. Hence i'm wanting a new hard drive to backup. Can you thing of any other possibilites i could make so i could get a new harddrive???

Now that you have pointed out to me in that i have no free ribbon slots, i am now thinking maybe erm, buying a new 200gb to replace my 80gb. But backups should be in a seperate hard drive right???? or is it ok for it to be in a different partition??

i'm stumped now. Confused

0 Replies

Why not look at an external hard drive? USB2, FireWire, or Ethernet connectivity will give you reasonable access speed, you don't hafta open up your machine, and you can quickly move enormous amounts of data between machines with no more effort than a bit of external cable-swapping.

The only drawback I can think of might be that its a bit of a trick to boot from an external drive, but if your concern is simply data storage and access, booting isn't a factor.

0 Replies

i didnt think about an external drive. I think that may justs olve my problem. I can use the external drive to store data, freeing up space in my current larger drive. Then i could make a clone thing of my windows stuff on the new free space. Hmm, I guess me wanting to backup windows files etc is just being lazy on reinstalling windows Rolling Eyes

But give that it iis primarily data that i dont want to lose, then an external drive will put me at ease in backing up.

i dont really wish to faff about changing my current pc inside, so thanks for ou help Smile

an extrnal drive is an easy solution.

Thanks again

0 Replies

-_-

You win this time, timberlandko.

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