Adding second hard drive questions
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From: Tony Harding on 17 May 2010 23:03 On 05/17/10 19:06, Michael Arm wrote: > On Sun, 16 May 2010 23:58:46 -0400, Tony Harding > <tharding(a)newsguy.com> wrote: > >> On 05/16/10 10:05, Just me wrote: >>> I have a Studio XPS 8100 with Windows 7 Home Premium, one hard drive >>> and one DVD drive. The hard drive (c:) uses sata connector #1 on the >>> motherboard. The DVD drive (f:) uses sata connector #2. >>> >>> I want to add a second hard drive and I want it to be drive e:. >>> >>> Can I just use either of the remaining sata connectors on the >>> motherboard (#3 or #4) or should I switch the DVD drive to connector >>> #3 and use connector #2 for the new hard drive? >>> >>> If I have to switch connectors for the DVD drive, will Win7 remember >>> that it is drive e: or will I have to reassign it? >>> >>> Will the bios automatically pick up the new hard drive? >> >> Needs to be AUTO/ENABLED/ON/etc., but it should. >> >> You can set [almost] any drive to whatever you want, use Administrative >> Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management (might depend on your local >> Win 7 settings), right click on a drive and click on Change Drive Letter >> & Paths. Win might issue a caution, but go ahead. I've done it many >> times starting with XP. If the new HDD needs to be formatted, you have >> an opportunity to specify a drive letter then. >> >> What's the deal with D:? >> >> PS: I said [almost] because you cannot change your boot drive this way, >> nor can you change any drive which has a Paging File on it. Might be >> other exceptions I'm unaware of? > > D: is probably his CD/DVD. My personal preference is to start at Z: > and work backwards for things like that. He change his DVD Drive at > the same time. OP said his optical drive is F:\ and he wants the new HDD to be E:\, so it makes me wonder about D:\. Being a relatively new Dell, maybe he has a card reader which takes a drive letter? I do on my new XPS 9000 and have it assigned to N:\ FWIW, my optical drive is always S:\ I like to keep them away from the internal & external SATA HDDs. Network drives start at Z:\ and work forward (although I don't have any at present).
From: Just me on 18 May 2010 16:31 On Sun, 16 May 2010 23:58:46 -0400, Tony Harding <tharding(a)newsguy.com> wrote: >What's the deal with D:? It occupies the second partition on the primary hard drive. :) Thanks for your input. George gearlnospamno(a)nospamcomcast.net
From: Just me on 18 May 2010 16:35 On Mon, 17 May 2010 19:06:17 -0400, Michael Arm <marm(a)pobox.com> wrote: >D: is probably his CD/DVD. My personal preference is to start at Z: >and work backwards for things like that. He change his DVD Drive at >the same time. D: is the second partition on my primary hard drive. My CD\DVD is set to F:, although I may change that if I decide to partition the new secondary hard drive. I start at Z: and work backwards for my external hard drives. Thanks for your input. George gearlnospamno(a)nospamcomcast.net
From: Just me on 18 May 2010 16:39 On Mon, 17 May 2010 23:03:52 -0400, Tony Harding <tharding(a)newsguy.com> wrote: >OP said his optical drive is F:\ and he wants the new HDD to be E:\, so >it makes me wonder about D:\. Being a relatively new Dell, maybe he has >a card reader which takes a drive letter? I do on my new XPS 9000 and >have it assigned to N:\ FWIW, my optical drive is always S:\ I like to >keep them away from the internal & external SATA HDDs. Network drives >start at Z:\ and work forward (although I don't have any at present). D: is assigned to the second partition on my primary hard drive. Like you, I bumped my 4 (!) on board card readers up to the middle of the alphabet. I start at Z: and work backwards for my external hard drives. Now I just have to decide if I want to split the new secondary 640GB hard drive into smaller partitions . . . Thanks for your input. George gearlnospamno(a)nospamcomcast.net
From: Tony Harding on 18 May 2010 21:23
On 05/18/10 16:39, Just me wrote: > On Mon, 17 May 2010 23:03:52 -0400, Tony Harding > <tharding(a)newsguy.com> wrote: > >> OP said his optical drive is F:\ and he wants the new HDD to be E:\, so >> it makes me wonder about D:\. Being a relatively new Dell, maybe he has >> a card reader which takes a drive letter? I do on my new XPS 9000 and >> have it assigned to N:\ FWIW, my optical drive is always S:\ I like to >> keep them away from the internal& external SATA HDDs. Network drives >> start at Z:\ and work forward (although I don't have any at present). > > D: is assigned to the second partition on my primary hard drive. Like > you, I bumped my 4 (!) on board card readers up to the middle of the > alphabet. I start at Z: and work backwards for my external hard > drives. > > Now I just have to decide if I want to split the new secondary 640GB > hard drive into smaller partitions . . . > > Thanks for your input. Anytime, dude! :) |