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From: Brian V on 2 Jan 2010 19:41
"Your bios would need to support large drives and you psu would need the
capacity to power them.
And what does older PC mean"

Where do I look for what the Bios and Psu supports? Is there a web-site?

PSU = power supply?

Older pc is: Acer E380, widows XP 32-bit.

I bought an external drive. I am fine for now. I will buy more later (as
they can also be transfered to new/different computers). But since I can put
in at least one more internal, I though I may add one.

Would the power supply actually be running for a drive I am not using? It's
300W. From what I looked at, sometimes 300W is enough, other times I need a
new one.

When I actually buy something, I will print out my specs, and talk to the
computer people in a store that has staff more oriented towards computers.
But I want to be as prepared as possible.
From: philo on 2 Jan 2010 20:02
Brian V wrote:
> "Your bios would need to support large drives and you psu would need the
> capacity to power them.
> And what does older PC mean"
>
> Where do I look for what the Bios and Psu supports? Is there a web-site?
>
> PSU = power supply?
>
> Older pc is: Acer E380, widows XP 32-bit.
>
> I bought an external drive. I am fine for now. I will buy more later (as
> they can also be transfered to new/different computers). But since I can put
> in at least one more internal, I though I may add one.
>
> Would the power supply actually be running for a drive I am not using? It's
> 300W. From what I looked at, sometimes 300W is enough, other times I need a
> new one.
>
> When I actually buy something, I will print out my specs, and talk to the
> computer people in a store that has staff more oriented towards computers.
> But I want to be as prepared as possible.



From the quick look at the specs it appears your machine has some
built-in SATA ports...though I seriously doubt it has six of them.

Have a look inside...my guess would be that it has two ports
and if so, you can add two harddrives.

If that all works out OK

you can get more harddrives and a PCI SATA controller later

I'd also invest in a good quality 450 watt power supply

do not get a cheapie


Oh...one more thing

make sure the drives do not run hot

you may need a cooling fan
From: Brian V on 2 Jan 2010 20:46
9Tb is unnecessary right now. Later on, probably. I just was asking to get an
idea.

I asked about FAT32 and the NTFS files in another post. It's ironic that
this is what I am looking for to know and that it is posted here. Does
installing hard-drives have to do with paritioning? I read off microsofts
site that I can even parition a drive myself. But do not want to if
un-needed. I may even bring my tower into the store so they do it. Do drives
ever come paritioned? I assume not and that in this year/era it is
unnecessary.

On the specs for my computer (from ACERs web-site) it says: Storage: Up to
400GB Hard Disk Drive SATA (selected models). But in that same section, it
talks about (selected models) containing floppy disk drives or a 9 in 1 card
reader, etc. So I didn't want to think 400Gb is all the computer could handle.

I don't think I need 10,000W yet. Yes, I have run out of plug-ins and bought
another extension cord. But I do unplug my external drive when not in use.

I'm using a SATA drive. I think PATA is older, I don't need that. There is
one more SATA connector from the power supply.

I know I can get model numbers and (I assume) look at specs, but how do I
tell what type of Watts my system needs with what is in there and what I want
to get inside? In a different post I received a mathematical equation. If
that is what I have to do, then I'll use it. But each product will state what
that product needs on the product specifications, not what all the products
need while booting up and when being used.

This situation relates to me maybe upgrading my graphics card , putting in a
blu-ray-rom(?), a fan (?) and a tv tuner (?) etc. I don't want to blow the
system by not having adequate power. I wouldn't be going for what is exactly
the newest products or versions (blu-ray or large internals would be the
newer products I'm looking at). If I wanted completely new right now, I may
as well get a new computer (I know.).

Anyways...

The reason I may end up installing some drives internally too, is that it is
more about dividing up where to put certain files.

- I can install programs and necessary files in one or two places now. I'll
leave those.

- I can divide up the rest of the files between external drives and another
internal drive (1 or more) for:

1. Music files (songs and some stuff I messed around to make. I need
back-ups), and turning my cd's and vynal to digital files. I go with wav and
mp3. External is best. But I need enough space to first store some of this
internally, go through it, and then decide where to put it.

2. Video files: Just getting into this. I have the raw footages, dvd's and
vhs tapes (archived and ready for portable players) and the video editing
projects I am working on. External is best, but I need space internally
first, and to leave some things here.

3. Pictures and the rest. Although I will be doing some stuff in picture
editing programs and some drawing programs. Another internal drive would
probably suit this and the rest of these files or programs.

I also look at it like: there's one more plug in there. I may as well use at
least the one plug, since I can actually use it. I thought adding more RAM?
Why not one more drive since it's useful.

Thank you.
From: Brian V on 2 Jan 2010 20:50
"you can get around BIOS limitations with software or by purchasing
additional hardware (internal drive controller cards). For all practical
purposes - the limitation is hardware."


So what your saying is: I can buy one of the internal drive controller cards
(I saw one with 2 SATA connections in a store). This I think connects into
the expansion ports in back? But it still draws power from the power-source
that connects to the electrical outlet and powers my computer? Hence I need
more Wattage since internal drives connected to this internal drive
controller card draw power from the same power supply?
From: Brian V on 2 Jan 2010 21:03
"From the quick look at the specs it appears your machine has some
built-in SATA ports...though I seriously doubt it has six of them.

Have a look inside...my guess would be that it has two ports
and if so, you can add two harddrives.

If that all works out OK

you can get more harddrives and a PCI SATA controller later

I'd also invest in a good quality 450 watt power supply

do not get a cheapie


Oh...one more thing

make sure the drives do not run hot

you may need a cooling fan"


Yes ther is one connecting to the hard-drive there now. There is one more
SATA connector.

I am really concidering buying a cooling fan. I asked about these in another
post. One usually sucks air in, one blows it out. So, I thought this morning,
I may have to drill holes into the tower (where there is nothing there) and
rig a fan in there.

I saw a 500W for a cheaper boxing day price. It is the stores inhouse brand.
I'm sure it will do, but I can wait and look around to spend better. Could
these types of supply work?

Can you ever have too much power supply? Or does it just not get used?

When/If I do get inside my computer: I'd like to change as much as I can
once. This computer has some life left in it. I need to know this stuff so I
can run my programs easier and limit IT having to come for no reason.
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