Bought new Hard Drive...dump or keep the old one?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mcmd
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mcmd

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Just bought a new 60GM drive, 7200RPM, $49.95 at COMPUSA after rebates.

Do I just retire my old 4.1GB drive (5400RPM)? Any advantages to keeping it ?

Thanks in advance,

/DMM
 
How many drive bays does your computer have? 4Gig is a lot to throw away. If you have any drive bays left and a controller on your Mobo for it, you should keep it.

Carl
 
4 gigs might make a good mp3 drive.

What kind of drive is the one you got from CompUSA?
 
If the 4.1 still in good condition, use it while you can. Unless you experience in reduced performance. I always suggest NOT to dump your ex. It could be your savior someday, who knows ? :)
 
don't put any recording stuff on the small drive, it will slow you down, and definately don't put your operating system on it.
-DAN
 
Elevate,

- the new drive is a COMPUSA brand, but th OEM is Maxtor, - DiamondMax Plus, Ultra ATA/133, (133MB/sec).

Karl/James Dan,

-I thought that if I kept the slower drive it would slow down the new one, -maybe not?

So, move the OS, programs and files to the new drive. Boot of the new drive and keep the old for storage or backup?

/DMM
 
Hi MCMD,
One option assuming u want to keep the drive in the system is to put the second drive on the IDE2 l(secondary) line on its own, if possible and disable the secondary IDE from the bios until you want to access the 2nd drive. At least using this approach you can test whether the slower drive influences the new one, whilst still keeping it online. Although personally I would use it for back up and then remove it from the system.
 
An extra 4 gig drive is a great device to use for writing backups to. Keep it in your system, once per week/month/whatever use something like Ghost or Drive Image and write a backup of your main drive.
 
.......It would appear that I have no place to put this new drive. I have a mini-tower with three 5.25 bays, - all full, floppy, CD-ROM/DVD and CDR/W!

The old drive is mounted against the frame wall inside.

Does anyone know if I could mount the second drive?

/DMM
 
If the case is full, unless you are prepared to drill holes in the bottom of the case and mount it there. You need another larger case. It may not be worth it in this case! (Sorry about the unintended pun). Don't even consider running the second HD without securing it. It may overheat or cause a short. Also now you have declared your system as being 4 IDE devices (2 HD, a CD, a CDRW) you can't do what I suggested in my previous post anyway. It may be wise to retire the old HD after all!
 
...any objections to using VELCRO to fix the drive to the bottom of the case....just want to keep it from moving around....right?

...I'm serious

/DMM
 
VELCRO!.. now thats taking DIY a little far.....

Use sticky tape and old plastic washing up bottles if you want! Just don't blame me if it all melts into a gooey mess!

Screwing it down is better for heat conduction.
 
I've used velcro, tape and even just layed them in the bottom of the case all with no problems. I've never seen one self destruct or meltdown or any other strange death related to not mounting it. Although a little common sense doesn't hurt like don't lay it circuit board side down on a metal case.
 
The circuit board side most likely has mounting holes for applications that require mounting the circuit board side against the case. You need to find out what the uncached transfer rate is of both drives. I’ve had ATA33 5400 rpm drives that transferred 3 times faster than UDMA66 7200 rpm’s. Look for an online test site or utility. ‘Winmag’ used to be a good test site but I think they went down.
 
Another possibility is to mount the new drive in a removeable bracket and get an extra drive cartridge for the 4GB drive. Use it as a backup and take it out of your system. The hardware for this is pretty cheap and while at that price it's not hot-swappable- so what? Power down when you do the swap. And for long term storage I'd put the drive in a plastic bag with one of those dessicant bags.
 
Hehe, that’s high tech Dr. I just leave a couple of long cables dangling out of an open bay slot. Dr’s suggestion is the right way to go of course, I’m a slob. If you did it that way, you could put the OS and the program on each drive and do a quick speed test on each drive. Of course you could do that anyway. Just time how long it takes to load the same song data, or if your program has meters, see if there’s a difference in playback. Maybe not as reliable as a utility test, but…I recently acquired a computer that has the hard drive mounted vertically on the rear of the front panel. It’s a bit noisy but it’s factory installed.
 
drstawl and monty,

.....help me understand....

I have NO empty bays. The old factory drive is mounted on the case wall, so I have to open up the tower case for access.
Are you suggesting that I run the EIDE cable outside the case and Keep the drives external...?

...not sure what you are driving at....?


/DMM
 
Okay maybe “bay” is misleading. I was referring to the openings in the front of the computer, but inside the computer since your drive is mounted on the wall, you probably don’t have any more drive slots to use. That’s how this one computer I have is set up. I never saw one like it before, but it’s factory produced. I too was going to put an extra HD into it before I re-sold it, but alas…there is no extra slot inside. If I really wanted to put an extra drive in, I would probably just drill some holes in the bottom of the case. My other computers do have extra openings in the front for extra CD drives and such. What Dr is referring to is a bracket they sell for removable drives. If you can’t do without the DVD then you’ll have to mount inside. Make a template to help line up where you want to drill. Be careful not to damage anything while drilling, and watch out for stray metal shavings. This is providing your soundcard or any other card won’t be interfering with the drive after it’s screwed it. If the legs on the case are too short for the screw heads, just add some of those peel-off self adhesive watchamacalits they sell at most hardware stores. Those little rubber things that stick to your gear to lift them off the table a bit. Can’t think of what they are called right now. Most cases are far enough off the table to accommodate some small head screws. Anyway it WILL work if you do it that way. If it were me, I’d probably just sit the drive on the bottom of the case and remember it is like that when I go to move it. But I’m a slob. Hope this helps. I personally don’t like the idea of a vertically mounted HD, but they do it. I’d put the old drive on the vertical mount. But that’s just me.
 
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