We are going to be running a construction business from our home for awhile until we get established. I have my own personal computer but can a second hard drive be used with it to run the business accounts instead of buying a whole new system?
2006-12-28 15:21:38 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
I assume that you are talking about keeping everything seperate? Meaning, when you boot off one drive it is the personal Hard Drive, then you could reboot and select the other Hard Drive and boot into the Business side? That is called Dual Boot. It can be done, but it might be tricky. It might be simpler and more cost effective to just get an external hard drive - 250GB and use it to store all your business related data and install any business software on that hard drive. Hope this helps...
2006-12-28 15:34:16 · answer #1 · answered by Country 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are many ways to connect a second hard drive to your computer. You can connect an internal hard drive. Your computer will either have IDE or SATA ports. At minimum, computers can support 4 storage devices. Most computers will have one hard drive and one CD drive. Therefore, you should have at least 2 more spots for more storage devices.
The other way of doing this is to purchase an external hard drive. This will connect to a USB 2.0 or Firewire port. If you only have USB 1.1, then you really want to stick to internal drives due to speed constraints.
Yes, you can store personal files on one hard drive and work fileson your second hard drive. From an expert standpoint, I would recommend keeping business and personal separate by buying another system. People do much more dangerous things on a personal basis (downloading, surfing, opening attachments, installing games, installing software). From a business standpoint, there should be no new programs, no personal e-mails, no attachments. It should be completely clean except for the bare minimum programs. It should be secured with passwords.
2006-12-28 15:28:10 · answer #2 · answered by techman2000 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you can. You may want to consider using an external hard drive (USB). This way, if you decide to purchase a second computer later, transferring your data will be a snap.
The only technical down side is that the speed reading/saving will be a slight bit slower. Another consideration is that your pc will not be deductible on your business taxes -- only the extra drive will be.
Also, make sure you have some way to back up your data. Most CD/DVD burners come with software that allows you to define folders to keep backed up automatically.
2006-12-28 15:29:15 · answer #3 · answered by ♫CuriousC☼ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, most computers even if they are really old will be able to hold at least 2 hard drives. refer to your manual to see what connectors the motherboard allows or open the computer up and look, the cable connecting your first hard drive in it will most likely have another connector on it for another hard drive, so all you gotta do is plug it in and off you go.
also as they say above you can just get an external USB hard drive and save the hassle, although this will cost a lil more and wont run as fast as an internal one
2006-12-28 15:24:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
hard drives are just for storage. Computers have operating systems that access the storage. If you want a second system, you have to buy a second computer. Of course if you had a Mac, you could have one computer, with two user profiles. You could log in during the day to do your work, and then later the accountant could come in, log into their own user profile and do their work.
2006-12-28 15:25:21 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes you can use a external hard drive or open the case and connect one through eaither SATA or IDE depending on what your motherboard supppots and what type of HD you get. If you get an external HD make sure it if firewaire, if you dont have a firewire port you can get a crd for 15.00 at Fry's electronics
2006-12-28 15:25:49 · answer #6 · answered by rhiannonnightqueen 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can use an additional HD in the machien to store the data and install the business software, but you;ll still be running it from the same computer.
As an aside, if you are going to be storing your critical business files on a PC, do yourself a favor and get a backup application.
2006-12-28 15:23:41 · answer #7 · answered by arrowroberts 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can run two hard drives in a PC. I can give you a link that deals with hard drive problems. Some drive problems can be easily fixed by yourself using easily available tools. I found the info at http://fixit.in useful. Try this site, if you can get what is required.
2006-12-29 23:40:19 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-11-24 21:47:43 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The second drive is the slave.From what I have done I see no reason why you couldn't load on to your second drive.You'll have to change your drive settings to slave.Flip the drive ,see the jumpers?Now set accordingly and have fun.
2006-12-28 15:27:05 · answer #10 · answered by duanehullihan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋