If i put an older smaller hard disk in my pc as a slave drive?

Question

Is there a program used just for reformatting the hard disk? Also how would i tell my pc i would like the second hard disk to be a slave drive?

Answer 1

fdisk in dos (free), or within Windows can use Disk Management (in win xp), can also use third party tools such as Powerquests Partition Magic.

I personally use Partition Magic (both the dos and windows versions) mainly beacuse it is easier to work with partitions e.g. resizing or moving partitions between disks or on the same disk, which windows *cannot* do.

However if its just a straight forward format you can use windows built in formating. Just make sure you copy any data you want to keep to another partition! (Once you format it is extremley difficult if not feasable, once you've formatted the drive to recover any data)

For the second drive it depends where its plugged into. If it is using the same IDE ribbon as your main disk the second disk needs to be in Slave Mode.

This is done by setting a jumper at the back of the hard drive (next to the power and IDE connections on the back of the drive) - you should have a diagram/label on your hard drive to show which jumpers to set for Master/Slave. You shouldnt need to touch the bios unless your pc is really really ancient.

A jumper is just a piece of plastic with a wire going across the top, when you place it over two pins (the back of the hard drive has them, and your motherboard will also have many for different functions) the wire across the top of the jumper joins the two pins, you can safely put a jumper over just one pin, if it will fit, if you just want to keep the jumper on the hard drive without actually using it. Likewise if you dont have a spare jumper and notice a jumper on the motherboard only over one pin, you can safely use it.

If the second hard drive is going on the second IDE cable with nothing else on it eg cd rom or another hard drive, then you can leave it as a master too. If the second cable has a device on it, either set your second drive to a slave, or leave the hard drive as a master and make the other device as a slave.

If windows does not see the drive make sure the IDE cable is plugged firmly at the back of the hard drive and on the other end that goes into the mobo. Also make sure you have plugged in the power (molex) plug into the back of the hard drive. Sometimes I find when adding a new drive I accidently loosen the IDE cable out of another drive. Make sure everything is plugged in firmly.

Hope this helps

Answer 2

You can reformat the slave drive via windows. Open up the drive utilities (under Programs.Accessories>Administrative Tools>Computer Management, and select "Disk Management" under "Storage" category) and you will be able to partition and format the drive as required. Just make sure you select the right drive.

Before you do all that, you do need to make sure that the drive you're installing is marked as slave. Most hard disks have jumpers at the back that you can use to mark the disk as slave. The jumper switch is usually near the power and IDE connecters. The instructions on how to set the jumper switches are usually printed on the sticker on the disk itself, or find the disk's instructions/documentations to be sure. Once that's set, hook up the disk and if you've set your CMOS to automatically detect disks you should see the new HDD being listed as a slave drive.

Answer 3

There are jumper setting son the drive to set it as a master or a slave. Just set that to slave.

Also, on your master drive now, make sure it is set to master but NOT as 'only drive.'

If it doesn't bootup with both drives plugged in, make sure the IDE cable (the long grey one) is plugged in properly (the side with the red lnie goes next to the power plug). You also may have to switch the connections between the two drives.

In order to format it... Once you get into Windows, go into My Computer and you'll see your new drive. Right click on it and go to Format. Just like you do with a Floppy.

If you're running Windows XP, you may need to go into your Control Panel, Administrative Tasks and Disk Management to add it. Very simple and you can format from here, also.

Answer 4

Reformatting is a core Windows function. If you are not going to partition the drive, you don't really need any add-on software. Just right click on the drive and select Format. It does destroy all data on the drive so make sure you select the right drive and make sure that's what you want to do.

If there is data on the drive you want to save, you could copy the data to your other drive and then reformat or you could just delete all the directories you don't need on the old drive (make sure you have the show hidden files system files checked in Windows Explorer / Tools / Folder Options / View).

As far as the slave drive, it depends on the drive. There may be what are known as jumpers on the back of the drive. These are a series of pin pairs. A little rectangular piece of plastic (with an electrical connector inside) is put over one of the pairs to electrically "jump" them. Your drive may indicate on the back whether you need to do this and which pin pair you need to jump. If it doesn't, check the drive manufacturer's website.

Answer 5

there is a "jumper" on the hard drive.
You set the jumper to indicate it is a slave or master.
you shouldn't have to do anything with the BIOS as most will automatically recognize the new drive.
after the hard drive is installed and the OS is booted, right click the new drive letter from "My Computer" (file manager) and select "Format"
This will format the drive.

FYI: some hard drive combinations do not work well together and some hard drives insist on being the master and not the slave.

tc

Answer 6

Set the jumper on the drive to either CS (cable select) or slave and plug it into the other plug on the same cable as your master. Plug in the power cable to the drive. Turn on the computer and load windows. Right click on the drive and select "format". Simple.

Answer 7

I just had this done last week when I got a new computer but wanted to keep all of my information from my old 12 GB hardrive. The computer guy explained it to me as that you just open the case, situate the new hard drive where you want it, and plug it in to your power supply and your motherboard.(I'm looking in at mine). Then he said you have to go to BIOS from command prompt and tell the computer not to boot from the new hard drive but the original one. I dont know how he did this but he did say that it was easy and that i could probably do it-it takes him 5 minutes.
I hope this helped-you can do it-you just have to get into BIOS and tell it what to do.
Good luck!

Answer 8

there are many partion and formating programs out there to assist with the formating of the drive... search download.com for some..

to set your drive as a slave there are "jumpers" on the drive near the power connector. you would want to move a plastic clip to the slave position.

Answer 9

To add a 2nd HD as a slave drive, you have to configure the jumpers on the back of both drives before you install them. The jumper chart is on the back of the drive itself.

You also have to configure the BIOS to read both drives.

When formatting a drive use C: format, or D: format (the 2nd drive)

Answer 10

if u know where the "JUMPER" is put on hard drive (it is plugged in the port which is situated between BUS port & POWER PLUG port & is very small object) take it out & it'll b slave
or put it on original position & take out jumper of 1st one then second will b master
u'll find instructions written on hard drive itself in details