what do i need to do to hook up two internal hard drives?

Question

one has office on it which ineed to do some work it has errors but i think i may be able to work threw those if i can just get it all hooked up right it. I want to use my xp hard drive to start my comp and everything but would like to be able to switch to other hd to use office and print docs

Answer 1

You don't need anything special at all to have two independent drives. As long as you have a spare IDE or SATA connection (and most people do), just hook it up and format it. It will show up in My Computer as another lettered drive (of your choosing), and you can move files to it just as would move files between folders.

There is a little more involved if you want to set up a RAID configuration, but even that's not too difficult.

Also, if you want, you can just partition a single drive without having to install additional hardware.

Answer 2

I have done this many times (like this morning) with standard IDE hard drives, which is what you most likely have. The back of them (unplugged) can be seen here: http://www.daileyint.com/build/ibuild6.htm, which also shows you much of what i will explain.

First, you should know that the aformentioned type drives have "jumpers" on them which set the drive as either Master or Slave (Cable Select is also an option but we need not deal with that here). A jumper is a small plastic piece that connects pins together on the back of the drive. See image and more instructions here: http://www.dansdata.com/sbs27.htm

The hard drive (HD) that you have your XP operating system (OS) on would be your Master, or Primary hard drive (IDE-0 in DOS), and so the other one would have to be set as Slave.

If you unplug the PC, and open up your case then you should see an extra bay for another HD, which is where you can put the slave drive. You can also put it in the CDrom bay, but sometimes that requires going into the BIOS (which is a mini operating system that works when you first "boot up", and is accessed by holding a key down when you first boot up, but you must be careful).

Plug in the drive cables (do not force; they will only go one way), and once you have installed the drives you can boot up. After the OS loads go to My Computer (hold down the Windows key and tap E and let both go) and you should see the extra drive. You should then be able to transfer your data as need be.

Option: If your OS will not laod and you only need to recover some files you can download a copy of the Linux OS called Knoppix (www.knoppix.net/get.php). But you would have to burn it as an ISO image, and then put it in your CD drive and reboot. If the BIOS is set to boot from that drive before the hard drive then it will let you load it. And from there you can transfer files (though you have to set permission to read/write).

Hope this helps. Now i have to find out how to adapt a SATA drive!
Once

Answer 3

Much of this is going to depend on whether or not you already use the xp drive as your boot drive already, If you do it is no problem to hook a second drive into the same cable on the second connection point. You must make sure and set the jumper pins on the second drive as "slave", To do this, you can look at the end of the drive where the power connects and you will see a small array of pins (usually 5+5 or 5+4) there will be a graph stating which pins need to be jumpered in order to make the drive a slave. This only guarantees accss to the drive, it does not guarantee operation of any programs installed on it and I would recommend a complete format and re-install of anything you want on it, but your best to use it only for storage and run all programs from your primary drive.

Answer 4

Take the drive to a repair shop and ask them to hook up the jumpers to use it as a slave. Then remove the cover of your tower and install it in an open bay plugging in the two cables closest to it. One runs it, the other is power. Careful, but you cannot hook it up wrong. The cables will only fit where they go. You have an existing drive already working to copy from.
That drive is where the conversions come from and you cannot change that. In other words you cannot switch between drives.
Your new drive will be recognized by the machine as an "e or d" drive, possibly an ::: F:::
Be aware that the machine may move your CD drive and it may not work anymore. Reverse it by removal, and the machine will fix itself..

Answer 5

Your best bet would be to setup the second drive as a slave. There are jumpers on it with writing to set it that way. Your hard drive ribbon cable with your XP on it should have another connector you need to attach to the defective hard drive if it doesn't you'll need a new cable and then plug in the power cable, to the hard drive theres always spares inside your XP pc. You will not be able to boot from this hard drive but will be able to take files off. Any applications you installed onto the defective hard drive will have to be reinstalled. You should be able to do this and have them install on the slave drive if its not to defective.

Answer 6

You would have to install the MS Office on the OS Drive, it depends on it... You could save files of Office and any others to the second drive but the main App would need the OS Drive to work properly, it's the same principal as having a partitioned hard drive, one for OS, the other for file or OS recovery.. If you install two drives, OS Drive should be jumped to Master, and the other to cable select or slave. Good luck

Answer 7

You need the proper cables to connect them both IDE if it's an older drive, or SATA 1 or SATA2 if it's newer. Windows will do the rest unless you are trying to set up a RAID system (where you want to use 2 drives simultaneously for backup purposes.)

Answer 8

Erm.. frequently the lead from the motherboard has 2 connections on it.. a million For the 1sh HD & One for the 2d HD.. The CD force makes use of its very own. in simple terms Rememeber to set the 'Jumper' to 'Slave' on the 2d HD. wish it enables :)

Answer 9

you have to buy another computer