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BOOT CAMP 316 (09/03/04)
SPRING CLEAN & UPGRADE, part
4
Back in the mid 1990s
running out of hard disc space was a common problem for PC owners then along
came affordable multi-gigabyte hard drives. The relief was only short lived.
Computers, like nature, abhor a vacuum and it didn’t take long for all that
empty space to fill up. Once again many PC users are finding that what once
seemed like limitless volumes of storage capacity are being swallowed up by
digital photographs, MP3 music collections and video files and that 20, 40 and
even 80 gigabyte hard discs are no longer sufficient.
If you sense that your
drive is rapidly filling up then there are basically four things you can do. You
can buy a new computer, delete files to fee up space, replace your existing hard
drive or add a second drive. Buying a new PC is obviously a last resort and only
worth considering if your computer is hopelessly outdated. Deleting files brings
only temporary relief and replacing your hard drive will involve a lot of hard
work, re-installing Windows and all of your applications, which brings us to the
fourth and preferred option, adding a second drive.
The advantages are
simple: you preserve Windows all of your applications, data files and
preferences plus it is relatively cheap and easy to do. The only downside is
that you are going to have to take the lid off you PC, and if that’s something
you’ve never done before, or do not relish, then as always seek expert help, but
I have to say that it is not difficult, you won’t need any special tools, just
an ordinary crosshead screwdriver, and it only takes a few
minutes.
But first you have to
make sure that your PC has the room and connecting cables for a second drive, so
unplug the mains sockets from the system unit and monitor and remove the lid. In
most desktop and ‘tower’ type PCs there will be at least one empty ‘bay’ for a
second hard drive, usually next to or above or below the existing drive.
Once you have
established that you have an empty bay you can check that there’s a spare 4-pin
power plug within reach (it may be tied back to stop it dangling), and a second
connector on the ribbon cable that goes into the back of your original disc
drive; manufacturers often fold the cable to keep things tidy. Don’t worry if
neither are present, power cable adaptors and replacement ribbon cables are
readily available.
Now you are ready to buy
your drive, and for the purposes of this article we’re looking at a second drive
as a place to store programs and data files. Fancy applications, like high-end
video editing work best with specialist high performance drives and that’s
another subject for another day. Assuming that your PC is no more than three or
four years old then it will almost certainly use a standard ATA/IDE type drive
but it’s worth checking your motherboard manual first, just in
case.
Decide on the capacity
you think you need then double it, if you are into multimedia applications then
an 80 or 120Gb drive would be a sensible starting point but the sky’s the limit
these days with 300Gb drives now selling for less than £200. Most replacement
drives are come with little or nothing in the way of instructions so if you are
a first-timer the Hitachi Deskstar kits (more details from: www.hitachidigitalmedia.com/storage and available from most
resellers)
is a very good place to
start as they come with a full set of instructions, cables and a fitting kit.
(See also tip of the week). For a selection of competitively priced hard drives
check online retailers like Ebuyer (www.ebuyer.co.uk) and Aria (www.aria.co.uk).
Fitting a drive is very
easy but before you start you must set your new drive as a ‘slave’, otherwise
the computer may not recognise it and will not boot up properly. To do that look
for a set of small ‘jumpers’ on the back panel. There should be a set of
configuration diagrams on a label stuck to the drive, showing where the jumpers
go – use a set of tweezers to move them to the correct position. This step is
important as most drives are shipped in the ‘Master’ or ‘Cable Select’
position.
Slot the drive into the
bay, line up the holes, fit and tighten the four retaining screws and connect
the cables. Be very careful with the ribbon connector and make sure it is the
right way around – there should be a lug to guide it into the socket, if you
force it in the wrong way around you could bend the delicate pins on the
connector, so be careful!
Replace the lid, plug it
in and switch on. Most PCs automatically register the presence of a new drive
but on some older models you may need to enter the BIOS program and run the disc
drive setup utility. Your PC’s motherboard manual will explain this procedure.
Windows probably won’t
recognise the drive, however, until it has been partitioned and formatted.
Partitioning prepares the disc for storing data and formatting creates a filing
system. In Windows 9x (95/98/SE/ME) the simplest method is to whip the lid off
again, disconnect your main C: drive by removing the power and ribbon cables
then boot the PC from your Emergency Startup floppy disc. At the A: prompt type
‘fdisk’ (without the quotes) to partition the disc – unless you have any special
requirements just follow the prompts and accept the default
settings.
When it has finished reboot using the Startup disc again
and type ‘format c:’ at the A: prompt. When it has finished switch off,
reconnect the cables to the C: drive, replace the lid, reboot and Windows will
automatically assign the drive a new drive letter. In Windows XP you can
partition a new disk by going to Start > Control Panel > Administrative
Tools > Computer Management. Double-click Disk Management, right-click on the
new drive (it will probably be called Disk 1), select Partition from the
drop-down menu and follow the prompts. When it has finished reboot and if all’s
well Windows will assign the new drive letter and you can start filling it up.
Next week – Power Perils
JARGON FILTER
ATA/IDE
Advanced
Technology Attachment/Integrated Drive Electronics; the circuitry -- built into
the disc drive – that acts as an interface between the drive and the PC
motherboard
FORMAT
Preparing
a disc drive for use by creating a filing structure and deleting any previously
stored data
JUMPER
Tiny
connector or shorting link, used to configure setup parameters on disc drives
and motherboards
TIP OF THE WEEK
When you buy a hard disc drive that’s usually all you get and
you’re left to your own devices to figure out what to do with it. Fortunately
most hard disc manufacturers have decent web support sites with a wealth of
tutorials, FAQs and downloadable utilities, designed to help both expert and
novice users install and use their products. Here’s a selection of addresses for
the main players.
http://uk.fujitsu.com/support/
http://www.ibm.com/support/uk/
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/products/index.htm
http://www.seagate.com/support/index.html
http://support.wdc.com/
(Western Digital)
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