kells Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 I need a new hard drive as im running out of space on my current one. I had a look inside the pc and i can't add a second hard drive as i don't have a spare power cable from the motherboard. I think i should be alright replacing the hard drive myself, im just unsure how to copy the data across.Could i unplug the cd drive and put the new hard drive in there just to copy everything across, then replace the old hard drive and put the cd drive back?Thanks for any help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan6061 Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 Buy an external one?Plugs into the USB, simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kells Posted November 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 I would be im an ocd wierdo and like things nice and tidy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 Assuming you are only copying data over from one disk to another (rather than installed programs/OS) then theres no reason why you cant borrow the power lead from the cd drive. Once you have finished copying the stuff over leave the old hard disk in the case for emergency back up (and to keep the place tidy for the OCD ), replug the cd and jobs a goodun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kells Posted November 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 I want to move everything over though, including the OS and programmes. I would keep the old hard drive as a second drive but my motherboard doesn't have any spare power cables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 (edited) I want to move everything over though, including the OS and programmes. I would keep the old hard drive as a second drive but my motherboard doesn't have any spare power cables.You cant just 'move' the OS over*, you would need to reinstall windows onto the new disk and slave the old disk. Your motherboard should have 2 IDE channels (the flat ribbon cable) and each one will support up to 2 IDE devices (hard disk or cd/dvd drive), if you only have 1 IDE socket then you can only run 2 devices.If you have 2 IDE channels then I would run your new hard disk on channel 1 as the master (end plug on the ribbon cable) and use channel 2 to drive the 2nd hard disk and cd drive as slave and master respectively. Have a trawl through google if youre not familiar with IDE slave and master settings.If you dont have enough power cables from your psu then you should be able to get a 4pin molex cable splitter/extender that will give you the additional plug you need.*You may be able to use something like norton ghost to create an image of your current install and copy that over, not sure how it works though as I always install from fresh.edit: A thought, depending on the age of your motherboard, it may have SATA channels that can be used to drive a hard disk (1 per channel); in which case simply buy a SATA hard disk and run the old hard disk and cd drive on the IDE channel. Edited November 14, 2008 by forteh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 Just buy an external, hide it behind the pc or monitor... so much easier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 Just buy an external, hide it behind the pc or monitor... so much easier!Or you could dump it in the bottom of the case and route the USB cable through an open blanking plate Depending on how big your case is of course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 I need a new hard drive as im running out of space on my current one. I had a look inside the pc and i can't add a second hard drive as i don't have a spare power cable from the motherboard. I think i should be alright replacing the hard drive myself, im just unsure how to copy the data across.Could i unplug the cd drive and put the new hard drive in there just to copy everything across, then replace the old hard drive and put the cd drive back?Thanks for any helpOrder one of those when you get the drive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kells Posted November 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 Thanks a lot for your help guys. Where can you get one of those cables from Danny? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spode@thinkbikes Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 Thanks a lot for your help guys. Where can you get one of those cables from Danny?That's a Molex splitter cable. I'm sure Google will turn something up.You might find a tool like PING (http://ping.windowsdream.com/) useful for cloning your old drive to the new one. But what people have said is true - if you're just after extra storage space, a USB drive would be much simpler and has other benefits - like being able to carry your videos/music to a friends house. Some of them are tiny now - about the size of a mobile phone for 250-500GB. I'm sure you can tuck that away nicely. Hell - if you had to, you could plug it onto a USB header on the motherboard. A lot less hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krisboats Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Get a SATA one not another IDE. No point buying into old technology. Besides, a 1TB 32mb cache drive is now available for only £70 or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spode@thinkbikes Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Get a SATA one not another IDE. No point buying into old technology. Besides, a 1TB 32mb cache drive is now available for only £70 or so.If he's on IDE atm, it might suggest he doesn't have any SATA ports. So you'd need to check that first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krisboats Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Sata ports have been on motherboards for the past 4-5 years. I've got an IDE drive, doesn't mean i don't have sata ports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spode@thinkbikes Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Sata ports have been on motherboards for the past 4-5 years. I've got an IDE drive, doesn't mean i don't have sata ports.That's why I said "it might suggest". Still makes sense to check before going down that route, wouldn't you agree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krisboats Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 That's why I said "it might suggest". Still makes sense to check before going down that route, wouldn't you agree?Possibly. Although if he doesn't have SATA he'll be running 2 IDE sockets on the motherboard, in which case (if it was me) i'd be looking at getting one of these and still fitting a SATA drive over an IDE one. Obviously checking for existing SATA ports would be quicker and a bit easier.Have a look for soemthing shaped like these blue sockets on your motherboardor these orange/red ones. They're both the same socket type, just the top one has more of a surrounding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spode@thinkbikes Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Possibly. Although if he doesn't have SATA he'll be running 2 IDE sockets on the motherboard, in which case (if it was me) i'd be looking at getting one of these and still fitting a SATA drive over an IDE one.Yeah, that would give him more future compatibility if he bought a new machine and just wanted to move the drive across. I still think the external drive idea is the best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kells Posted November 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Maybe an external hard drive might be the best option, seems a lot easier. Just been looking at them, can't believe how small they are! Thanks a lot for your help though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.