Another HD question

[MarineCorps]

OK I got a new 120GB HD(I asked for an 80GB. Not that I am upset ), however my parents made a mistake and got me Windows XP upgrade edtion, which means I need a previos version of Windows on the HD in order to install it and since the HD is new..., anyways I won't be able to afford winXP for at least another 2-3 weeks(I have to wait for the refund check). But I got half life 2 for christmas plus I just bought a DVD ROM drive so I really want to use it(plus I have several hundred MB of files to move over to the new HD). So after the back ground story is now done my question is if I hook up the new HD to my old one as a slave( I assume that means the master drive is used for the OS and a slave drive is used as a storage drive) will I lose any files I move over to the new HD when I install winxp?

 

[Comraddict]

you won't if you partition that drive. You don't even have to partition it. Just making two partitions will make your life easier. So make 2 or 3 partitions, using disk management tool that is part of Windows XP, ( start, run, diskmgmt.msc, enter)

 

[MarineCorps]

What does partioning do? And BTW my old HD has win98 on it.

 

[Woody]

If your Win 98 install is working ok I would just put the XP upgrade over the top and use your current drive for the OS and the new drive for applications and/or games. If you do this you will not need to reinstall all of your programs. The only reason not to do this is if the old drive is really small or if you have any reason to think that it is going bad.

If you use the new drive for XP you will have to do a fresh install and if you do that you will need to reinstall all of your software. You would also need your Win 98 CD to install XP as an upgrade if you put it on the new drive.

But I got half life 2 for christmas plus I just bought a DVD ROM drive so I really want to use it

You should be able to install and use either of these before you do anything with the OS, the worst thing that could happen is having to reinstall half life if you end up putting on a clean install of XP.

So after the back ground story is now done my question is if I hook up the new HD to my old one as a slave( I assume that means the master drive is used for the OS and a slave drive is used as a storage drive) will I lose any files I move over to the new HD when I install winxp?

You will not loose any files but if you do clean install of XP you will have to reinstall all your software so the new OS knows where everything is.

 

[MarineCorps]

Well the old drive is an old 5.25" 12.7GB

 

[MarineCorps]

Hmm, I should also have said after I get winxp the old drive is going to be taken offline. The hooking up is a last ditch option simply to have some fun with my computer in the mean time.

 

[Woody]

I would install the new drive in your system then copy everything from it to the new drive. I would copy it too a folder called something like old_drive so you will have a backup of all your current date. You will then have backups of data like E-mail settings and IE favorites.

Then I would pull the old drive and install a fresh copy of XP on the new drive. You will need either your win 98 cd to use the ugrade disk you have or you will need to buy a full version of XP before you do this. Partitioning the drive before install xp isnt a bad idea but not somthing you have to do, if it was me I would give the OS about a 20 gig partition and leave the rest of the drive in another partition for other stuff. If you decide to use partitions it is much easier to set them up before you install the OS. XP will ask if you want to use partitions near the start of its installation process.

You still are not out anything to hook things up and/or install programs before you put XP on it, once you install XP you will have to reinstall all your software anyway.

 

[phoenix_night]

I wasn't aware people actually paid for XP.

 

[andvruss]

On the topic of hard drives, how would one copy some from one to another? You would need to put both in the slots available in the case, and then boot up and click and drag? Or do some cables have to be rearranged into both of them?

 

[phoenix_night]

If you only have one HD, then there's probably a free connector on the IDE cable connecting it to the motherboard. If you just connect that one to the new HD, along with a power supply (should be a couple of those in there) and then boot up - all should be fine and you can drag and drop.

(Your motherboard will have the ability to hold four IDE devices, so as long as there's less than that, then there'll be a spare connector somewhere.)