Adding a Hard Drive

I would like to add a second hard drive onto my system. I have an older Gateway system from 1999 with a PIII 450 MHz processor. The hard drive I have now is a Quantum Fireball CX13.6A which spins at 5400 RPMs and has an Ultra ATA/66 Interface. I was wanted to know a couple of things:

1) What would be my upgrade uptions as far as hard drives go?

2) Is there any way to set up the hard drives so that at system start up I have an option of choosing which drive I
would like to boot from?

3) What is the best way to cool the hard drives if mounting a fan in drive bays of the Gateway case is not an option?

4) Are any particular hard drive brands that you reccomend?

Thanks in advance,

Eric

1) What would be my upgrade uptions as far as hard drives go?

You have to think about the power supply and how big a hard disk your
MB can handle. Sometimes you can update the bios on the motherboard.


How can you tell what interface your motherboard can handle? The one I have
now is Ultra ATA/66, but how would I check to see if it could handle 100 or
133? Also, is 7200 RPM a good speed to go with or are there faster drives
out there that will work with an older system?


2) Is there any way to set up the hard drives so that at system start up
I have an option of choosing which drive I would like to boot from?

Sure with WIN XP. If you have two installations of an OS it creates an
optional boot menu when power on.


So how exactly would I set my system up for this boot menu? Would I set
both the hard drives to Master? I have one spare spot left for an IDE
device. The first IDE controller has just a single hard drive on it. The
second has a CD-RW/DVD drive and a ZIP drive. Is it better to have the two
hard drives on the first IDE controller?



3) What is the best way to cool the hard drives if mounting a fan in
drive bays of the Gateway case is not an option?

Those slim trays that fit on the bottom of the HDs should fit almost
anything. You can get them for around $14 at Compusa and cheaper
online byt then theres the shipping. Also cheap if you can find some
discount hole in the wall type small PC seller near you.

Keep a space between drives thats one way.



The hard drive I have installed now is mounted on its side. Would it be
okay to mount a second, faster hard drive on its side in the same drive bay
(keep in mind there isn't really a place for a fan mount)?

Check the type of motherboard and try to find in manual on internet to see
what it support.

Boba Vancouver Canada

"Eric Scofield" wrote in message
news:KVFpb.1438$In3.639@lakeread01...
1) What would be my upgrade uptions as far as hard drives go?

You have to think about the power supply and how big a hard disk your
MB can handle. Sometimes you can update the bios on the motherboard.


How can you tell what interface your motherboard can handle? The one I
have
now is Ultra ATA/66, but how would I check to see if it could handle 100
or
133? Also, is 7200 RPM a good speed to go with or are there faster drives
out there that will work with an older system?


2) Is there any way to set up the hard drives so that at system start
up
I have an option of choosing which drive I would like to boot from?

Sure with WIN XP. If you have two installations of an OS it creates an
optional boot menu when power on.


So how exactly would I set my system up for this boot menu? Would I set
both the hard drives to Master? I have one spare spot left for an IDE
device. The first IDE controller has just a single hard drive on it. The
second has a CD-RW/DVD drive and a ZIP drive. Is it better to have the
two
hard drives on the first IDE controller?



3) What is the best way to cool the hard drives if mounting a fan in
drive bays of the Gateway case is not an option?

Those slim trays that fit on the bottom of the HDs should fit almost
anything. You can get them for around $14 at Compusa and cheaper
online byt then theres the shipping. Also cheap if you can find some
discount hole in the wall type small PC seller near you.

Keep a space between drives thats one way.



The hard drive I have installed now is mounted on its side. Would it be
okay to mount a second, faster hard drive on its side in the same drive
bay
(keep in mind there isn't really a place for a fan mount)?

For Ultra ATA drives, is the number that usually follows in reference to the
front speed bus of the motherboard? In other words my ATA/66 drive refers
to a 66 MHz FSB?

- Eric

Eric Scofield wrote:
For Ultra ATA drives, is the number that usually follows in reference
to the front speed bus of the motherboard? In other words my ATA/66
drive refers to a 66 MHz FSB?

No, it refers to the maximum theoretical throughput of the interface in
MB/sec.
--
~misfit~

No, it refers to the maximum theoretical throughput of the interface in
MB/sec.

So then how can you tell what is the appropriate value for your system when
you bought a pre-assembled system and you don't have a motherboard manual?

- Eric