How should I config my new HD

[P-Dub]

I will be picking up a Maxtor 40 Gig ATA133 harddrive on the weekend. At the moment I've only got a 6G drive that's pretty much maxed out. How should I best set this thing up?

I'm running Win98 at the moment and the only real program that I want to try and keep is the fax/answering machine that's on the drive. Of course I want to keep all my data and pictures.

At first I was thinking I should be able to just plug this thing in as a slave and then format the sucker as one big drive. Is there a reason I should partition it? I need to keep it fat32 as there's another machine that will need to access the drive. Do I need a different cable than what I have connecting my original 6G drive, I think it's a ATA66, but it could be as old as ATA33.

Now I got to thinking, this is a faster drive, maybe this should be the master with my OS. So how do I get that setup? Then I got to thinking some more, I think it'd be pretty cool if I could get W2Kpro running on my box, much more stable than Win98. But then again, my Win98 has been pretty stable from the beginning. The laptop is a different story, WinMe.

I'd like to have this drive as a backup device for the laptop and of course regular storage. I'll probably be adding a CDRW down the road for more longer term backups.




Paul

There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.

[Bing Fung]

Hey Paul, seeing as this is the faster drive you should set it up as the Master drive with your OS on it. Using your 6 Gb drive as the secondary backup if you want.

I would partion the 40Gb as 10/30 GB or 20/20 Gb drive. The reason to have at least 2 partions in the drive is to store you OS on the one partion and all your downloads or critical files on the other drive. This way when you have toi reinstall your OS, you can format the entire partion with out affecting the other data on the separate partion.

Unless your MB supports ATA 100 drives, you will not need a different IDE cable.

To format and make the partions you can use Fdisk, Under windows 98 control panel, go to add/remove programs and there will be a make start-up disk (this may also be under file exporer as well, but I can't remember). Insert a 3.5 floppy and let it make the startdisk, this disk will then have the basic boot and fdisk commands. Reboot your PC with your new Harddrive installed and the floppy inserted. Once you get the DOS prompt, type Fdisk.

Here Is a good Step By Step Procedure from there Print this out to guide you along.

As well you can use Maxtor's utility called Maxblast II to partion your drive as well. It works very well for the novice as it provides a DOS based graphical user interface. Download it and place it on a floppy. Get It Here

Have a read and then report back here with any questions you may have.

Sorry I have to get Katherine to Violin, but will post more when I get back.




Bing

[Andrew Pratt]

Bing what are you're thoughts on using programs like MaxBlast? I used to use a similar one then got told that they aren't very good to use and that they were altering the FAT table or something (Iforget what exactly the problem was) Anyway I now only use my handy dandy boot disk with a few utilities like Fdisk on it to do the dirty deed.

I'd definately make this new drive your master drive since its going to be a lot faster and quiter then the old 6 gig. You can't put an ATA100 and ATA33 drive on the same cable since they use different cables but you can put an ATA100 and an ATA66 on the same cable but both drives will run at ATA66 (the slowest of the two)

So what I'd do is make the new drive the primary master then make the 6 gig a secondary slave to the CDROM on the second IDE channel.

[Bing Fung]

Andrew, I have used Quantums disk manager, Maxblast and Fdisk with very good success. I'm not sure how it may differ, however I have not run into a problem with either program.




Bing

[P-Dub]

So am I hooped if my MB only supports ATA33? I can't remember, I'll have to digout my MB manual. It's the old Abit BH6. I guess I could reboot and find out.

[Bing Fung]

Ahh, a trusty BH6.... Paul, you may want to check the manual. I may not be correct on this but the original BH6 supported only ATA33, the Rev1.1 however may have supported ATA66.

Regardless, the drive you have is a faster drive in spin rate and maybe seek time so you will still get some performance gain.




Bing

[Jon]

Actually no BH6's supported ATA66 as they are based on the BX Chipset wich is ATA33. I had 2 BH6's And actually you can put ATA100/66/33 on tha same channel, they will all just run at ATA33 speed. You can even use the 80 conductor cable if you want, the extra wires are just ground anyways, to reduce signal niose. So don't worry Paul, you should have no trouble at all.

[P-Dub]

Actually no BH6's supported ATA66 as they are based on the BX Chipset wich is ATA33. I had 2 BH6's And actually you can put ATA100/66/33 on tha same channel, they will all just run at ATA33 speed. You can even use the 80 conductor cable if you want, the extra wires are just ground anyways, to reduce signal niose. So don't worry Paul, you should have no trouble at all.

Thanks Jon.

So should I even bother buying the 80 pin conductor cable?

[Bing Fung]

Good job Jon!

Paul, no, you won't need it.




Bing