New 250 GIG drive installed what next???

[ImnoGuru]

I installed a NEW 250 GIG hard drive on a cable to the computer as a slave, but when I go to my computer I cant see it.

When the computer boots from cold the bios recognizes it, it just doesnt show up in My Computer?

Can someone give me some insight please as to what I need to do? Dont worry I found it.
Ok Ive initiallized it and the drive shows up as Basic and online but when I check with my computer I dont see it yet??

I know I have to partition it and so on but how do I get the computer to actually see it so I can move on?

This computer is an AMD Athalon 20 GIG hard drive 512 RAM XP SP3

[Aegis]

I think you have to format and partition the drive for it to be fully available.  The drive may have come with software on a CD for this purpose.

[BC_Programmer]

indeed- partitioning and formatting would take place in disk management, not windows explorer. (well, you could format in explorer, but not partition it)

[ImnoGuru]

Thank you Aegis

They store didnt give me anything else just the drive.

Ive got it in Computer Management as unallocated so far.
The screens asked me to partition it, so I did that at its full amount (232 gig).

Going through the wizard it asks me to allocate a drive letter to it, and this is where I come unstuck.

I posted about putting the drive in but wanting the data from my both original drives on the 250Gig drive and Patio suggested cloning the drives. A great idea, but its a process Ive never done and there isnt much info on cloning that Ive been able to find yet.

What I'm afraid of, is dedicating a letter to the drive then after I finish "cloning" to it, removing both my old drives and using the new 250Gig drive only to find that the drive letter allocation is not reverseable.

eg: Drives C+D and 250   remove D, in its place 250 as slave, send data from C (has the O/S on it) to 250 (but it has to have a letter assigned to it, Probably D)

Remove 250 and old C:

Replace 250 as New C, copy data from old D to 250. Then delete drive D from the computer box.
Net result is all data from OLD C+D is on 250 as the new C: Drive.

I hope I explained that correctly!!
It sounds very complex.

And is Cloning just a matter of Highlighting the whole lot and Copying to the 250 Gig drive? or is there a command available that says "Clone Drive"?

OR

can I add the 250 drive to the CD Player cable as a slave and do both the old c+d drives at the same time (eg one after the other that is)

My head hurts..... Im going to bed now and I'll get a fresh look at it tommorrow.

Thank you to all that have helped me. I find you guys amazingly knowledgeable.
Im sure some ppl that come here dont give you enough credit for your help.

I most certainly think your worth your weight in Gold.

[BC_Programmer]

As far as the letter's being stuck, this shouldn't be a problem. I have heard of it causing issues, but it is also possible to reassign drive letters in Disk management if necessary.


By "clone" I believe it's referring to using a special program (often on a CD included with the Hard Drive) to duplicate the data from one partition to another.

you're plan has one hitch- it won't be bootable. You're data will be on the drive, to be sure, but the boot sector won't be copied. I think recovery console could be used (fixmbr command) but honestly I have always either cloned the boot drive or simply reinstalled everything, depending on how cluttered my previous install was. That is to say, I haven't really experimented with it myself.


In summary, your plan has a big hitch that I see, the fact that the new drive won't boot from simply having the contents of C:\ copied. In addition, a lot of system files are locked while the OS is running-


Did your new hard drive come with a CD?

[ImnoGuru]

They store didnt give me anything else just the drive.

Thanks for explaining that BC,  no disk for install just the drive in a bag. No cable no info nothing.... but they were cheap!!

I'll have to ask Patio if she can tell me more about  "Cloneing" then, to make sure I get it right if I go down that path. Do you think she'd mind if I PM her?

Its the best solution though. I doubt that Id have all the program disks (CD's).. So I'd loose some programs on the drive. Doing it that way.

I see what you you are saying about copying the drive and it not being bootable.
The drive letter can be changed or reassigned is good. I should have thought of that last night.(but I was really tired) told you I needed a fresh look.

In summary, your plan has a big hitch that I see, the fact that the new drive won't boot from simply having the contents of C:\ copied. In addition, a lot of system files are locked while the OS is running-

I have some Win XP CD's to reinstall the O/S
Got 98, 98SE, XP, 2000, 2kPro... was told to stay away from Vista so no Vista.

I have most, if not all, of the programs copied to the hard drive (the intended Old C: in a special folder) just in case I lost the program CD originals. My brother set that up for me. In case something became corrupted or damaged. So I just delete the program and go to the file and reinstall the program.( I think he got tired of me knocking on his door at midnight with a computer in hand saying its broken).

A question comes to mind.... Whats the benefit of a partitioned drive?...
Say this 250Gig drive, Eg partition it to 100 75 and 50 Gig (approx)


I remember in the early days my brother had two operating systems on this drive for me to choose which one I liked to use best. That was partitioned I think.

Me thinks its time to do a back up b4  I go much further then.. I dont want to have to post "Ive lost a heap of stufff help me, help me please"

Thank BC Aegis and others for helping expand my universe.

[BC_Programmer]

Hmm, no CD. That makes things a bit more difficult.

Another possibility involves performing the copy as you were intending to, and moving the drives as intended (new drive as C:, old C: as slave, etc), the computer wouldn't boot at this point, but using an XP CD's repair function might write the appropriate boot sector code.

a Hard Disk Cloning utility would be ideal. Who is the drive manufacturer? often you can download their specially branded cloning utility from their web site.

[ImnoGuru]

I think the best way to do this then is to install the 250 GIG, install an O/S on it and remove the two others.
The other drives have lots of programs on them... just I dont use a lot of them all the time any more. then I'll have a clean drive with just the programs I want on it, and forget about trying to clone drives for a while.
Thanks to all who helped. Im just going to have a new clean drive with no crap on it.

[patio]

This would have done it all

The 250 would have become C: and you wouldn't be re-installing everything....

Sigh.

[BC_Programmer]

This would have done it all

The 250 would have become C: and you wouldn't be re-installing everything....

Sigh.

I tried:

a Hard Disk Cloning utility would be ideal. Who is the drive manufacturer? often you can download their specially branded cloning utility from their web site.

[patio]

Well i gave him that advice days ago in another thread and i wrote out the step by step instructions for him...
It's not all that difficult if you click the link and read it.

[ImnoGuru]

I really see what you both are saying but what can I say but a simple Thank You, for I have but that to offer.
When I read through it all, slowly and in the light of day, with a fresh mind, I think Yep..... The name says it all
Thank you

[BC_Programmer]

And honestly- this way you have a fresh installation too.