Badger Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 I was wondering if anyone can point me in the right directiion. I want to buy an additional internal Hard Drive. 40/80 Gb. I do not really undestand some of the specifications. ie ATA 100,133 etc or about the cache 2Mb 8Mb etc.At present my Hard Drive is a 40MB Hitachi Deskstar. 7200rpm, not sure about the ata (think it could be 100) and I think the cache is 2MB.This new drive which I want to buy will eventually be a replacement, the original will then be my second HDD (Got to get my head around cloning etc).Hope I am not asking too much and that you understand my requirements. I would like a good,fast and reliable HDD. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvw Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Personally I would not worry to much about the ATA 100,133 bit.....they are both fast enough and either will suffice.8Mb of cache will have an improved performance over 2Mb making the disk perform a bit quicker.80GB disks are about £40 and 120GB about £50.......I'd look at getting a 120GB disk for the extra £10 or so personally. As for which hard drive to use, well I use Maxtor...but they're all reliable these days I guess.For cloning the drive Acronis makes it very easy indeed, no need to format as Acronis will do everything for you, including the partitions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 I've installed hundreds of Maxtor drives in various machines I've built and never had a failure. Yes, some have worn out after years of use but that is to be expected with mechanical devices.My son, who I build for, is the most pernickety person around when it comes to his computers. He insists on having Maxtor drives. Hitachi, IBM or Samsung are a definite no - no as far as he's concerned.I concur with everything bvw says :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted January 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Thank you both for your replies. I shall opt for a Maxtor 8Mb cache. I will considered a bigger HDD then 80Gb.( cost not being of prime importance.) but I cannot really see me ever using anything like 120Mb. I have en external drive where my Images are kept. At present I am using 12+ Gb.I have Acronis,so will use that for cloneing when the time comes.I will read up about it and know that you (the forum) is here,if needs be. Thanks a lot. Bage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 If you do any video work - now or in the future, you will find a 120GB drive very useful. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r4may Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 If you use Maxtor 'MaxiBlast' to prepare your new HDD is can clone your O/S etc form your existing HDD at the same time as partitioning/formating the new drive.Saves a lot of messing about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvw Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Yes it does r4may but I remember Badger mentioning Acronis before so knew it was loaded. With Acronis you only have to plug in the new drive and it does everything else for you, it's as easy as that. I cloned an 80gig to a 120 in less than an hour....partitions and all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted January 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Thanks you r4may . I have had a look at that (found it with google)Do you think that it is better than Acronis which I have got.I would like to clone the new hard drive but I would like to keep the source drive intact. I have been reading up Acronis and find this is possible if you do a manual clone. Does anyone know if it will keep the data on the disk,if you do it in automatic?Maybe I should create a new thread. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvw Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Yes, Badger......you'll have 2 identical disks (except one's bigger than the other of course :) )It will automatically size your partitions to the same % sizes, you can always change the sizes manually afterwards if you want anyway, using Acronis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt James T. Kirk Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 i myself was wondering about a new hd and what brand to get. right now i have a 60gig western digital and was thinking bout slapping a 80gig as a slave in there. i have been advised i may need to upgrade from a 300watt psu to a 400watt to give a little extra power to spin up 2 hd's and now i have read pops post im sold on a maxtor. i have heard quite a bit about them lately. thanks, pops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted January 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Thank you so much for all your help, all of you.I think I have got this right bvw. but perhaps you could clarify it for me. Do I install the new HDD as a slave. Clone,then make the new HDD the master and away I go? Or do I have to do something in the BIOS. When I installed a seconf HDD some time agao (it is now my External Drive in a case) I did not have to do anything,but then it was not the bootable disk. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvw Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 That's it Badger, just put the new hard drive jumper to slave, fix it in the case, boot up and clone to it. Then swap drives over after changing the jumpers around. If my memory serves me right Maxtor drives have the jumper removed when the drive is a slave.....but double check first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted January 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Thank you again. I will get cracking and order my new drive. You have been so very helpful. Badger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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