hard drive installation $200???

trionalaw · 07-16-2006, 08:44 PM

I recently added a hard drive to a computer that unfortunately burned in my office fire. It was a Western Digital. I was transferring data to it. Although the website made it sound like its installation disc would make it a breeze, as

it turned out, it cost me a $40 software program and $160 of a computer guy to get it done.

My daughter needs another hard drive because having 600 songs on her iPod is not enough. I want to add another drive but not transfer any data. Just make it a new drive for her--"D" I suppose--so she can get the additional songs. Listening for 40 hours before repeating a song makes her look rather shortchanged to her friends.

Am I going to be able to put it in and run the good old wizard and be done with it or am I looking at a $40 piece of hardware that costs 5 times as much to install??

I thank you but more importantly my daughter has waved to me that she is appreciative too as she listens to something that reminds me of rabid alligators screeching a mating call!

Triona

The dancing banana must be hearing the music.

Ford Freak · 07-16-2006, 10:41 PM

There isn't any reason to run the wizard to install the drive. Once you install it, it may or may not show up in "My Computer."

If it does, all you have to do it format it if you want to use the all the space available as one disk.

If it doesn't show up, click start>Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management. Once you are in there, click Disk Managment. You should see a disk below the list of drivers that has a black bar above it. It should say unallocated below that. Right click that area then click new partition. Just follow the directions in the wizard that comes up. When it asks if you want a primary or extended partition, select primary. It will also ask you how big you want the partition to be. Select the amount you want. If you want two partitions on the drive, follow the same directions starting with right clciking on the area below the black bar.

If you get a message saying it can't find the OS after you install the drive, you'll have to go in the BIOS and set the boot drive to the drive with the OS on it.

trionalaw · 07-17-2006, 09:06 AM

Thanks. Looks like I will take the plunge again and get another hard drive. Maybe with 5000 songs my daughter will feel comfortable going out again!!!!

Much appreciated.

Jim

*Bofinn* · 07-17-2006, 09:31 AM

Don't forget to change the jumpers on the back of the drive to: Slave or Secondary...

trionalaw · 07-17-2006, 12:36 PM

Thank you. Will do.

07-16-2006, 08:44 PM	#1
trionalaw Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 405	hard drive installation $200??? I recently added a hard drive to a computer that unfortunately burned in my office fire. It was a Western Digital. I was transferring data to it. Although the website made it sound like its installation disc would make it a breeze, as it turned out, it cost me a $40 software program and $160 of a computer guy to get it done. My daughter needs another hard drive because having 600 songs on her iPod is not enough. I want to add another drive but not transfer any data. Just make it a new drive for her--"D" I suppose--so she can get the additional songs. Listening for 40 hours before repeating a song makes her look rather shortchanged to her friends. Am I going to be able to put it in and run the good old wizard and be done with it or am I looking at a $40 piece of hardware that costs 5 times as much to install?? I thank you but more importantly my daughter has waved to me that she is appreciative too as she listens to something that reminds me of rabid alligators screeching a mating call! Triona The dancing banana must be hearing the music. __________________ Dell Dimension XPS 600 Intel Pentium D950 one Chipset nVidia nForce4 SLI Intel 2 GB 667 MHz OCZDDR2 PC5400 Value Pro NVIDIA duel GeForce7900 GS 250 GB SATA II 7200RPM hard drive X-FI SoundBlaster PCI Windows XP Dragon Naturally Speaking Version 8.10SP1 KnowBrainer Version 2005(rev. 2a)
(Offline)

07-16-2006, 10:41 PM	#2
Ford Freak warranty voider Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Valdosta, GA Posts: 3,833	There isn't any reason to run the wizard to install the drive. Once you install it, it may or may not show up in "My Computer." If it does, all you have to do it format it if you want to use the all the space available as one disk. If it doesn't show up, click start>Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management. Once you are in there, click Disk Managment. You should see a disk below the list of drivers that has a black bar above it. It should say unallocated below that. Right click that area then click new partition. Just follow the directions in the wizard that comes up. When it asks if you want a primary or extended partition, select primary. It will also ask you how big you want the partition to be. Select the amount you want. If you want two partitions on the drive, follow the same directions starting with right clciking on the area below the black bar. If you get a message saying it can't find the OS after you install the drive, you'll have to go in the BIOS and set the boot drive to the drive with the OS on it. __________________
(Offline)

07-17-2006, 09:06 AM	#3
trionalaw Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 405	Thanks. Looks like I will take the plunge again and get another hard drive. Maybe with 5000 songs my daughter will feel comfortable going out again!!!! Much appreciated. Jim __________________ Dell Dimension XPS 600 Intel Pentium D950 one Chipset nVidia nForce4 SLI Intel 2 GB 667 MHz OCZDDR2 PC5400 Value Pro NVIDIA duel GeForce7900 GS 250 GB SATA II 7200RPM hard drive X-FI SoundBlaster PCI Windows XP Dragon Naturally Speaking Version 8.10SP1 KnowBrainer Version 2005(rev. 2a)
(Offline)

07-17-2006, 09:31 AM	#4
Bofinn I'm gettin' dizzy! Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Chicagoland Posts: 11,035	Don't forget to change the jumpers on the back of the drive to: Slave or Secondary... __________________ ---------- JimBo ----------- When in doubt, smack it!
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07-17-2006, 12:36 PM	#5
trionalaw Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 405	Thank you. Will do. __________________ Dell Dimension XPS 600 Intel Pentium D950 one Chipset nVidia nForce4 SLI Intel 2 GB 667 MHz OCZDDR2 PC5400 Value Pro NVIDIA duel GeForce7900 GS 250 GB SATA II 7200RPM hard drive X-FI SoundBlaster PCI Windows XP Dragon Naturally Speaking Version 8.10SP1 KnowBrainer Version 2005(rev. 2a)
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