i am having doubt about installing two different company HDD in one computer.i am already using samsung 40GB HDD now i want buy 250GB seagate.can install them?should i install Operating system in both HDD?will my system config supports 250GB HDD. system config: intel celron 1.7GHz RAM 256MB SDRAM benerjee

First off the BIOS and O/S must support large drives ie 48 LBA see: http://www.48bitlba.com If the 250GB Drive is just for storage then it does not need an Operating system Installed!

Also, you need more RAM - 256MB isn't enough these days. You should at least double it to 512MB, 1GB would be even better. "If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions" - Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in Pulp Fiction

In addition to the above the brand of drive does not matter. I would be concerned about 48 bit LBA compliance though. There is no free method to determine 48 bit LBA compliance that I know of other than through verification by the motherboard maker or by trial and error. The fact that you currently have a 40GB drive leads us to believe that your system MAY not be 48 bit LBA compliant. If you have an open expansion slot on the motherboard you could add a controller card IF your system is not compliant. I would recommend you first open the case and look to see if you have an open PCI or PCIe 1x/4x slot that is not in use. If you do, which if likely, then you could buy the drive and if the BIOS does not see the entire capacity, buy and install a controller card to allow the computer to use the drive. Using a large drive on a non compliant system, even if WinXP appears to see the entire drive, will eventually result in data corruption.

to othehill http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/... http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/... open pci slot mean?i think which is used for eg:ethernet card,graphics card.i use ethernet card for internet from 4 PCI slot other three r free.i have two IDE slots. how can i store data with out installing OS?i think i have to format HDD for using it. i am sending two photos of my system info.i think my system supports 48bit LBA.still any thing to check in BIOS setting?can i buy new internal HDD. benerjee

I did some research on your MBoard. All 845 series chipsets were/are able to support 48 bit LBA with WinXP sp1. Originally Intel supplied a driver called Intel Application Accelerator. This was available for download but in no longer available or supported. I am not sure if this is due to some form of this driver being incorporated into WinXP by the way of service packs or not. You do not need to have an operating system installed on a second drive in order to use it. The drive will need to be formatted. That can be done inside WinXP by using Disk Management. You can then install programs, a second OS or simply use for storage. If you are running at least SP1 I think you would be OK but I am not 100% sure. The best method of compatibility isw to have the BIOS support 48 bit LBA or use an add in card. Your MBoard has 4 PCI slots and they are probably all available. I suggest you buy a hard drive and install it. Watch the POST screens at startup to see if the full capacity is seen. If not then I would recommend installing a controller card before using the drive. Of course you would then connect the drive to the controller card instead of directly to the MBoard. There are many different types of controller cards available. SATA hard drives are now the standard. Your MBoard has only support for IDE (PATA) drives. At some point you may elect to upgrade your system and wish to migrate the hard drive. If you get a SATA drive and controller card you would be able to connect that drive directly to the MBoard on virtually any new system. If you get an IDE drive and end up buying a controller card you MAY need to migrate the card to a new system. Most new MBoards have limitied support for IDE. That is one or no IDE controllers. Which would mean 2 IDE devices total at most without a card. Hope this helps.

thanks for ur valuble info. benerjee