Name: paradoxwizard Date: April 26, 2008 at 06:31:49 Pacific Subject: Hardisk swap? OS: XP SP2 Pro CPU/Ram: IP4 1.5/2.8
Comment:
Hello everyone,
I recently got a used computer from a friend - a 2800 Mhz instead of my old one which is 1500 Mhz.
The problem is that I want to take my hardisk from my own personal computer to the one I just got.
I tried to do so (with stupidity and no previous experience) but with no luck. I managed to get my hardisk back to my computer and everything works as it was but as for the "new" computer, I don't know how to connect the wires, I've tried everything and BIOS won't recognize the hardisk.
Can someone please help me? Also, is it even possible to take my hardisk and connect it on the "new" computer so that my data won't have to be transffered via burner or any portable device?
You're not providing any info about either computer, but HDDs & optical drives have a small jumper cap on the rear of the drive that has to be set correctly. The Settings are either MA (master), SL (slave), or CS (Cable Select). Also, some HDDs have a different jumper configuration for Master (single) or Master (w/slave).
Other than that, your old HDD won't be able to boot into Windows in the new system. Windows will have to be reinstalled using the "repair installation" method, then all Windows updates will need reinstalled.
Why not just connect your old HDD as a slave drive & copy over whatever files you need? You may have to "take ownership" to be able to access the old drive.
"And that's the fishing line, because Sharkboy said so!"
The harddrives in both these computers are most likely of the IDE type. Two IDE harddrives can share one IDE controller. In order to do that the controller has to have some means to know which is which. There are two methods in use to accomplish that. Both require the proper setting of a jumper on the rear of each drive, CD drives also have the same jumpers. The first method is to set one of the two drives on the same controller (cable) as the Master and the other as the slave. This method allows you to connect the Master to either of the two available connectors on the cable. That method usually makes it easier to route the cable to both drives. The second method is to set both drives on the SAME cable to cable select (CS). Using this method requires that the drive you want to be the Master drive be connected to the END connector on the cable. Both methods will work but you can't intermix the jumper settings on the same cable. Both harddrives and CD drives can be connected to the same cable but must follow the above rules.
Both your computers most likely have TWO IDE controllers which will allow a total of 4 drives connected. If only one of the controllers was previously in use the second may be disable in the BIOS settings.
If you have disconnected the cable from the motherboard and you are not sure which place to plug it into the Primary IDE channel may be identified by color as opossed to black. The primary should be marked on the board itself using the lower number. You should use the primary IDE channel for the boot drive and connect the boot drive as the Master.
Your harddrive from your old system should be installed as a slave, preferably on the second channel. One last thing, be sure to disconnect the computer from the AC and take static precautions by discharging any static from yourself before touching the inside of the computer. You can do that by touching the case just before unplugging. You will need to take ownership of the files on the old drive in order to read them. There is no reason to move them unless you want to. Your old drive can remain in the new computer. Look at the link below to learn how to take ownership. Hope I covered everything.
First of all, thank you for all this info. I normally get along with softwares and other OS environments, but when it comes to hardware, I'm lost.
I would gladly accept the idea of having the hardisk on the new computer as a "Master" and the one from my old one to be the "Slave" by "taking ownership", if I have understand correctly.
My main problem is that I do not know how to connect them (see picture), and the original hardisk in this new computer is not connected. From a look, there's an AT attachment from the motherboard which is colored white but from it there's another AT attachment colored black (I don't know which one to connect to the original hardisk).
Add to that 3 jumpers: One is headed from my CD-ROM then connects through a compatible jumper leaving it unplugged. Other than that, there's another jumper from the Power supply which splits into two. One without a small jumper and one with.
I'm truly sorry I haven't provided enough info, but as I said my knoweldge doesn't really cover for it.
Don't confuse jumpers with power & data connectors. Here is a pic of the rear of a HDD. The jumpers are the small white "caps" in the center of the pic...to the right is the 4-pin molex plug (power). This particular drive has a diagram for the various jumper configurations:
Your motherboard probably has two IDE channels...a Primary & a Secondary. Each channel can have two drives...one must be master & the other, slave. As long as you have one drive jumpered as master & the other as slave, it doesn't matter which plug they connect to on the ribbon cable.
If you prefer, you can use the Cable Select jumper setting. To do that, BOTH drives must be set to CS & the positioning on the cable determines which is master & which is slave. The end plug will be master & the center plug will be slave.
"And that's the fishing line, because Sharkboy said so!"
Just to add, the jumper configuration varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. If there's no diagram on your HDD, it should be available at the manufacturer's website.
"And that's the fishing line, because Sharkboy said so!"
There's no diagram on my HDD as you said, and sorry for the confusion between the jumper and the data connectors.
Something went wrong, though. Not like the first time, now the computer won't recognize the original hardisk. The only thing BIOS can detect is the CD-ROM. When booting up I get "Boot failure, Insert system disk and press Enter" or something like that which takes me back another step.
You probably don't have the data cable inserted correctly. The normal location of the jumper labels is on the top/rear of the drive near the actual jumper. Virtually all modern drives are labeled.
"My main problem is that I do not know how to connect them (see picture), and the original hardisk in this new computer is not connected. From a look, there's an AT attachment from the motherboard which is colored white but from it there's another AT attachment colored black (I don't know which one to connect to the original hardisk)."
the ribbon cable in your picture which is connected to the BLUE connector on the motherboard looks like an 80 wire Cable Select cable. This is your Primary ide cable, on which you will attach your "The Original Harddisk" to >>>>> attach that "The Original Harddisk" to the end connector, the black one. Because its a Cable Select cable you could/should set the jumper on the end of the actual HardDrive to CS jumper setting. The white connector, leave it alone.
the other ribbon cable (i think its the one coming from the black motherboard connector to the left of the blue connector on the motherboard, would be your Secondary ide cable, and from what i can see, it looks like a 40 wire conductor cable (not an 80 wire cable select cable, as the Primary cable is). ok, on that Secondary ide cable you can connect 2 devices >>>> set the jumper on your Optical Drive (CDROM or whatever) to MASTER and connect that drive to the end of the cable (it is optional to connect it to the middle connector on that cable, but here we are connecting it to the end of that Secondary cable). Your "HardDisk From My Old Computer To Be Slave" set the jumper on the actual HardDisk to SLAVE and connect it to the MIDDLE connector on that Secondary ide cable.
do not whatsover ! connect a drive to the MIDDLE connector of an ide (ATA) cable leaving the END connector hanging loose (no drive on it).
(you can tell that a cable is a "Cable Select cable" by looking at it >>>> there are more wires on it (thinner looking) compared to a standard 40 wire ide cable + the Cable Select cable generally has a BLUE device connector on the end that connects to the BLUE connector on the motherboard.)
hope this helps.....
. Central Coast NSW Aussie
There are 10 types of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't.
Things are much much clearer, plus I gained some useful information (and by the way, I really start to like this stuff) so thank you very much. Especially the video, it really helped.
So here goes:
I have a Burner 52x32x52 and two hardisks.
The blue cable from the motherboard is connected to the original hardisk (which its jumper is set to "cs enable") by the black connector and the white one, as said, remained unattached.
The gray cable from the motherboard is connected to the CD-Rom at the end (which its jumper is set to "Master") but the problem is that I can't connect the middle connector to the hardisk (which its jumper is set to "Slave"). It's just not long enough... what should I do?
You have a number of options. First option is to move drives around to get the two closer together. There are drive rail adapters available that allow you to install a 3 1/2" drive in a bay designed to a 5 1/4". If interested in that I can probably find a link. You can also buy round cables that are longer overall and the distance between the two drive ends is longer also. The easiet is to move drives.
If you were to place the original drive down lower in the harddrive cage you could use the very top 3 1/2 bay for the slave HDrive. Then if necessary, lower the burner down.
paradoxwizard. good work. you're getting the hang of it.
just remember: one device (or drive) on one cable >>>> don't put it on the middle cable connector, with the end connector of that cable hanging loose with nothing on it. you will end up getting "signal reflection" and that causes havoc. a single device by itself ona cable goes on the end, with jumper setting set to either single, CS, or in some cases --> no jumper at all (as with some drive brands.
also, as the video showed, the devices that you transfer data to and from most often, should be set on differant cables (one on the Primary ide cable and the other on the Secondary ide cable). the transfers of data between those 2 devices is faster than if you put both drives on the same ide cable.
. Central Coast NSW Aussie
There are 10 types of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't.
I did everything as planned, even moved the Slave hardisk to where the CD-Rom bays are, it's even being held by one screw (desperate measures).
As previously said, The blue connector is connected to the Master HDD by the end-black connector. The brown connector is connected to the CD-ROM (reads Master) at the end and in between to (slave) HDD. The secound brown connector is connected to my Floppy.
Problem is... When I boot it up I get that BIOS won't recognize ANY device as opposed to before when it only detected the CD-ROM and now the light on the CD-ROM is constant ON.
Is there something I'm doing wrong? Maybe not plugging in those power white-caps correctly?
I tried to make sure everything is plugged tight and well but nothing seems to work. Any ideas?
The colors you decribe for the IDE cable connectors are unfamiliar to me. I haven't seen any cables with brown connectors. Turning the cable end for end is not permitted.
To verify you haven't done that, just check the distances between the connectors. The amount of cable between the connector intended for the MBoard and the center connector is always longer than the distance between the center and the other end.
Since you have 3 total devices, here's how they should be setup.
Primary IDE channel:
- HDD w/OS jumpered as master, connected to the end plug of the ribbon cable.
Secondary channel:
- CD drive jumpered as master - HDD jumpered as slave - it doesn't matter which plug they're connected to on the ribbon cable...use whichever is more convenient.
Also, if the plugs on the ribbon cable aren't "keyed" so that they can only be plugged on one-way, look for a red stripe running along one side of the ribbon...that indicates the #1 pin. The red stripe is ALWAYS on the side closest to the power plug. If you have it the other way around, your devices won't be recognized.
"And that's the fishing line, because Sharkboy said so!"
It's not? While I agree that the plugs are generally color coded & the blue plug is *supposed* to connect to the motherboard, I've never had any problems flipping it end for end.
"And that's the fishing line, because Sharkboy said so!"
I'm sorry, guys... I've plugged the IDE channels as I should and even tripple-checked it. Made sure everything was connected tight and tried *every* possible connection with those plugs in the ribbon cables but all I got was nothing detected.
I do thank you for all of your patience, but I think I should just give up on it. Now this computer won't detect anything, even when it worked I managed to wreck it =/
"I'm sorry, guys... I've plugged the IDE channels as I should and even tripple-checked it". Obviosly this can't be the case. The computer worked until you unplugged some cables.
One thing that may be obvious to us but not to you is that besides a data (IDE) cable you also must connect a power cable. Have you done this with each drive?
Here is what I suggest you try. disconnect ALL power and data cables from all the drives and start the computer. The computer should startup and proceed to a screen stating something about no fixed disk or something of that nature.
If that doesn't happen then you may have dislodged the memory of some other hardware. Try that and post back. Remember to exercise caution with static discharge and unplug the computer before entering the case.
It may also a good idea to start from the beginning. Leave the CDROM unplugged. Connect one of the hard drives, making sure the jumper is set to Master. Connect the IDE cable making sure that the red stripe goes on the right side closest to the power cable as someone has said. Plug the other end of the IDE cable to the socket labeled "Primary IDE Connector" or similar. On the motherboard there should be some tiny numbers beside the IDE connectors. On one side, it should say 1 2 (with 1 on top and 2 on the bottom) and on the other side it should say 39 40 (with 39 on top and 40 on the bottom). Connect the IDE cable ensuring that the red stripe is on the side that says 1 2. Connect the power cable to the drive, and then the power cable to the PC and boot.
I've seen some PCs not detect any IDE devices until I went into the BIOS and went through auto HDD detection. With 1 drive connected, go into the BIOS. On the front page there *may* be a choice that says something like "IDE Auto HDD Detection." Use your arrow keys to highlight it and press enter. It then should try and detect the Primary Master, Primary Slave, Secondary Master, and Secondary Slave. It will ask you if each one has been detected correctly. Just press Y and enter. When done, save the settings and reboot.
Rayburn: suggests >>> "It may also a good idea to start from the beginning. Leave the CDROM unplugged. Connect one of the hard drives, making sure the jumper is set to Master. Connect the IDE cable making sure that the red stripe goes on the right side closest to the power cable as someone has said. Plug the other end of the IDE cable to the socket labeled "Primary IDE Connector" or similar."
what Rayburn suggests is correct and its simple ! start from the beginning step by step. its still clear in my mind from your photo http://i30.tinypic.com/18yzra.jpg that that ribbon cable from the blue connector on the motherboard is the Primary IDE cable and it clearly looks like an 80 wire Cable Select cable ! that is the cable you wanna connect your main hard drive to which will have you bootable Operating System on. So leave THAT cable connected to the motherboard as it is, and then connect your your "main HardDrive" to the END of that cable (leaving the middle white connector connector on that cable with nothing connected to it).
now, IF your "main HardDrive to be the Master Drive" has got a jumper setting called "CS" stick the little jumper cap on those 2 jumper pins. The jumper pins are situated on the end of your actual hard drive near where the ribbon cable attaches to the hard drive. Google "jumper settings" and study it.
now, having set the tiny plastic jumper to the "CS" jumper pins (you may have to physically remove the HDD from the chassis to get at it), attach the BLACK connector of the ribbon cable to the hard drive >>>> noting that there is a RED line along one edge of that ribbon cable. The ribbon cable is connected to the hard drive with the red edge next to the 4 pins where the power supply cable is connected to......not the other way around.
attach a 4 pin power connector to the hard drive .......adjacent to where the ribbon cable connects.
boot up, go into BIOS and on the first screen of the BIOS you should see something that says Primary Master Drive (or words similar). underneath that should be listed Primary Slave Drive, then underneath that Secondary Master Drive, then underneath that Secondary Slave Drive. Where it says Primary Master Drive it SHOULD show YOUR hard drive. if it says "AUTO", scroll down to it and hit ENTER on the keyboard. You SHOULD then see YOUR hard drive. If it does (in either case), you are in business !
if it DOESN'T then shut computer down, remove the power lead to the computer from the wall socket, and reconfigure the jumper setting to MASTER jumper setting. Boot up, saee if the BIOS detects it now. If it doesn't, try jumper setting at SINGLE jumper setting.....if the BIOS still doesn't detect your hard drive, try a jumper setting of NO JUMPER >>>> that is, leave the little plasic jumper cap OFF the hard drive's jumper pins (this could work if its a Western Digital hard drive). If the BIOS doesn't detect your hard drive now >>>>> then turn your computer OFF and take it to a computer repair shop !
EDIT: i wrote "now, IF your "main HardDrive to be the Master Drive" has got a jumper setting called "CS" stick the little jumper cap on those 2 jumper pins." >>>>> there should be a diagram on the top of your hard drive that shows you the jumper settings and how/where to place the little plastic jumper cap.
. Central Coast NSW Aussie
There are 10 types of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't.
Here goes: I've done everything from the beginning, taking caution on each step.
I do have some good news and some bad news: I connected everything from the begining making sure that the pink stripe alongside the cable is on the right, close to where you plug the power supply.
BIOS reads: IDE Channel 0 Master ... NONE IDE Channel 0 Slave ... NONE IDE Channel 1 Master ... Atapi CDRW 52x32 IDE Channel 1 Slave ... WDC WD400JB-00ENA0 IDE Channel 2 Master ... NONE IDE Channel 3 Slave ... NONE
So what I figured is that BIOS detected my CD-ROM and my slave HDD, but as for the Master it didn't. I've tried setting the jumper on every possible mode (including not using it at all) but BIOS didn't detected it.
Strange thing, though, when I boot up I heared my slave HDD actually working (making noise as if switched on) but nothing on my Master. I tried reversing the power cables but then it detected nothing.
As said, The blue cable is my IDE Channel 0 Master, and the other one is my CD-ROM and slave HDD.
Could this be power-related problem? But my HDD Master did work until I messed it up.
(By the way, completely off topic, I've noticed that if I don't plug-in my keyboard, BIOS says it didn't detect any keyboard and if I want to continue I need to press F1. But how the hell am I supposed to press F1 if they keyboard was not detected?)
That could be it. Try your "slave drive" on the Primary IDE Channel, making sure to set the jumper on the drive to Master. This will rule out the Primary IDE Channel as being the culprit.
The HDD didn't spin, so BIOS wasn't able to detect it.
I moved the Main HDD to the new computer along with the slave one (both attached to the Primary IDE 0 Channel), and I just finished installing Windows XP via "repair option" and everything seems to work great. I have access to both drives.
Thank you for all your help. I've learnt a lot!!!
Why souldn't I post a question here? Oh, because some people might think it's part of the message. Right?
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