this morning, was on pc and all of a sudden i hear this awful clink, clink, clink. so i reboot cause evertying froze and i get a black screen that says no OS found. i get on the laptop and do the compaq support thing. bad idea! the person tells me my HD is fried and i need a new one. so she tells me i can go up to 100GB from my 60 gb.

ok...off to town and i buy an 80 GB WD HD. the next option was a 120 gb which compaq says is too big. also picked up some memory while i was there and got a double layer dvd writer (for 60 bucks) and some dvd's (expensive buggers).

so i am at home and beofre i pull that fried HD, i decide to play with it. took the pwer supply and cable off and it didn't make any noise. put them back on and rebooted to see what would happen. same error msg. then i reboot and go into setup. ran through the configs and guess what? yep. HD is fine :)

so i figure what the heck...let's install the new one. but then being the greedy person i am, i decide to pull it and set it to the master and put the old one back in as a slave just to see what would hapen. i mean compaq said don't do it that the MB wouldn't take it. well it did.

do here's where i sit now. all my pc's have substantial HD's in them. don't have any other ones running two drives. the old 60 gb was set up as a c and d drive with d being the system saver (like 3 gig) or so. so now i have the new master with darn near nothing on it. pulled shortcuts to the desktop etc. imported favs into IE. did the best i could.

but how exactly does this 2 drive thing work? all my docs on the new drive only show as wordpad but i have office installed on the old drive. things like that. would i have been better off dealing with running that western dig set up utility? should i reset the drives using the cable select?

how does one deal with 2 drives? i guess i assumed that one would overflow to the next. hey, i am learning :)

any takers on this one? btw, i am debating about just moving it all to the new drive. maybe that old one won't owrk tomorrow!

hugs!

Ok for starters which drive is the 2 meg cache and which drive is the 8 meg cache ??

Or are they both the same. ??

Do the following.

Set the new drive as master connect it to the end connector on the primary IDE cable.

Set the old drive as slave and connect it to the middle connector of the secondary ide cable.

Set the dvd burner as the primary and connect it to the end connector on the secondary ide cable.

You can keep all the data on the old drive and that includes the operating system. But make sure that the boot order in the bios is set to boot of the primary drive on the primary ide controller. ( the new drive)

If you haven't done so partition the new drive and load the os on that one.

The operating system will see everything you have and will allocate the appropriate drive letters when loading.

But make sure you take note which drive letters are given to your old drive.

So what you might get is the following.

C Drive = New hard drive primary boot partition.

D Drive = Old hard drive old C boot partition with windows still on it.

By placing the old drive as a slave on the secondary ide will ensure that you have no potential boot problems from the operating system

Hope that helps

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

the new drive is the 80 GB and the old drive is the 60 GB. is that what you are asking me?

i am pretty sure i already did everything you said. ide setup like that. not even worrying wbout the dvd burner yet :)

OS is installed on both drives too. i don't think i partitioned tho...when i used the cd that came with the new HD, it looked like it wanted to erase all my data from the old drive before partioning so i said no.

didn't change anything in bios but i assume it is booting from the new HD since that's what loads up. i can't get anything on office to run though! installed it all to the new drive and none of my old stuff from the old drive will open!

Hi Jodi...

Most programs will not migrate properly to a new drive and work properly. You simply need to reinstall everything you have on your new drive.
Frank

Tec2 is correct

You will need to reinstall all drivers and all your progrmas on the new hard drive.

Thanks Tec !!

Regarrds

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

i did reinstall everything :( all of office runs fine except for outlook! i can't find my calendar and i am lost without it! it's not showing on the old drive either.

while we are on the subject of reinstalling....i think tomorrow i will burn it all to the dvd's (after i install it) and then format the whole computer so i can organize it better.

what should i have set it up like? i mean as far as partitions and stuff.

Hi Jodie !!

Ok it seems that some things may have gone a bit wrong, so what you suggest is a good idea.

Your original post sated you ahve a compaq a brand name computer. And as a result I suspect the cd you have is a compaq burned image of xp pro and you dont have an oem windows cd with the Microsoft logo on it !! amd I correct. ??

If that is the case pls let me know !!

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

this computer came with ME on it. i have all the original disk (1 recovery and three quick restore). according to compaq, they all format :(

as for XP, it is a stand alone not an upgrade. when i first got it, i was told by the kid at office max that i could use it either as a new install or just like an upgrade. honestly, i planned on backing up everything to another computer and then formatting and doing the clean Xp install but then a month or so ago, boom! ME showed it was corrupted and wouldn't load. i was so freaked out because i hadn't backed stuff up so i just did the Xp thing as an upgrade. really messed up some things...

similar to what is going on now. had to rename the windows folder to windows1 (at the XP cd's prompting) and then had to make a shortcut to things like my documents folder. once again, had to pull over a lot of stuff. but on the up side, i spent days burning and transfering to another pc.

then this latest disater happened so now it's like the same thing only dealing with yet another drive!

i can't deal with anything till later on today as i have a dentist appt. (like i haven't been tortured enough these last few days :)

i really appreciate your wanting to help and await to hear your next reply!

Hi Jodi

Ok the fact you have a stand alone XP cd is partly good news. But I did forget to ask how much ram you have in the comp.

Now lets see if we can get you running nice and stable.

Make sure the new drive is jumpered as master, and connected to the end connector of the primary ide Cable.

Jumper the dvd burner as master and connect it to the end connector of the secondary IDE cable.

Remove or disconnect the old drive all together from the computer and that includes the molex power connector that goes to it. Just to make sure there are no conflicts

Make sure the floppy is connected also.

Don't connect any other components at this time.

Once that is done boot the computer and jump into the bios, have a good look around the bios and make sure that all settings are correct.

EG Correct display type is selected, the dvd rom is detected, the correct hard drive is detected ( and while you are in this section change the hard drive type from auto to USER DEFINED and the access mode from auto to LBA - if it gives you this options, if not leave all on auto),than check the boot order and make sure the boot order reads as follows.

Cd/DVD/RW rom, Floppy Drive, HDD0, if its not change it until it is in this order.

Insert the XP cd into the cd drive, save and exit the bios set-up.

When the computer reboots and the post is complete you will be prompted to press any key to boot from cd, hit the enter key.

The cd will boot the comp and the XP installer will go to work.

Follow the normal installation instructions as per the screens until you reach the hard drive and partition information.

When you get there highlight the partitions or if more than one highlight each one individually and delete them.

This will wipe the drive of all data, once done abort the installation by pressing the PF3 key to reboot the comp. This is just to make sure all changes take affect.

Once the comp reboots, follow the procedure above until you reach he hard drive information again.

You will see the total available space on the drive of about 76 gig, this is normal.

Highlight the drive info and create the first partition of about 16 gig ( note how the total space is displayed ) eg 76548
so your c partition will be roughly 16548, the correct size will be set automatically for you.

Than create the second partition, by using the half available space eg 30000, than highlight the last amount and create the last partition.

So you should now have C, D, E, partitions on your hard drive. Once all done highlight the C partition and press the appropriate key to continue the installation. When it asks you format the drive choose Format in NTFS.

The installer will only format the C partition, the other 2 will be done by after xp has finished installing.

Once you have installed xp and booted to the OS for the first time, format the D&E drives through my computer right mouse click and select format. You will receive a warning that all data will be lost, just click continue.

Once all done install all the windows updates available from the MS web site and this by rights should also select all the appropriate drivers for you hardware etc.

Once all updates are installed have a look in the device manager to see if there is any hardware with a yellow mark against them.

If so you will need to id the hardware component and find a xp driver for it, the Compaq site should serve the purpose for this.

Finally when all drivers are installed and all working correctly you can reinstall all your programs.

The D and E partitions you can use to install games on DVD films etc, and all your important data. as the format will be ntfs all data will be safe as long as no one removes the partitions in any way.

You can even delete the C partition and recreate it to reinstall windows, but as long as the d & E are not touched they will remain there forever.

See how you go with that, and pls let me know how you get on.

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

hi janos!

i will do all that you suggested above :) first, i need to install the dvd burner and make a compete burn of all that is on here now. i can't help but wonder what is here that i may not have backed up.

this computer came with a cd burner and a dvd drive. i am conflicted as to which to replace with the dvd burner. i was thinking the dvd player since all it can do is play dvd's. so that would leave me with the dvd and cd burners. i'm going to wait for your replay since you obviously know what you are doing and i am just just going to be your humble servant here (if you don't mind).

also, every time i boot this pc now, i get an initail msg that saus something like disk 1 80 GB has been detetced and configured and then also the cd and dvd drives. then i get another msg soon after that says the same thing but also adds the new drive at 80 gb. is this normal?

dvd burner is in along with the new memory. all seems ok but still get the message prior to boot up that i posted above. btw, i pulled the dvd player and put the burner in it's place.

Hi Humble servant !! and no I dont mind at all !!!

The message you are getting sounds like the post screen !!! The fact its finding the drive and doing a config is good news.

I am not sure why you are getting the second message though.

Your new DVD burner is also cd burner I suspect, so in the long term you might be better of having the DVD burner and DVD rom as the DVD rom can spin both cd/dvd where the cd rom can only spin cd and not DVD , but that is up to you.

Also things depend on the power supply and just how big the case is as well, we need to think of cooling etc.

Do you know the model no of your pc by any chance ??

Your second post said all seem ok !!

And you also said prior to boot !!

What do you mean by that ??

Did you manage to get the OS loaded. If so is the system stable and how far did you get with the rest of the installations ??

If the system is loaded you will need to jump back into the bios and change the boot order back to read as follows.

HDD0 , DVD/CD/RW, Floppy that will stop the bios from looking to any other devices and boot the systems directly from the hard drive.

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

Your new DVD burner is also cd burner I suspect, so in the long term you might be better of having the DVD burner and DVD rom as the DVD rom can spin both cd/dvd where the cd rom can only spin cd and not DVD , but that is up to you.

well, that makes sense! something i seldom do :) but i guess i'll levae it like that for now. can put the dvd player in another pc that could use one.

Do you know the model no of your pc by any chance ??

yep...compaq 7110US it's got a huge case and still has another bay empty!

Your second post said all seem ok !!

And you also said prior to boot !!

What do you mean by that ??

oh that was about the msg saying it configured the drives. when i said prior to boot, i meant like prior or splash screen.

Did you manage to get the OS loaded. If so is the system stable and how far did you get with the rest of the installations ??

i haven't done anything else yet! burner, new HD, and the memory done. HD's are still a mess but i think it's more due to lack of organizing them. both have OS on them. still have issues with outlook disappearing! have apps duplicated on both drives etc.

If the system is loaded you will need to jump back into the bios and change the boot order back to read as follows.

HDD0 , DVD/CD/RW, Floppy that will stop the bios from looking to any other devices and boot the systems directly from the hard drive.

i never changed anything...did i?

Ok

When you said all sem ok I was under the impression you had backed upp all you ahd and removed the old drive etc.

Guess was getting a bit ahead of my self.

We have a few hunderd pcs from compaq in my organisation so i will give the tchos a call and see if i can get some tech data on you pc.

And no you havent changed anything as yet by the looks.

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

This looks like it I think Right ??

Brand Compaq
Floppy Drive 3.5" 1.44 MB floppy
Form Factor Mini Tower
Hard Drive Interface DMA/ATA-100 (Ultra)
Manufacturer Part Number 470016-083
Max. Video Resolution 2048 x 1536
Modem Type Fax / Modem
Operating System Microsoft Windows ME
Optical Drive Type CD-RW
Processor Manufacturer AMD
Processor Type AMD Athlon
Processor Upgradability Upgradable
RAM Technology DDR SDRAM
Video Output Interface AGP 4x
Warranty 1 Year
Audio / Video
Audio Output Type Sound Card
CD / DVD
Optical Drive Read Speed 40x (CD)
Optical Drive Write Speed 8x (DVD+R)
Dimensions
Depth 18.79 in.
Height 19.23 in.
Weight 29.99 lb.
Width 9.5 in.
Hard Drive
Hard Drive Capacity 60 GB
Key Features
Installed Memory 256 MB (DDR SDRAM)
Processor AMD Athlon 1.3 GHz
Recommended Use Home Use, Small Business
Memory
Installed RAM 256 MB
Installed Video Memory 64 MB
Max Supported RAM 768 MB
Miscellaneous
Exterior Color White
MPN 470016-083
Product ID 20141630
Motherboard
Bus Speed 266 MHz
Networking
Data Link Protocol Ethernet, Fast Ethernet
Networking Type Network Adapter
Processor
Max Processors Qty. 1
Processor Speed 1.3 GHz

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?lc=en&product=94397&cc=us&dlc=en&os=228

The above link will take you to the XP driver down load.

The link below will take you to the setu ansd install page.

Take note of the bios update if you pc is older than Aug 2004 than I would recommend you read the instructions and update the bios on the mother board with the version released in aug 2004.

BUt BE VERY VERY carefull and follow the steps described like a bible. You will have one chance and one chance only.

I suspect that bios update will fix a number of issues that model has with XP etc.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/setupCategory?dlc=en&lc=en&os=228&product=94397&cc=us&

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

lol...i gotta make sure i keep clothes on...you really got the pc down to the last detail :)

i'm exhausted so i am going to go to the links you posted and look them over but not do anything till tomorrow. i am burning it all tonight if i can stay awake (i am up by 4:30 am). i don't want to screw anything up and want to be a good grasshopper!

i have it in my head that i need to make sure each hard drive is used for the correct purpose. i also know that i still need to make backups regularly.

will post again tomorrow!

thanks janos!

It wont help I am very thorough, so be prepared..... lol

Take heart grasshopper you have done well thus far, but the road ahead is long and much hard work wil be needed.

Confidence is HIGH

Yu welcome Jodi, my pleasure

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

good news! turns out i don't need to change anything in bios as long as i always stay with hard drives no bigger than 100 GB each! i read some info on it and then contacted compaq to verify. i was pretty sure that since i now had 140 Gb total that something needed to be changed but they told me it is only if any indiviual HD is larger than 100 GB. so since "it ain't broke, don't fix it" right?

now on to the good stuff. i never did the burn last night since i fell asleep fairly early so will do that later this morning. i have three drives showing.
c, f, and g. (d & e are the cd and dvd)

c is the master and new one at 80 GB, and it has about 7.5 GB on it now.
f is the old drive and has about 20 GB on it.
the g is labeled system saver. it has about 2 GB on it and can hold 3 GB.

i think that is still from the original factory install that has ME on it.
here's what happened from what i can recall.

a month or so back, i turned on the puter and got an erro msg that said ME was corrupted. i tired going into dos and using setup to reinstall with no luck. looked like the OS was badly corrupted. so that's when i bought XP pro (original, not upgrade version). i kinda got freaked out at the thought of formatting since i wasn't sure how much i had backed up at that point. my neighbor told me that i didn't have to format but just use the cd like an upgrade.

i popped it in and ran it. i remember it asking what drives i wanted to install on and only choose the c drive. so i assume that the g drive (whcih was then called the d drive) was never changed. the computer was fine after that! the only problem i had was that most of my files were now sort of hiding.

during one part of the XP install, a screen came up asking me to change the name of the windows file to something else (think it was so it wouldn't get overwritten) and i just called it windows1.

i had lost all the icons that were in all programs and on my desktop but i found them and then just made new shortcuts. office had to be reinstalled to make the old files open. outlook was a pain then and is now too. even going to the old icon, i couldn't find my pst files like email addys and calendar. i had those on another computer so it was ok.

but now i am kinda in the same boat. stuff is all over the place and duplicated on the c and f drives. and i assume i have XP on both drives too.

not a big deal siince i have way more HD space than i need but i still fell that i need to organize which is why i figured that i should burn, format, and start fresh.

so what do you think?

The reason XP told you to change the name of the folder is because OEM companies like that create a master image of windows and change the name of the windows folder to something else.

ALL windows load in a folder on the C drive by the name C:Windows by default.

You are in a mess by the sound of it.

AS far as the bios is concerned you will need to jump in there and make sure that the boot sequence is in line with what I have posted before.

If you don't feel confident enough about updating the bios than I suggest you leave well enough alone, but it would be a good idea, as updates are released for a reason.

In your case that model of comp and the hardware in it has limitations from what I can see and read as to running XP, it is best suited for ME, This is not uncommon that is why I suspect they released software fix's etc.

I highly recommend to you that you start from scratch, and sort out the hard drives and everything else. Plus that will give you a more logical drive letter assignment.

Creating partitions on the big drive is a good idea as the 80 gig partition is far to big. The defrag time will be much longer, the data may be written to the rear part of the drive on some things which increases head read and write time to and from the hard drive, this reduces performance.

Yes I agree start from scratch.

And to make life a bit easier that is why I said to leave the old drive as is for the moment and just disconnect it from the computer until you have the new drive sorted and XP loaded and running nice and smooth.

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

hi janos

i didn't have time to do anything today as it turns out i have the flu :( i will send an alert as soon as i regain some strength. at least i know why i haven't been thinking too clearly and have been so tired.

back soon!

ugh
still feel like crap but i got the pc burned to dvd's.

i also located the bios update from compaq though they say i don't need it.

so i guess the next step is to format the big drive and partition it.

i'm going to reread all you wrote and see if i can take it in but my head is so stuffed up!

will get lots of black coffee first :)

uh oh!

pulled slave hd. went to bios and couldn't find where to change from auto to user defined or access mode from auto to lba.

boot order shows cd (not dvd), floppy, and the 80 gb master hd. accepted changes and went to reboot to xp cd. get the press any key to boot to cd and then nothing but a flashing cursor!

tried using dvd drive and that doesn't work either.

what did i do wrong?

im in now. first part. created and is now formatting. hope next step gives me the chance to create the next one.

will let you know how it goes.

i still feel like crap :(

oh problem was in bios. had to enable something that said something like transaltor enabled. at least i assume that's what did it since it worked after that.

i now have 3 part. one is c at 16000mb, the next are f and g at 30000mb and 30318 leaving nothing left to partition. i hope this is what it was supposed to do.

Sem to doing ok so far

I suspect the next step you will have the OS loaded.

I suspected you might have some minor problems but you got the bios in that is awsome.

Glad to see hrasshopper, the partition size looks good.

And if they said you dont need it , why the heck did compaq issue an updated version than ?? what a load of %$#@

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

I did see that your drive lettering said

C F G would have prefered to see C D E what other bits did you have connected ??

But its not a majour issue there is a little trick to over come that isseu while laoding windows but dont loose any sleep over it.

I wasent on line sorry to say wehen you sent the posts, was fast asleep while you were working hard.

Sleeping on the job so to speak !! But one cant controll the time difference, thats my excuse and im sticking to it.

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

what time difference? where are you?

i'm ok with the drive lettering i suppose.
it makes the cd and dvd burners stuck in between but that's so like the rest of my life! once again, i am reinstalling office, etc. none of the stuff on the slave drive will open until i do that. this is as bad as doing major remodeling on a house (which i should be doing here) oh well...bathroom walls can wait another week or so :)

so what's next?

Aha windows loaded and installing programs.

Did you install the windows updates and hardware drivers first etc ???

That little trick i was talking about before is done after your format the drives, what one can do is abort the installation and restart from scratch, and for some reason that brings the drive lettering back in line.

But its not an issue it was doing what it thought was the logical thing. C= Primary hardrive and windows partition. D = DVD burner as primary on the secondary cable. than E = Slave on the secondary cable, than it goes back and it assigns the lettering to the other 2 partitions on the hard drive as in your case F and G.

Once you have finished loading the updates and all other bits and pieces, hardware drivers formatted the f and g partitions, installed updates for programs etc.

And you are happy that XP is running fine and stable. Run a complete defrag of the C drive.

I will send you a little tool called MS Regclean for you to run, its a Microsoft Registry cleaner, all you need to do is click on it run it click fix errors and done.

It will create a registry back-up icon, just in case you need to undo the registry fix. but don't click on that unless it is needed but i am sure all will be ok.

Once all that is done let me know I will give you a few tips how to shut down a few bits and pieces of eye candy to take the strain of the processor and the amount of ram xp uses to run.

As for renovations, well we both seem to be doing the same thing, bathroom laundry toilet finishing off the kitchen etc, IV been slack for about a year now so its time to get things finished off.

As for the time difference I am located down under in the land of the Kangaroos, where in the US are you ??

We will worry about the second drive bit latter, no rush unless you have something on there which you need in a hurry.

Nice work grasshopper !!!

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

kangarooland? awesome! almost moved there about 30 years ago! was almost 17 and my cousin and i had this great idea but our parents said no. lol AU would not have been ready for someone like sammy so i guess it's best we stayed put. i am south of chicago!

bummer too. have that unlimited long distance anywhere in the US or canada on my land line too!

updates and drivers all done. trying to plan on how to use the existing partitions. gave my son that uses my internet access one 30 GB drive to store his stuff. he can then burn it and take it home to his computer. he still likes my cooking so he eats and surfs here.

i suppose another drive for my photos and music too. then try to sort through the stuff on old hard drive and the format that one and partition it too.

oh...the formatting of part. on new drive was done.

i am still not feeling well. really congested! any suggestions since you seem to be a whiz at everything? maybe if we could partition my lungs and sinuses...

Read your post will answer later work seems to be getting in the way at the moment.

Did you say whiz at everything !!! Hel who am I to argue with that ( but modesty prevents me from answering )

Now if my medical training is holding up aren't they already partitioned.

Seems to me you have already found a use for the new drive, surprise me NOT. LOL

Funny about kids isn't it they always know where to go to get the best. Besides why have your own broadband when mum has it, its cheaper that way 2. LOL

Better move will post later about the other drive

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT