newb here. hdd replacement question

[retroxiii]

my dell dimension 3000 cannot house another hdd because it lacks a second hard drive bay slot/mount.

with that being said, i want to replace my stock 40gb western digital hdd with either a 200gb or 300gb seagate barracuda hdd.

i know how to phsyically swap and replace the hdd but how do i install windows xp and all the other programs onto the new hdd once it has been installed?

would i be able to just insert the backup/system restore cds that came along with my computer when it boots up after hdd installation?

is it even possible, before i replace my old hdd with a new one, make my new hdd act as the slave drive (it would probably hang on the bottom of my case since there is no mount for it) then drag everything from "C:\" (old hdd) to my slave (new hdd), then replace the old hdd with the new hdd?


i hope everything sounds clear, help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!

 

[Nitestick]

you wont be able to copy EVERYTHING because many files will be in use and windows will not allow you to copy them. another relevant question is how old is the computer because there is something called the "137gb" barrier. this means that some older computers bios' wont allow them to use a hdd larger than this. do you know how to partition and format?

edit: you could use cloning software such as symantec ghost or use a small distro of linux to copy ALL the files including those from windows to the new hdd.

 

[retroxiii]

thanks for the reply!

i just got the computer about a month or two ago.. its a p4 2.8 ghz

i have read about that 137gb barrier but never paid much attention to it. also i do not know how to partition & format.

i have already backed up everything important to me on discs so that won't be much of a problem.

so how do i get the new hdd to work properly when swapped (getting windows xp on there on all the other programs that came with the computer and having the full gb capacity of the hdd available)?

thanks in advance

 

[Nitestick]

well it depends, the bios on your mother board may already be able to overcome the 137gb barrier, if not you will have to try flashing the bios with a newer version. personally i hate the microsoft partition utilities. try finding some free partition and format tools, generally on the download hompeage they will have a short tutorial on how to use them. the last partition and format utility i used was called RPM. when you say all the other programs that came with the computer do you mean preinstalled with windows xp on the hdd?

 

[retroxiii]

yes the computer came with programs pre-installed with windows xp.

my computer also came with system restore/backup cd w/ windows xp service pack 2 and backup copies of all the programs & drivers that were installed already.

are you familiar with a program called "EVEREST"? if so, will it show me if my computer has bypassed that barrier you're talking about?

 

[Nitestick]

if your computer came with service pack 2 it should be new enough to circumvent the 137gb barrier. ok so you have a cd with the installation files for all the programs you want? that makes things simple. just use it once xp is installed

 

[retroxiii]

Go into BIOS

are you talking about after i swap? how would i get into BIOS? will a screen show up once it boots allowing me to select that?

here would be a option for auto detect.

most plug & play accessories are automatically detected if that has anything to do with my new hdd being detected once it replaces my old one.

If you don't want partitions, seta partition for the hdd. full capacity

can you please elaborate more on that?

also, in the event that something goes wrong with the installation, would i be able to re-install my old hdd and have everything in working order again?

thanks again for all the help. newb here, so i hope you guys can put up with everything.

 

[smileygladhands]

BTW, I just added an additional HD to a friend of mine's Dell Dimension 2350. All I did was take out his floppy drive and put it in there. You just have to buy another dual device IDE cable, and the drive of course, and you should be good to go.

 

[retroxiii]

hey, i have no floppy drive installed on my pc so i might be able to fit the 200gb hard drive on there. not sure if the slave adapter will reach..

so i guess another cable? i havent looked well enough into my mobo to see if i can even plug another..

 

[reggie_da_man]

if i were him i wouldnt try flashing the bios right yet...thats pretty dangerous, especially if u dont even kno how to format and create or delete a partition (no offense). its a lot easier with windows xp to format, pop the cd into the drive while the comp is still posting and make sure that the bios is set to boot off the cd and then just follow the on-screen instructions. ur computer seems new enough to overcome the 137gb barrier. right once you turn ur pc on keep on pressing F2, or F12, or del to get into ur bios.