Can I add a 2nd harddrive to my Dell?

[hairygator]

I have a Dell Dimension 1.8 ghz and want to add another HD. Is it possible? What's the best kind of HD to get?

 

[Nitestick]

well that is probably an ATA/IDE only board. check anyway and find out whether it has SATA and ATA/IDE. it also depends on the number of drives already connected. i would assume you currently have a hdd and a cd/dvd-rom or burner. if that is the case you shouldn't have any trouble connecting an additional hdd aside from if you don't have an extra power connector for it.

 

[jeremy]

aside from if you don't have an extra power connector for it.

can easily be resolved with a cheap splitter/sata power adapter

 

[Nitestick]

true but the only problem there is that despite the fact it would only add maybe ~7w of power draw crappy prebuilt dells and such tend to only use exactly or slightly more powerful than necessary psu's. my grandads old IBM came with a 90w psu and i calculated that was exactly the draw from the included components. his cd-rom died and i tried to replace it with a burner but it couldn't power it

 

[hairygator]

well that is probably an ATA/IDE only board. check anyway and find out whether it has SATA and ATA/IDE. it also depends on the number of drives already connected. i would assume you currently have a hdd and a cd/dvd-rom or burner. if that is the case you shouldn't have any trouble connecting an additional hdd aside from if you don't have an extra power connector for it.

Is there an easy way to check the kind of board i have without taking the cover off? i have one cd rom in the top bay that is dead. i just left it there. in the 2nd bay is my 3rd cd read/write rom drive. it works. i have a regular floppy drive which i have never used. and a 40 gig HD. oh and i have a external dvd read/write drive as well that is plugged into my front USB port. it has a separate power supply of course.

how hard is adding a HD? im not the most computer literate when it comes to hardware. ive replaced the cd drive twice but that was very easy. i just dont want to pay a fortune to a computr guy to add one if it really isnt that hard.

 

[Whirlwind]

Check this out....these guys helped me upgrade my video card, cpu,and hard drive in my dell 8200

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board?board.id=dim_upghw