running two harddrives

[AnthraX]

what im doing right now is i have three hd's
250, 160, and a 40. i have xp with all my progs on the 250, stroage on the 160, and xp with the very basic programs (antivirus, drivers ect) on the 40. if my 250 ever has something happen to it, while im trying to fix it, i can just boot from the 40 and be off clean. I just got the 40 off some computer i ripped apart.

That's not a bad idea. But you're wasting power with it plugged in all the time. Unplug the molex connector to the 40 gig and just plug it back in whenever you need it again. It'll save you a little bit of $ on your electric bill, granted it won't be a lot, it's still something.