Testing hard drives

[TomW]

Hello, I have what might be a stupid question. We have a systemax PC with windows XP, My question is can I use it to hook up a hard drive to the secondary cable and see what is on it and format it? If I can do this is there any risk of damage to the working PC? Can I also check CD drives this way to? Tom the dummy

 

[chesman]

yes you most certainly can hook up a second hard drive to ANY of the other cable connecters and format it without and worry of damaging you current settings or hardware. and yes you can check cd-rom's as well like this.


if you ned any more info just reply to the post.

 

[TomW]

Hi chesman, Thanks for the responce, If I hook it up do I go to my computer and it will be on there? If not that way how do I find it. Also if I connect to the secondary cable do I have to set it to master or slave? Our won't it matter? I assume any of the plug ends from the power supply are all the same, {the ones with 4 wires}. One other quick question, I have a CD rom that has the normal plugs and the master, slave jumpers but it also has a second set of jumpers, I forget off hand how they are labaled but above them it says for factory use only, Do you have any idea what that is about? Never seen that on any of the other CD roms I have. I hope you don't mind all the questions, Only way to learn is to ask I guess Tom

 

[dethangel]

you just need to make sure the 2nd device is set to slave

 

[chesman]

Hey Tom, Glad i could help,
ok, lets get started.

If I hook it up do I go to my computer and it will be on there?

yes, the hard drive will show up there. if not let me know

Also if I connect to the secondary cable do I have to set it to master or slave?

Yes, yes you do, if there is already a device on the line, make the other device you are checking slave, other then that amke it master.and master plugs into the top most connector on the ide cable.

I assume any of the plug ends from the power supply are all the same, {the ones with 4 wires}

Yes, as ong as they are the proper plug for the device, then you are ok, they are all universal.

One other quick question, I have a CD rom that has the normal plugs and the master, slave jumpers but it also has a second set of jumpers, I forget off hand how they are labaled but above them it says for factory use only, Do you have any idea what that is about?

Tell you the truth, i am not sure either, but if it says factory use only, well stay away, but i would like to know what they ARE labeled if you wouldnt mind posting it. I will chec ka few cd-roms i have at the house when i get home and see if i have the same thing on any of em.

Any more questions, ppost them, id be more then glad to help!!

 

[TomW]

Hi, I checked the hard drive, cd and floppy on our working computer and all seem to be ok, I had another HD here I suspected was bad so I put it on, it all seemed fine untill I tried the check for bad sectors and it went for a second and the HD started clicking and nothing would work, the only way I could stop things was to unplug the power to it and reboot the PC. I am assuming that means it is junk, no biggie if it is its only a 4GB HD anyway. I will have to dig out that CD ROM and see exactly what it says with those extra jumpers. I am begining to think the CPU is bad in the computer I can't get to work, I got another mother board for it but had to use my old CPU and it still is the same, I have been in touch with the person I got the board from and he also thinks CPU so I have one comming off E-bay, He also said I should get a new battery to eliminate that possibility to so I hope when I get the new CPU it fixes things. Tom

 

[chesman]

yup, i hope it fixs things for you as well man.

Well glad i could help

 

[TomW]

I am also glad for all the help. I dug out that wierd CD Rom, It is a NEC CDR-1400A built in 1996. On the left side there is 3 pairs of pins, the left side of pins says single above them, the other 2 sets of pins is a upside down U and above that says factory use only. There is no jumper on that side but it worked when I tested it on slave on the secondary cable so I don't know what it is for. Tom

 

[Apokalipse]

the hard drive started clicking? My old hard drive did the same, it just died in the middle of the computer being on.
i replaced my hard drive with a 40 GB seagate drive

 

[Apokalipse]

let us know if replacing the CPU works