3 Hard drives. 2 Slots. WTF

[VirusType2]

OK as some of you know I got a new 500 GB hard drive to replace an 80GB hard drive.


However there are only 2 Hard drive bays available on my PC.

My new drive is SATA II, so I heard that you can plug it and unplug it while the machine is on and everything.

MY OS is on the master drive which is 120GB IDE.
My files that I want to put on the new drive is on my slave 80GB IDE.

There are only 2 drive bays on my PC.

Does the drive have to be secured? Is that ground, or is that just to keep it from touching anything?


I need to get the 80GB drive data onto the 500GB.



Would it be possible to just plug the 500GB drive in and lay it on something non conducting, copy the 80GB onto the 500GB. Power off, and mount the 500GB in place?

*by mount I mean to put the hard drive in the tower and install the 4 screws in place

Otherwise, i just can't figure out what to do, with only 2 drive bays.

I might have to:
Unmount the 80GB - Cant unmount the 120GB, because my boot OS is on there.
Mount the 500GB
transfer all of my 120GB onto my 500GB.
Unmount the 120GB
mount the 80GB
Boot with the 500GB.
transfer all the files from my 80GB to my 500GB.
unmount the 80GB
Mount the 120GB
copy all the OS files onto the 120GB.

Will that even work? Or do I have to do a direct drive copy in order for the registry to work, and for the OS to remain unfuxxored?


I'm con****infused.

HELP MEeeeeeeeeee

Something I just thought of, was mounting the new 500GB drive into a second tower temporarily just to hold it still and away from laying on metal.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

move stuff from the 80 to the 120 first?

 

[The Brick]

You can 'hang' a drive in a case just fine. To be sure you could indeed put some non conductive material between the things, but yes, if the data cable and the power plug are in it works just fine. Also make sure the jumper on the drive is set to slave.

 

[Asus]

Why not get a 3.5 to 5.25" bay adapter for hard drives?

 

[Ren.182]

It'll be ok as long as you don't move it while it running. Moving it could cause the arm that reads and writes to the disk slip iirc. If that happens it can cause scratches on the hard disk and make that area unusable.

 

[Asus]

I would recommend to have it mounted or at least weighted down so it does not vibrate as much. That's one reason external drives only come with a 1yr warranty while internals come with 3-5yr. They are not expected to last as long as internals since they are not secured (3+ screws).

 

[Kyorisu]

1. Sit case in open area.
2. Plug SATA drive in.
3. Place SATA drive on anti static bag on ground next to case.
4. Vroom.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Do you mean in the bag? I remember somewhere I heard that the bag itself conducts elect. on the outside.

 

[Kyorisu]

Put it this way the odds of you zapping the drive are nigh none unless you've been rubbing the carpet or something.

 

[Higlac]

Buy an external hard drive, transfer the files you don't need immediately onto it, such as pictures etc. Then transfer the files you need onto the 500GB.

 

[Operational]

I've had a hard drive sitting on a stack of books outside of the case and it ran fine.

 

[VirusType2]

Do you mean in the bag? I remember somewhere I heard that the bag itself conducts elect. on the outside.

It does conduct electricity. I found this out the hard way, when I thought using a static-proof bag would be the best insulator. NO. It's not, because it's some kind of metalic.

Put it this way the odds of you zapping the drive are nigh none unless you've been rubbing the carpet or something.
__________________

I dont' think so, because internal hard drives have the circuit board exposed.

 

[sinkoman]

Just sandwich it between two textbooks, and then put it on your desk.

Books should minimize vibrations.

Transfer files, turn off computer, replace 80 with new drive, win.

Or if you're really that worried about the NEW one borking over, then put the old one on your table, and keep the new one mounted.

 

[VirusType2]

I've had a hard drive sitting on a stack of books outside of the case and it ran fine.

Ok, I just didn't know what to expect as I've never seen one on that wasn't secured. I wasn't sure if it would be vibrating across my desk or whatever. Lol.

Just sandwich it between two textbooks, and then put it on your desk.

Books should minimize vibrations.

Transfer files, turn off computer, replace 80 with new drive, win.

Or if you're really that worried about the NEW one borking over, then put the old one on your table, and keep the new one mounted.

Thats a good idea, and it sounds pretty safe. Thanks I'll try it.

move stuff from the 80 to the 120 first?

They were both full

Also make sure the jumper on the drive is set to slave.

There is no slave and master jumper for SATA drives. I just found that out because this is my first SATA drive.


Thanks everyone.

Going to the Moon. BRB.

 

[Kyorisu]

It does conduct electricity. I found this out the hard way, when I thought using a static-proof bag would be the best insulator. NO. It's not, because it's some kind of metalic.


I dont' think so, because internal hard drives have the circuit board exposed.

And yet all my drives are fine, I've had them running while I held the damn things in my hand.

 

[Link]

If your interested in a solution that dosen't involve "hanging" HDDs, here it is, although hanging them should be fine for short periods.

Install 120 and 500
Move 80+ gigs of stuff from the 120 to the 500
Remove 500, install 80
Copy 80 gigs from 80 to 120
Remove 80, install 500
Move the data from the 80 off the 120 to the 500
Copy the original stuff from the 120 off the 500
Your 120 is now unchanged (Take an image of it to be safe)
You 500 now has the contents of the old 80 gig drive

 

[VirusType2]

The thing is, I need a mirror of my 80GB because there are programs installed that I can't find the discs, don't have anymore or whatever. In order for them to work, they can't be screwed up at all, or windows can't find anything, and Windows will say something like, " re-installing this application may fix the problem"

BTW anyone know some software to repair file associations or whatever I just described? Free if possible.


Anyway, so I do a mirror copy of my 80GB drive in safe mode. I expected it to take an hour or whatever. It had about 8% done after a few hours, so I went to bed, woke up for work and it isn't even half way through. We are talking 36 hours it's going to take.
****!!!!!!!!!!

I'm at work right now. Obviously I left the PC on. By the time I get home from work, It will probably need another 8 hours. SOB

 

[DEATHMASTER]

AND THEN all of them will fail.

 

[Higlac]

AND THEN all of them will fail.

Is that before or after someone turns off the PC to save energy?

 

[VirusType2]

And yet all my drives are fine, I've had them running while I held the damn things in my hand.

Your hand isn't made out of a metal though.

And I can't hold my drive for 24-48 hours while I do a drive to drive copy.


I dare you to put some metal across two contacts on the circuit board. Even a piece of hair across two of the wrong contacts and all or parts of your PC may never work again.