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Installing a new Raptor Drive

C

Carbo

Diamond Member
Inspired by this thread, I'm wondering what problems to expect, if any, when installing two new SATA drives?
I have a Dell Dimension 4600, running XP Pro SP2. I'm yanking the two existing EIDE drives out and replacing with two SATA's. A 74GB Raptor as my primary drive, and an 80GB SATA for storage and backup.
1) Before installing the new drives will I need to make any changes to the BIOS?
2) Will XP Pro pick up the new disks, or will I be prompted to install any drivers? If so, where can the drivers be found? I'm buying these drives OEM, which means no installation CD, I believe.
3) And while I'm asking questions, I know WD sells their SATA data cables for $10 each. But what about the power supply connector? Don't I need an adapter for these drives?

Thank you.
 
1. Just make sure that you have the SATA ports enabled which usually are by default.
2. Do you have XP on one of your current drives? If so you will need to back up any data you have first, or simply install XP on the Raptor, connect the other drives, and copy any data you need off the older ones and then remove them. The first part of this is important, connect only ONE drive during the XP install as I have seen that when more than one is connected XP sometimes likes to load up part of the install on the other drive which is probably not what you want (wasn't what I wanted).
3. As for power, it depends on the PSU, it may have SATA power connectors. If not then you can purchase some molex->SATA adpaters for fairly cheap.
 
Checked the BIOS and, surprisingly, the SATA ports are not enabled. Simple enough to make the switch.
I have XP Pro on my current IDE drive that I'm replacing. I will back up all my needed data and files, and do a fresh install of the OS on the Raptor. (And you're not the only one to tell me to install only one drive at first.)
Turns out the existing PSU has connectors for both IDE and SATA, so I'm good to go there.
Still leaves one nagging question, though, and that's the driver issue. During installation, XP will prompt me to hit F6 to install the needed driver by inserting a floppy which contains the driver. Where can I find this driver? It doesn't seem to be on the Drivers and Utilitles CD that came with the system, and I don't think WD has it on their site, either. 😕
Thanks, again.
 
It is a SP2 CD right? I don't think that you need a driver diskette unless you are doing a RAID setup. I would try it without it first. Otherwise the next place to look is the Dell website for driver updates to your system. They may have SATA drivers there.
 
Yes, it is an SP2 disk. And, no, it isn't a RAID setup.
I did check Dell's download section, but no SATA drivers there. I think I'll fire off an email to their support desk about this and see what they have to say.
Thanks for your help.
 
No problem.

You could simply give it a try on your own. I did a similar setup only with RAID. Just stick the Raptor in, boot from the CD, and see if the Windows setup recognizes the drive.
 
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