New Dell Computer

[tshoe]

I have just purchased a new Dell computer with a 40 gig drive because I have another new 40 gig drive already but I was suprised when I opened the case and saw the drive bay. What do I need to accomplish this? Is there an add on bay which one can purchase?

p.s.; really cool site, lots of help for amatures like me!

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Might help if you tell us what model you bought.

Most systems can be upgraded however.

I believe most come with green drive rails or something similar.

 

[LatinJones]

Yea. You're probobly fine. I haven't seen a dell system without an extra HD bay.

 

[tshoe]

Ignore this question.
After a closer look I am sure it requires some hardware.
thanks

 

[Zelos689]

Do you see any green, rail like things hanging around anywhere in the case? They may be attached to the inside of the hard drive bay, to the outside it, or on the inside of one of the case walls (My old 4500 has the 5.25" and external 3.5" bay rails on the interior of the case side, and the interior 3.5" rails are on the outside of the actual drive cage)

Just find the right ones, screw them to the side of your drive, and slide the drive into a free hard drive slot (either above or below the existing one, whichever is empty)

 

[qbek]

Originally posted by: tshoe
After a closer look I am sure it requires some hardware.

I believe you might need something like this.
I guess, you might be able to order one directly from Dell, too. Or check eBay.

 

[Arcanedeath]

Most of dell's desktops in the 4XX0 series have at least one extra HDD bay avi, they take some green drive rails that are normaly stored inside the case, it depends on the model for where they are though.

 

[tren001]

Ditto on the green rails. In addition, if you didn't order a (useless) floppy drive with the computer, you'll be able to squeeze the additional HD into the floppy slot, which gives you some more separation from both the other hard drive as well as your optical drives, hopefully giving better airflow and cooling.

A bigger problem is not where to mount your drive, but whether you've got anything to connect it to. There's only ONE p-ata port on my Dell 8400, and I think that's the case with many current dell models. This means if you've got two optical drives, or one hd and one optical, you've got no more connectors left for the other hard drive. I'm assuming your 40gb hd is p-ata, since I've not seen any s-ata drives that small. If it's s-ata, of course, then you've got no problem, since there's probably going to be 4 s-ata ports on the mobo.