Reploacing Hard Drive

[caniroc]

I have a Dell Dimension 4600 that is about 3 years old. It has a 40 gig HD in it and its full. I am going to purchase a bigger HD (320 GB) to install. I've read I can make an exact copy of the old HD onto the new one and just use the new one but I'm not sure of exactly how to? Recommendations?

 

[montag451]

Either you can buy third party apps, like Acronis True image,
or you can dl the free tool from your hdd manufacturer's website that will do the same.
Or, you can find another yoot in google that will clone a hdd.

 

[caniroc]

Thanks, I had done a little reading on cloning the original HD. That is the easiest way of doing it then?

 

[Severian]

you can, of course, just add the 320gb drive to your dell as a slave to the existing 40gb drive, no cloning necessary.

If you haven't formatted and done a clean install of Windows in the last three years, this would be the ideal opportunity if you are set on using the 320gb drive as your primary drive. You should have a set of reinstallation and utility disks that came with your Dimension for this purpose.

 

[caniroc]

Thats always a good option at this point too.

 

[montag451]

Nowadays, it is v easy to clone and relatively reliable.

Step by step
Select your cloning method/utility.
Clone.
Take out old hdd and boot from new drive.
If all is ok-
Well done.

 

[caniroc]

Another quick question---how do I tell if I can use a SATA HD--or if ATA100 is my only option?

 

[hypn0tik]

You can find out the model of your hard drive and look it up online. To do so:

Start -> Control Panel -> System.

Go into the 'Hardware' tab and click on 'Device Manager'

Expand 'Disk Drives' and it'll show you a list of HDs connected to your computer. Take the model number and throw it into Google for more info.

Hope this helps!

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Quick googling turned this up, so it looks like you have pata and sata


Storage Controller

* Type
* 1 x Serial ATA - Integrated

* Controller interface type
* Serial ATA-150

* Storage controller interface channel qty
* 2

Storage Controller (2nd)

* Type
* 1 x IDE - Integrated

* (2nd) storage controller interface type
* ATA-100

* :Controller Interface Type:Channel Qty
* 2

 

[AMDfreak]

Dell's support site may also help...

Go to support.dell.com
At Step 1 plug in your Service Tag (There's a finder utility, but make sure to use IE).

At Step 2 choose "Original System Configuration".

This may shed some light on what type of drive was shipped with the system.

 

[caniroc]

Thanks guys--here is what I turned up: it is a Western Digital
? Hard drive

? 40 GB

? internal

? 3.5"

? ATA-100

? 7200 rpm

? buffer: 2 MB

I have been looking at a Seagate 320GB ATA100 drive to replace this one. This should be compatible I would assume?

 

[Severian]

yep, no problem to either add the 320GB as either a slave or to replace the existing drive.

 

[caniroc]

thanks--ordered a drive today--should have it by the weekend