New hard drive, whats the best way to proceed?

[Trent Steel]

Ok, just purchased a Maxtor DiamondMax 10 200GB (deal at $123 Canadian) to replace my 13GB Maxtor drive, which is whinning louder each day.
I want to do a fresh install and have a couple of questions.
1. Would I run into any problems, by simply removing the existing harddrive, installing the new one and installing windows and nessasary applications, then reinstalling the old drive as a slave to transfer files, favorities, outlook express mail, etc.
2. Should I do multiple partitions, such as one for the OS and applications, other for data.
3. Will I run into restrictions on max supported Hard Drive on my slot 1 ABIT BE6 motherboard?
4. I have done countless tweaks to improve performance on my machine, such as turning off all the eye candy within xp, where is a good source of these tweaks so I can repeat them?

My biggest concern is problem #1 as I don't want to be left with a machine I can't use if I screw up, meaning can't just swap the harddrives back to get back up and running for a bit.

Thanks in advance.

[Jaggannath]

1. I did, but I'm not sure if that's normal, as my old HDD would only work by itself, not as a slave.
2. Not necessary, but I believe it's preferable. It keeps your computer neat, tidy and easy to defrag. I personally have partitions for OS, music, movies, games and programs.
3. I can't answer that
4. Google for BlackViper, he does some good tweaks for XP that I like.

[rightcoast]

I think you are only going to get a 137GB maximum with that mobo.

http://www.motherboard-forum.com/abit/BH6__Max_Hard_Drive_size_520443.html

[Cricket]

1. Would I run into any problems, by simply removing the existing harddrive, installing the new one and installing windows and nessasary applications, then reinstalling the old drive as a slave to transfer files, favorities, outlook express mail, etc.That would work out just fine.2. Should I do multiple partitions, such as one for the OS and applications, other for data.Do you know how long it would take to format a 200GB partition? I think breaking that 200GB into smaller partitions would be a very good idea. How many and how big? I really can't tell you as I've never worked with one that big before. I've worked with 160GB hard drives and I just break them up into 4 equal sized partitions unless the owner specifies otherwise. But 40GB partitions still take quite a bit of time to format.3. Will I run into restrictions on max supported Hard Drive on my slot 1 ABIT BE6 motherboard?ABIT BE6? Uh, I don't think the BIOS will see all 200GB of the new hard drive...I think you'll be limited to 80GB.4. I have done countless tweaks to improve performance on my machine, such as turning off all the eye candy within xp, where is a good source of these tweaks so I can repeat them?Try this site (http://www.mdgx.com/wxp.htm)My biggest concern is problem #1 as I don't want to be left with a machine I can't use if I screw up, meaning can't just swap the harddrives back to get back up and running for a bit.You shouldn't have any problems if you swap the hard drives as you've outlined...but like I mentioned, you won't be able to use all 200GB of that hard drive unless you use a PCI IDE controller card.

:) Cricket

[Trent Steel]

Thanks for the answers, it would be nice to use all 200GB, but thats secondary to just getting this noisy 13 GB out.

[glc]

You are still going to need a controller card - the bios is going to choke on that drive. You also need a slipstreamed CD (Win2K SP4 or WinXP SP1 or SP2) to be able to partition past 137gb on initial install.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=6140&vpn=ULTRA100TX2&manufacture=PROMISE

[Trent Steel]

You are still going to need a controller card - the bios is going to choke on that drive. You also need a slipstreamed CD (Win2K SP4 or WinXP SP1 or SP2) to be able to partition past 137gb on initial install.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=6140&vpn=ULTRA100TX2&manufacture=PROMISE

Did you state this from personal experience? How did you know?
Well you were right.

Ha, the fool I was to think I could get much more use out of this motherboard. The hp366 drivers could see the harddrive, but not the regular 33 ata slots. Bottom line, I could use the drive if I had a OS installed on it (and only 65GB at that), but I can't install the OS untill I can use it. A bit of a catch 22. Not going waste money on a controller card. Looks like I will basically replace the whole system piecemeal this month as local retailer is going nuts with their suprise sales.

[RJ]

Did you state this from personal experience? How did you know?

It's common knowledge really that 137 GB was the barrier before 48bit LBA was used, and XP SP1/2, 2K SP4 is needed ;)
I once had the BH-6, and the BE6-II, used them with a 120 GB drive. It is the biggest the chipset will see.

The hp366 drivers could see the harddrive, but not the regular 33 ata slots.

If the HPT366 supports 48bit LBA (I don't know if it does), then you can use the full 186 GB that the drive provides. Just connect it to the controller.

Bottom line, I could use the drive if I had a OS installed on it (and only 65GB at that), but I can't install the OS untill I can use it. A bit of a catch 22

No, there is no such catch. If the controller sees the drive, you can install an OS on it. If the controller doesn't see the drive, you can't use it no matter whether there's an OS on it or not.
If Windows Setup doesn't find the drive, you need to provide the drivers on a floppy, or integrate the drivers into the Windows CD. If you use the floppy method, you need to press F6 at the very beginning of setup, and later on you insert it.

RJ