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View Full Version : Buying a SATA harddrive

BustaRomeo
12-01-2005, 06:22 AM
I should be getting a Seagate Barracuda 160GB SATA harddrive tomorrow, and I just have a few questions. Firstly, should I get rid of my older harddrive, or keep them both in the computer? I imagine it would be useful to have two harddrives (paging file, games, etc come to mind). Another question is, what exactly is RAID? And will I need to use it as a gamer? Also, if you have any other bits of info or tips on SATA harddrives that would be great. :D Thanks.
not important
12-01-2005, 05:41 PM
spyder003 has a very good post about SATA

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=120379
glc
12-02-2005, 10:11 AM
To use RAID, you need identical drives.

I'd clone the old drive to the new, then reformat the old drive to use for extra storage or pull it and put it into a USB housing.
BustaRomeo
12-02-2005, 04:54 PM
To use RAID, you need identical drives.

I'd clone the old drive to the new, then reformat the old drive to use for extra storage or pull it and put it into a USB housing.I read about that, if there is stuff already on the new drive, will cloning the old drive onto it do anything to this new stuff? Or will it work around it?
glc
12-02-2005, 07:24 PM
Why would there already be stuff on a NEW drive? I'm talking about pulling the new drive out of the package and cloning the old drive to it right away. That way you don't have to reinstall anything.
BustaRomeo
12-03-2005, 02:17 AM
Why would there already be stuff on a NEW drive?Because I put it there? :rolleyes:

What can I use to clone the drive?
JonDee
12-03-2005, 06:43 AM
You can use Norton Ghost or I like Acronis True Image, myself. Either one of those programs should make you an exact copy of your Hard Drive for you, saving you from have to re-install a lot of stuff. You will have to buy these programs though. There maybe a freeware program somewhere that will work, but I don't know of one.
glc
12-03-2005, 07:54 AM
DiscWizard Starter Edition from Seagate should be able to clone the drive for you, download it and make the bootdisks or boot CD. Make sure you have the SATA drivers installed in Windows on the old drive first.
BustaRomeo
12-06-2005, 11:16 AM
Must my SATA harddrive be clean before I clone? Like, everything I have must be on my old drive, or can I keep the new stuff on the SATA drive?
glc
12-08-2005, 04:09 AM
No, but it's going to be wiped out by the clone job. Cloning makes an EXACT COPY.