Thinking of a new HD. Any Ideas?

[TimN]

Since I'm going through a Win98 reload, I am thinking of putting a larger HD in. Can anyone tell me about what size I can look for and what is a good one for the $$. I am running a 266 Pentium II, with a 4GB. How large can I go? Will this handle a 10-12GB or is that going to be to much.

[Xayd]

Your BIOS may have a limitation on what size it can detect. There may be an update for your BIOS that addresses this, but it'd be wise on your part to check into that before hand. What mobo do you have?

The consensus is that IBM 75GXP drives are the best out there. I like Seagate as well. Had alot of problems of late with Maxtor, and other people have had troubles with the low-end Western Digitals, so I'd avoid those two.

Xayd

[TimN]

I have to apologize I'm not sure on the mobo. I am still trying to learn about this thing. All I know is it has a Pentium II 266. It is a Pressario 4640 and the mobo is the same as what was in it when I got it. I haven't messed with it enough to know about it. I guess what I am trying to ask is if there is a way to find out for sure what this would handle. I was told once before about a 12GB would be as large as I could go.



And Xayd Thanks for the recommendations Western Digital was one I was going to look at.

[glc]

Compaq Presario? Don't touch it. Run it till you can afford a new computer. I hope you are using the Compaq restore disk and not a generic copy of Windows........

[TimN]

Yeah it is a Compaq.......last one I'm buying though. Although it has been alright for a first computer. To this point I have used the restoredisk but I have recently upgraded to Win98SE. I was considering putting in a larger(slightly) hard drive, and doing a complete fresh re-install. I have changed this computer to much and don't want to use the restoredisk anymore.

[glc]

The problem with Compaq hard drives is the proprietary diagnostic partition. As long as you only format the C drive, you can usually get a somewhat clean 98SE install, but replacing it with a new drive is going to be a pain. The restore CD may or may not set the drive up properly, because it is not going to see the size that it's expecting. You *can* establish a diagnostic partition with a Softpaq, but Compaq's support site is so bad it will take you an hour to find it.

If it's running OK right now, the only thing I would do is get a second drive and slave it in - and use it that way. I would not replace the existing drive and I would not wipe it.

If you do try to do a clean 98SE install from an upgrade CD, the Compaq restore CD is not accepted by the compliance check - you will have to borrow a 95 CD from someone for that. Expect driver hassles doing a clean install - and good luck finding the drivers you need on Compaq's site.

[Xayd]

Or, of course, new case, mobo, CPU, and RAM for a couple hundred bucks ;).

Xayd

[TimN]

Thanks glc for the information, unfortunately on this computer there is no room for anything else. I have added a CD-RW and it took up all my space. C: is the only drive I have for a hard drive. D: is my CD-RW and E: is the DVD that came with it. Like I said this is my first computer, and I realized a lot of errors I have made now, most importantly is space!!. As far as drivers what do I need from Compaq just the drivers for the HD? Will I need drivers for the original DVD also? Everything else I have downloaded the latest drivers from their respective websites. Or should I gut this thing, use the restore disk, and rebuild it from there after doing the Win98 upgrade? The only thing I can't do is go back to the original RAM I have since upgraded from 48 to 128 and don't have the original anymore.



and Xayd unfortunately at the moment not an option....

I looked at Compaq HD's but man they are proud of those things!!!!

[pboadle]

Tidy up your present hard drive including removing unwanted programs, empty the temp directory, scandisk and defrag
Open the computer
Jumper the new drive as a slave
Remove the old drive
Place it upside down on the case and reconnect it
Connect the new drive to the second output on the ide cable (if it does have two outputs go and buy (cheap) one that does) and place it upside down on the case
Get a copy of Drive Image from Powerquest and put a DOS version on a floppy
Set the BIOS with both drives (there should be an auto detect)
Start it up with a startup disk in the floppy drive
Use fdisk to create a primary (the size of your current C: drive or more) and extended (the remaing free space) partions on the drive
Format the extended partion
Use Drive Image to create an image (broken down into files of 600 meg) on to the extended partion
Turn of the computer
Remove both drives from the cables
Jumper the new drive to be master
Put the new drive back in it's place and put the cables back in
Set the BIOS to the single drive (there should be an auto detect)
Bootup with a startup disk
Use Drive Image to restore the image you created to the primary partion
Restart
Everything should bootup as you had it before
Use your CD burner to copy the image files on to CDs (also place a copy of Drive Image on the first disk)
Now you can restore your computer any time you want from these CDs
Store the old drive for a bit as a backup but you shouldn't need it again

[glc]

pboadle: Your post does not address the diagnostic partition. This is a Compaq. If this were a "standard" system there are ways to clone drives that are a lot easier than Drive Image and are free too.

Tim: You have room for one more IDE device on your controllers - you have 3 devices now. There should be room somewhere inside your case for one more hard drive. The additional drive will become D: and the CD's will move to E: and F:.

[pboadle]

TimN only has room it the computer for the one hard drive.
The diagnostics partion can be installed from a program you can download from Compaqs web site.
Yes there are other image software, but I have found Drive Image the best to use.

[TimN]

Thanks pboadle, and glc. glc there isn't anymore room in this thing, It is definitely what you would classify as a minitower. I just finished pulling it apart to make absolutely sure and it is full. Hard drive, cd-rw,dvd, and floppy take up all my drive space. Is Maxtor a good product? it is about the best bang for the buck I can find in the area. A 15GB is 80 bucks. I have been told I could possibly get this up to a 20GB, but I don't want to push my luck. 15 would be wonderful, and buy me some time till I can get me a new system.