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  • #2172503

    Can I add a used SATA Hard drive to my existing system?

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    by the gooey frog ·

    I have a Dell Dimension 4700 with a SATA Hard Drive. I recently boosted my Ram up to 2 gigs. I have an older SATA Hard Drive that is used. Can I install this into my system as added storage for a place for my music and pics?

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    • #2880387

      Clarifications

      by the gooey frog ·

      In reply to Can I add a used SATA Hard drive to my existing system?

      Clarifications

    • #2880379

      Yes you should be able to

      by markp24 ·

      In reply to Can I add a used SATA Hard drive to my existing system?

      Hi,
      if you open the Dell 4700 system case, you will see a spot to mount the second hard drive and a power pigtail for it, you will need to reuse the SATA cable from the old pc and connect it between the motherboard and the drive. I have listed the user manuals that show you how to open the case, and do the hard drive upgrade at the bottom of this message.

      I just want to confirm this is a dimension 4700 not a 4700c, the C case is much smaller and you cannot add a second drive as it only has one SATA port and the power supply doesnt have the additional power pig tail, let alone a location to mount the drive.

      user manual for 4700c
      http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4700c/en/SM/techov.htm#wp1052632user manual for 4700
      http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4700/sm/techov.htm#wp1052788

      • #2880343

        Reponse To Answer

        by the gooey frog ·

        In reply to Yes you should be able to

        I’ve cracked the case open before and there is a spot for the other HD. It has all the connections inside for the HD. I’m just not sure if my PC will try to boot both the current HD and this old one at the same time? Or will it react as if it is a new HD and want to partition and format it? I don’t want my PC to blow up! This HD IS from this current PC. I just bought a new one because the old one was small 80G. Which is why I want to use it just for music and pictures.

    • #2880299

      Go into the CMOS/BIOS setup

      by rayfoxxe ·

      In reply to Can I add a used SATA Hard drive to my existing system?

      You should check first into your system’s CMOS/BIOS by pressing the corresponding button to access them (usually F1, F2, or the Delete button when you boot up your computer, if you know how to work on CMOS/BIOS)

      Then go to the Boot Menu and locate a menu called Boot Priority or Boot Setup.
      Next, once you get into the boot priority menu, it should display a couple of options there like 1st Boot – 2nd Boot – ect.. Your 1st Boot device must be set to your original hard disk drive device or set to the name of the HDD you have. (that would be your C:\ drive).
      If it’s set to that then there’s no problem in booting up.
      If not, set the 1st boot priority to your original HDD.
      Exit and Save on CMOS/BIOS and boot your computer normally.

    • #2880266

      Keep it simple

      by youngjules ·

      In reply to Can I add a used SATA Hard drive to my existing system?

      From the kind of questions you’re asking, I would guess you’re not comfortable with all that CMOS/BIOS nonsense. My advice is to just add in the drive, most likely it’ll appear as the 2nd drive in your system (if there’s only one drive in there to start with, that one’s likely to be on the primary sata connection).
      The system WILL NOT try to boot from both drives at once. The worst that can happen is that it’ll try to boot from your old 80G drive, but I think this is *very* unlikely.
      Best of luck!

      • #2881113

        Reponse To Answer

        by rayfoxxe ·

        In reply to Keep it simple

        Excuse me, but my post was not nonsense, he was asking if his computer would boot two drives at the same time. I was simply trying to explain to him how he can check that his computer would boot only to his first drive which would be his C:\ drive.

      • #2881960

        Reponse To Answer

        by youngjules ·

        In reply to Keep it simple

        Sorry RayFoxxe, I didn’t mean your post was nonsense, I just meant that for a fairly non-technical person, all that CMOS/BIOS stuff is a load of gobbledy-gook (aka nonsense) and it’s better to keep it simple (where possible… ).

        You’re right, your post was not nonsense and I’m sorry to have implied that. Friends? 😀

    • #2880251

      With Sata, it will be added as a second drive

      by markp24 ·

      In reply to Can I add a used SATA Hard drive to my existing system?

      Hi,

      I would agree with “YoungJules” with SATA , the boot order is set in the bios, so as long as you dont change the sata cable connections, and you just add the additional sata drive to the empty sata port on the mother board, it should just boot normally and add the new drive as the next free drive letter in windows (IE D or E or F,…)
      let us know how it goes.

      • #2880249

        Reponse To Answer

        by the gooey frog ·

        In reply to With Sata, it will be added as a second drive

        I GREATLY Appreciate all of the comments and help! I will get started on this project later today (Saturday) after a few other chores I need to do and before I watch Butler cream VCU. Thanks to all again and I will update this to let you all know how it went!

      • #2882298

        Reponse To Answer

        by the gooey frog ·

        In reply to With Sata, it will be added as a second drive

        Okay… I plugged in my old HD, didn’t have the data cable. Went to my local PC shop and they handed me a data cable for it free of charge….(nice group of guys there). I got home plugged in the cable, plugged in my machine and turned it on. It booted as normal except….no additional HD shown. I looked for it but it didn’t show up anywhere. Is there a little trick that I’m missing??

      • #2882287

        Reponse To Answer

        by the gooey frog ·

        In reply to With Sata, it will be added as a second drive

        disregard that last post. I restarted my PC and went into the settings at start up and had to turn on the SATA drive then continued with the start up and the it was !!! Thanks to all who helped me out on this It was greatly appreciated.

    • #2882070

      Hey Nice work!! You did it!!

      by markp24 ·

      In reply to Can I add a used SATA Hard drive to my existing system?

      Im glad to hear you figured out the sata setting in the bios,. good work!

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