sata and IDE HDD installation question

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dooshbag

n00b
Joined
Dec 10, 2006
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Can you install a SATA HDD as a secondary HDD while the primary HDD is an IDE HDD? Do IDE HDD's have a ribbon style wire while the sata has a smaller wire like appearance? And if so I guess that might mean that certain motherboards would have on or the other ports for HDD installation? One more question is, can you ruin or erase your shit off of your original HDD if you screw up installing a secondary HDD? And can someone put the procedure of doing this (installing a secondary HDD) in lamens terms?
 
Okay, I'm going to attempt to pick this one apart.

Can you install a SATA HDD as a secondary HDD while the primary HDD is an IDE HDD? No. Sata is a different interface.

Do IDE HDD's have a ribbon style wire while the sata has a smaller wire like appearance? Yes, except they're cables with 40 or 80 wires (IDE) or 7 wires(SATA)

And if so I guess that might mean that certain motherboards would have on or the other ports for HDD installation? Most of today's motherboards have both IDE and SATA

One more question is, can you ruin or erase your shit off of your original HDD if you screw up installing a secondary HDD? Yes very easily.

And can someone put the procedure of doing this (installing a secondary HDD) in lamens terms

For SATA, mount the HD in the bay you want it in, connect the SATA data cable to the correct port on the motherboard. If Windows is installed on the primary drive and the BIOS has the SATA controller enabled then Windows will detect the new hard drive. Right click on "My Computer" and select "Manage". After the Computer Management console has loaded go to the Disk Manager addin. Find your NEW hard drive in the right lower pane and right click it. Umm, someone else is going to have to pick it up from here as I can walk through the rest as I only have one hard drive right now.
 
I guess I better get someone else to do this for me, I have hundreds of pictures of my little girl on my HDD. I want to install the secondary HDD to scan for viruses because my other computer is fucked up(possibly just the videocard) but since my other computer gives me a blank screen after the windows load up screen I can't do this on my other computer. That is why I want to install the HDD from one computer onto another computer I have. Do you think my video card is fried if I am getting a blank screen after the windows load up? The last time my computer was operational I turned on the moniter and the resolution had gone from 1024X768 to 460X680 and there was a window that had popped up saying that my Nvidia control panel had an error and that I had to restart my computer, that is when I restarted and only got the windows load up screen followed by a black screen. Could not access the safemode setting by pressing F8, could only access BIOS.
 
dooshbag said:
I guess I better get someone else to do this for me, I have hundreds of pictures of my little girl on my HDD. I want to install the secondary HDD to scan for viruses because my other computer is fucked up(possibly just the videocard) but since my other computer gives me a blank screen after the windows load up screen I can't do this on my other computer. That is why I want to install the HDD from one computer onto another computer I have. Do you think my video card is fried if I am getting a blank screen after the windows load up? The last time my computer was operational I turned on the moniter and the resolution had gone from 1024X768 to 460X680 and there was a window that had popped up saying that my Nvidia control panel had an error and that I had to restart my computer, that is when I restarted and only got the windows load up screen followed by a black screen. Could not access the safemode setting by pressing F8, could only access BIOS.
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When you press F8 did you get a menu?

Let me get this straight. You're wanting to take your hard drive out of the system that you're having problems with and put it in another computer that is working so that you can do a virus scan?
 
I didn't get a menu, I pressed F8 in the right sequence (as the post screen flashes before the windows load up screen). And yes I want to take my HDD out of the computer I am having problems with and put it into the computer that is operational (the computer I am on right now) to scan for viruses. I think my videocard drivers may have been corrupted judging by the window that popped up saying "Nvidia control panel error". Either that or the memory some how fried? I don't know? All I know is that I have a Geforce 7950 GX2 and I want to play some games cause my 360 died and i'm waiting for it in the mail. Hopefully it didn't fry because that videocard cost me almost 800 bucks.
 
dooshbag said:
I didn't get a menu, I pressed F8 in the right sequence (as the post screen flashes before the windows load up screen). And yes I want to take my HDD out of the computer I am having problems with and put it into the computer that is operational (the computer I am on right now) to scan for viruses. I think my videocard drivers may have been corrupted judging by the window that popped up saying "Nvidia control panel error". Either that or the memory some how fried? I don't know? All I know is that I have a Geforce 7950 GX2 and I want to play some games cause my 360 died and i'm waiting for it in the mail. Hopefully it didn't fry because that videocard cost me almost 800 bucks.
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What I do when I can't quite time it right is press the F8 keys as many times as I can right before the POST screen disappears and keep doing it until I get either a menu or a Windows boot screen. If it work select "Safe Mode" If it doesn't reboot and retry faster. :p


If you can get into safemode successfully then uninstall the drivers and reboot. That should make Windows default back to basic VGA compatibility mode in a normal boot.
 
I do tap F8 right before the POST screen disappears and have tried tapping it right up into the windows load screen and I didn't get the safemode menu. Do you think my videocard is fried?
 
dooshbag said:
I do tap F8 right before the POST screen disappears and have tried tapping it right up into the windows load screen and I didn't get the safemode menu. Do you think my videocard is fried?
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No way to tell, if you see anything on the screen then it's got basic functions and should display Windows' desktop. It's most likely that the drivers are corrupted.

Do you have a USB keyboard by any chance?
 
dooshbag said:
no I don't
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okay well hell.

A sure fire way to get the menu is to reboot the computer in the middle of the XP logo. Next time you boot it should balk and tell you that Windows failed to start and give you the boot menu. BUT it has the potential of corrupting your system. Slim chance of hurting any of your files though.
 
wait a minute, the computer i'm on right now has a wireless keyboard and mouse. The censor that the mouse and keyboard get the signal from has one cord that splits into 2 cords which go into the mouse and keyboard port and the cord that goes into the keyboard port is USB.
 
dooshbag said:
wait a minute, the computer i'm on right now has a wireless keyboard and mouse. The censor that the mouse and keyboard get the signal from has one cord that splits into 2 cords which go into the mouse and keyboard port and the cord that goes into the keyboard port is USB.
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Is that the keyboard and mouse you're trying to use on your broekn computer?

If so and it is indeed USB (kinda lost me on your description) then you need to check in the BIOS for a Legacy USB option. It's known under a few different names, but it basically means that the BIOS will translate the USB keyboard's codes and pass them on as a PS2 keyboard's codes so that older OS's or bootloaders can recognize the keys you press. Lemme know what you find.
 
I'm not using the wireless keyboard/mouse on the computer I am having problems with but I had originally installed them on that computer. How does this help my situation though?
 
dooshbag said:
I'm not using the wireless keyboard/mouse on the computer I am having problems with but I had originally installed them on that computer. How does this help my situation though?
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It doesn't, it just confused me. If you're using a standard PS2 keyboard on the broken computer right now then it SHOULD give you a boot menu when you press F8 at the right time. Go into your BIOS and make sure that any options for PS2 mouse or PS2 keyboard are enabled.
 
sorry i'll try to describe it better
logitech-mx3000_350x177.jpg
here is the link. In the picture you'll see the mouse and the keyboard and another component, well that other component is the infared thing that the keyboard and mouse get the signal from (like a remote control to a VCR) that "infared thing" has 1 cord coming out of it that splits into 2 cords which go into the keyboard and mouse ports. The cord that goes into the keyboard port (the port you would normally plug a wired keyboard into) is USB. So that would initially make the keyboard USB right?
 
OMG, I just read your post after taking 5 minutes to do mine, sorry about that. I see what you are saying, your saying that the F8 button may not be effective on my PS2 keyboard right?
 
dooshbag said:
OMG, I just read your post after taking 5 minutes to do mine, sorry about that. I see what you are saying, your saying that the F8 button may not be effective on my PS2 keyboard right?
Click to expand...

no, PS2 keyboards should always work. USB keyboards are tricky since the depend on the BIOS to make them look like a PS2 keyboard for DOS and the NT boot loader.

Just try to boot the computer like normal. When the XP logo with the blue bar pops up shut off the computer (hold down the power button or push the reset button). Then turn it back on, on the next boot it should put out a message saying that it failed to boot and suggest that you try safe mode and give you a menu. If that doesn't work i'm out of ideas because it should.
 
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