installing an OEM hdd

[userx47]

I know that OEM drives don't come with installation instructions or mounting equipment or cables or anything like that but do they come with installation software on a cd or floppy or anything?
And if they don't then how would I go about putting one in?..do I just plug it in, set the jumpers and the bios to boot off of it?

One more question. For any OEM drive or card that you get, if you don't have the drivers or any installation software, would you just have to d/l it yourself?

Thx,
any help would be greatly appreciated!!


wax on, wax off

 

[wolluf]

A drive is a drive!

Are you intending installing operating system on it or using it as secondary storage device?

If its a standard IDE drive to instll o/s on you just need an 80pin IDE cable to connect it to motherboard (after setting its jumpers as master if only drive in machine - if jumper settings not printed on drive, visit manufacturer's website). Screw it into case, connect IDE and power cable, boot up (make sure bios is set to auto detect primary master) - should be detected and appear on POST screen - you're ready to install whatever operating system you've chosen.

If you intend other use/its another type of drive (eg, SATA, SCSI), please post back.

 

[SkipCox]

Most drive manufacturers have their drive overlay and diagnostics software available for download.

Skip

http://home.comcast.net/~skip9/index.html

http://scc.i8.com

 

[zepper]

You can download everything you need to install an OEM drive from the mfr's web site excepting, of course, any hardware bits you might need - instructions with jumper settings and setup/file transfer utilities, etc. Makes the job easy.
. The drives are just the same as the ones you would find in the retail boxes. Even if you got a retail box, you would probably still want to download the latest software from the web as there are almost never the latest versions in the boxes. And you would want to check for any updated instructions.
..bh.


He who dares not offend cannot be honest. -- Thomas Paine.

 

[stormbind]

The only significant difference between the Retail and OEM packages are the brackets which allow you to put the 3.5" disk into a 5.25" bay.

The utilities don't do much, and when you need them, a newer version will probably be available to download. The most useful utility will revert your drive to factory settings; but it's already in that state.

1. Set the jumper on the drive (normally at the back). You can view the manual online, but the jumpers are labelled anyway (S = slave, M = master).

2. You may need to enter BIOS setup and have it detect IDE devices.

3. MS Windows installation process includes all the tools needed to partition and format your drive (i.e. FSIDK)

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Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam

 

[stormbind]

Oh, and the cables you need normally come with the motherboard - assuming it's not a SCSI drive.

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Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam

 

[zbnet]

You might find that there is a waranty difference between OEM and retail - some manufacturers have 1 year max on an OEM but 3 years on a retail drive...

 

[userx47]

thanks a lot for all the help!

its greatly appreciated!

wax on, wax off