New hard drive set up as Master/ old HD slave

[herrld]

I installed a new hard drive as master and set up the old hd as slave. I installed the Windows XP OS on the new HD as well as programs etc since I believe the old hard drive is getting ready to quit (clicking). If/when the old HD quits can I change the new hard drive to be C: instead of F: ? I'm working w/ a Dell Dimension 8200. New HD is WD 80GB IDE. Any help would be appreciated.

Linda

 

[vacunita]

Why is it F?

You are going to have a hard time changing it to C, as all programs, and other pointers for the operating system will point to F.

I suggest you remove your old hard drive, and having just your new HD in place install Windows so it becomes C: from the start.

When you put your old HD back as a slave it should then take on another drive letter.



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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[herrld]

Ok. To make sure I have the steps correct..

A) I remove the slave drive and I'm left w/ the new hard drive.

B) I reinstall Windows XP on the new drive from the cd so it becomes C:

Do I need to do anything prior to reinstalling WindowsXP?

Linda

 

[cdogg]

Linda,
No, you cannot change the drive letter of a system volume. In fact, you'll get an error message telling you exactly that if you were to try.

As vacunita said, the only way to control the drive letter so that it shows up as C: is to make sure it is the ONLY hard drive with an OS in the PC when you install Windows. Once it receives a drive letter assignment, that's the one it's stuck with. Any attempt to forecfully change it will cause issues with the registry and thousands of pointers listing the original drive letter.

So really, the best two options you have are:

1) Remove the old drive and reinstall Windows on the new one. It will not configure itself in a dual-boot environment and will receive the C: drive letter. After you're finished configuring the install, remove it completely and set it aside as a backup. Put the old drive back in to continue working from it (avoid having both drives connected at the same time, or one of the Windows installations could take control of the other forcing a permanent drive letter change).

2) Go with an easier solution. Purchase a program like DriveClone, Symantec's Ghost or Acronis True Image. Make a complete backup of your old hard drive using one of those apps. You'll have the option to backup to the network, DVD, or another hard drive. Realize that the cost is worth it, since you can continue to use the program on a daily basis to do "incremental" backups of your system down the road.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[vacunita]

... (avoid having both drives connected at the same time, or one of the Windows installations could take control of the other forcing a permanent drive letter change).

Well never heard of or seen this happening in all my Windows installation years. Once the new Windows is installed and has taken up drive C:, The slave drive is irrelevant. So there really is no reason to keep the old one out. Just put it in, and move your files over before it dies.

Basic Steps:

1. Remove Old Hard Drive,
2. Leave New Hard Drive as Master on the Primary IDE connector.

3. Run Windows 'Installation, and have it format and recreate all partitions, (It will wipe out everything on the drive). And install.

4. New Hard Drive should be drive C:

%. Once windows is done installing and works o.k, you can place Old Hard Drive back in as a Slave in the same IDE connector as the New One, or as A Master in the Secondary Connector if available.

Old drive should pick up a different Drive letter, when the Windows Installation in the New Hard drive boots.




----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[cdogg]

vacunita,
It happened to me, as shown in this thread:
thread779-1455470

It might not happen in all cases, but I suspect that it happened in my case because somehow the drive I thought was secondary (on the IDE controller) ended up being the primary that the BIOS picked to boot from (there was another SATA drive it "should" have picked). The new Windows installation detected the other Windows installation. As a result, the secondary IDE HDD drive letter changed from C: to D: upon bootup, and I wasn't able to change it back!

This is just one example. If you search on google, you'll see a lot of other similar complaints. Obviously there are ways to get a slave drive in the system without the drive letter changing on you (vacunita and I have both done this). But the point is that it's an unnecessary risk. If you have data you need to move over, use blank DVDs or other means when possible.

If that's not an option, then make absolutely certain that the "old" drive is the one you are booting from when the "new" drive is attached.


~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[vacunita]

I'm not going to argue with you, as everything is possible with Windows.

However, I'm not entirely certain that what happened to you had anything to do with Windows.

As en example, and I did this exercise a few years ago, when Vista wasn't available yet, so the results with Vista I cannot guarantee, I had 3 Physical Hard Drives.
(This was done to test some applications that where crashing on one Windows computer, but worked fine on another identical setup)

Each one had an installation of Windows XP in it. All 3 installed on their own, all three are in C: drive when booted from. The connections where @ drives on the Primary IDE controller, MAster and Slave and the Thrd Drive on the Secondary Controller as Master. You could swap these around anyway you wanted to and they would always be C:

As an additional identifier each installation was given a different Wallpaper, just a white image with some id info, so you could tell what you where booting from.

So basically what happens is depending on which drive you choose to boot from it takes on the C: drive, the other 2 will then take on subsequent letters.

Since all 3 Windows installations where performed independently, they only recognize the additional Drives as Storage Space. They have no idea Windows is installed on them, and have no way of assuming they should be anything else other than C:. The exercise went on for a couple of moths, at no time did the drive letters change for any of the Installations.

Still anything is possible, so taking every precaution is always good.

however I would still just upon completion of the Windows Installation copy whatever data I needed from the old drive, and then just remove it. The make great paperweights








----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[cdogg]

vacunita,
Actually I believe what happened to me might have had something to do with the fact that the additional drive was a clone of the other. That might have had some impact. Perhaps you are right and there is nothing to worry about in most situations.

In the experience you described, however, it seems that you were running in a dual- or multiple-boot configuration. During the installation of Windows, it will configure you properly as it detects the other OS installation. Therefore, the drive will appear as C: when you boot into any of three. That's how I have my current PC setup as a matter of fact.

But earlier, the both of us suggested that the old drive be removed before reinstalling Windows on the new drive. In that scenario, a dual-boot will not be configured. That's the only reason why I suggested a possible conflict as I had experienced.

No big deal. We've stated our cases!
Sorry Linda, hope we didn't discourage you!


~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[herrld]

Not discouraged at all. I consider it a learning experience and I won't make the same mistake twice. Thanks for your input!

Linda

 

[vacunita]

Apologies, for diverting form the subject.

Glad you are not discouraged.

And just as clarification the drives where not Multi-booting, all 3 where installed independently of the others, without the other drives being present at the time of installation.



----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[cdogg]

vacunita,
That's interesting. It really is. Now you've got me curious. Did you have a 3rd-party boot utility to manage the various installations, or did you just change the boot order each time in the BIOS?

 

[vacunita]

It was done using the BIOS to change boot order. Although physically moving the drives from one connector to another was also possible, though much more of a hassle.

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.