Adding a second Hard Drive to a computer

[tbontob]

Hmmmmm

Maybe this is something for the 200+ ways of being addicted to SE4...

One of my concerns has been about a self-destructing hard drive with the result that I would miss some PBW turns.

So on boxing day, I bought a 60 Gig hard drive as a backup/secondary boot drive to my 40 Gig in case the 40 Gig self-destructs.

I am now about to install the drive into an empty slot of my computer.

However, because of the greater capacity of the 60 Gig, I am wondering if would be better to make it my primary drive and the 40 Gig my backup/secondary boot drive.

The instructions are quite simple, the drive seems to be compatable with my system, but this is the first time I have ever installed a second hard drive or replace one for that matter.

Does anyone have any thoughts, suggestions, ideas, on this.

[Krsqk]

Well, if your primary drive is larger than your backup, then you can't backup everything. On the other hand, if your backup is larger than your primary, then you're wasting space on the backup drive. You should run right back out and purchase another 60GB hard drive to replace your 40GB one. Of course, you could parlay this into a really big spending binge. "Accidentally" buy an 80GB drive, then buy a 100GB when trying to replace the "old" 60GB one...

[tbontob]

Originally posted by Krsqk:
Well, if your primary drive is larger than your backup, then you can't backup everything. On the other hand, if your backup is larger than your primary, then you're wasting space on the backup drive. You should run right back out and purchase another 60GB hard drive to replace your 40GB one. Of course, you could parlay this into a really big spending binge. "Accidentally" buy an 80GB drive, then buy a 100GB when trying to replace the "old" 60GB one...

And then into a 200 Gig....

That would be absolute proof of my addiction!

[tbontob]

But Krswl, you just may have hit upon something.

Special receptacles which will hold hard drives are available for installation into the vacant slot (something like $20.00). These allow for easy insertion and removal of hard drives by just pushing the hard drive in and pulling it out.

I buy a bunch more 60 Gig drives.

I push one 60 Gig into the slot. Update it! And take it out.

Tomorrow I put in another hard drive. Update it and take it out.

I continue rotating the bunch of hard drives each day and live free of the fear of losing any data or of not having a hard drive to boot my computer!

I think this definitely qualifies as one of the 200+ addictions.

[Slick]

I would recommend using the faster one as the boot drive since the slowest thing on a computer is normally the harddrive, it will speed up all your operations. Since newer/larger drives seem to always be getting faster that would probably be the 50Gb.

[Mephisto]

Mmm, it all depends how old your 40GB harddisk is. When i is quite new then the speed difference might not be that great to your 60GB harddisk. To reach maximum security, you can do this:
1.) Install your 60GB HD as your secondary drive (usually D.
2.) Put all your "Your Files"-Folder on D:, especially your Email and Address-Data (bad memories ).
3.) Backup these files regularly to C:
4.) Once in a while (4 weeks or so) make a disk-image from C: to D:.

In the case that C: goes bye-bye, you can restore your system with all the data in less then 20 minutes to the point of the Last disk-image. This has saved my bud several times now.

[Gryphin]

Depending on your options:
Use a CD R to back up your data.
Have copies of your data at a friends house and at work. (I'm paranoid).
Use the 60 as your Main drive because it is newer and more relyable. It might also be faster.

[rdouglass]

Originally posted by Gryphin:
..Use the 60 as your Main drive because it is newer and more relyable...

From personal experience, a dangerous assumption... I've been bitten before by assuming the new drive was going to run as long as my old drive...Lasted 3 days... The CDR solution (at least when it comes to personal backup) IMO is a relatively quick and inexpensive solution. At about $.20 US per CD (640Mb), it doesn't take a whole lot of expensive media. Once you get a good backup, just do daily incrememtal backups.

Business solutions are an entirely different story...

[Thermodyne]

There are some more or less standard solutions, but they all depend on what operating system you are running. As Rdouglass has already posted, backing up to removable media is your best solution. If you take the time to do the back ups, and do a test restore once and a while, they are very reliable. Disk images are OK, but it would take a lot of time to do on a daily basis. If you want on the fly protection, then you need to set up a mirror; just remember that they need to be backed up too. In short, backing up to a second drive is not really a reliable back up, it only protects against the failure of the primary drive. If I remove IBM hard drives from the equation, main Boards fail more often then hard drives on the average home computers I service. And there is one very popular chipset in wide use that is becoming notorious for corrupting data written to the hard drive if default bios settings are used.

[DarkHorse]

Originally posted by Thermodyne:
... And there is one very popular chipset in wide use that is becoming notorious for corrupting data written to the hard drive if default bios settings are used.

Which chipset are you referring to?