I have an old Dell Optiplex with a mere 3GB hdd space and clock speed of 66Hz. I have used all the space .I want to save all the data and program files like AOL,TISCALi ect and all the settings.I am about to purchase a new hard drive MAXTOR 40 gb,ATA133,7200rpm. I understand that overlay software will be needed because the BIOS is old and will not be able to see all the 40gb.What are your thoughs on the best way to retain all the needed files on the old drive and insert the new hard drive?
it would be a problem since your pc is old. in some cases a bios upgrade could solve the problem.. others use a software to let the pc see all the hdd capacity greater than 2Gb.
Get a controller card (like a Promise PCI card) if there is a spare PCI slot available. Install the controller card with its drivers to the now 3 gig drive..once the master 3 gb drive recognizes the controller, place both the 3 gig as master and the new 40 gig as slave on the controller card..problem solved.
Originally posted by John Prophet a controller card could be nice....one SLIGHT hitch could be that some controller cards need pci 2.2 to work....might be something to think of.
Opsss yep, forgot about that one...and if the motherboard is that old..the ONLY choice will be DDO (Dynamic Drive Overlay) by Ontrack ( http://www.ontrack.com/ ).
That is the type of software Dax_Brandy mentioned. All hard drive manufacturers have it to use with their drives..but the original DDO/Ontrack leased (now sold) it to the drive companies.
Originally posted by HeadBand did they even have pci slots back then...mabey an isa controler...accually with that old it may even be on a controler card already
Depends when it was built. PCI slots came out mid-90's. The Optiplex was the "workstation," while the Dell Dimension was the "desktop." My '97 Dimension had 4 or 5 PCI slots, and two ISA slots.
__________________
A man becomes rich not by having what he wants, but by wanting what he haves.
Linear Mode
