Master Hard Drive - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Sledge · 09-10-2003, 09:03 AM

I'm installing a second hard drive (a 160 GB dealie from Seagate, mm-hmm) but I'm not sure if my current one is already set up as a master. Is there some way I can tell from inside Windows XP?

Lasereth · 09-10-2003, 09:20 AM

Not that I know of inside XP, but you can sure as hell tell from inside BIOS. Restart your PC and go into BIOS (usually by pressing delete, F5, or F8) and check the hardware specs. Your current hard drive and CD-ROM will be listed. There will be a Primary Master, Primary Slave, Secondary Master, and Secondary Slave position in BIOS. If your hard drive is in either the Primary Master or Secondary Master slot, then it's set as Primary.

Or, since you're installing the new Seagate anyway, just take off the case and look at the jumper settings on the hard drive. It will say if it's set as Master or Slave. The Seagate will have jumper settings on it too. Make sure to set it as master or slave depending on where you put it on the cable!

-Lasereth

charliex · 09-10-2003, 10:37 AM

if theres only one drive on the IDE bus, it can't be slave.

meff · 09-10-2003, 11:07 AM

Set your BIOS to auto-detect the drives then on boot-up you can see what is what as it detects them.

God of Thunder · 09-10-2003, 11:51 AM

The existing drive is probably set up as master or is jumpered to cable-select.

If it is set to cable select, set it to master before you install the other drive, which you would set to slave.

I know there are alot of people that will point out that you could set them both to cable select and put them in the right order on the cable, but I like hard-coding that with jumpers, just to be sure.

Sledge · 09-10-2003, 03:17 PM

Thanks! I did it! And nothing exploded!

The bundled utility decided to install it as drive letter F:, keeping my DVD and CD-RW drives at D: and E:, respectively. Is there a quick and easy way for me to put the new hard drive at D: and move the others? Will that ruin all my shortcuts, installed program pointers, etc.?

reverendjay · 09-11-2003, 09:27 PM

The quickest way to change drive letters in XP is through computer Management. From your desktop, right-click My Computer and choose 'Manage'. Then click on 'Disk Management'. You can right click any of the drives and choose "Change Drive Letter and Paths".

Note that you will screw up any games on your PC that require a CD/DVD to be installed when you run them. Your choices will be to either reinstall from your new drive letter, or go out and find a no-cd fix for any games that won't play nice with the change. I went through this on my last hardware upgrade/OS reinstall when one of my IDE cables went bad (and I wasn't paying attention). I found out though that once I reinstalled MOH:Allied Assault/Spearhead that it kept all of my original settings, and basically just updated the path to my DVD-Rom.

09-10-2003, 09:03 AM	#1 (permalink)
Sledge Pasture Bedtime	Master Hard Drive I'm installing a second hard drive (a 160 GB dealie from Seagate, mm-hmm) but I'm not sure if my current one is already set up as a master. Is there some way I can tell from inside Windows XP?

09-10-2003, 09:20 AM	#2 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	Not that I know of inside XP, but you can sure as hell tell from inside BIOS. Restart your PC and go into BIOS (usually by pressing delete, F5, or F8) and check the hardware specs. Your current hard drive and CD-ROM will be listed. There will be a Primary Master, Primary Slave, Secondary Master, and Secondary Slave position in BIOS. If your hard drive is in either the Primary Master or Secondary Master slot, then it's set as Primary. Or, since you're installing the new Seagate anyway, just take off the case and look at the jumper settings on the hard drive. It will say if it's set as Master or Slave. The Seagate will have jumper settings on it too. Make sure to set it as master or slave depending on where you put it on the cable! -Lasereth __________________ "A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

09-10-2003, 11:07 AM	#4 (permalink)
meff Vanishing, like I do.. Location: Austin, TX	Set your BIOS to auto-detect the drives then on boot-up you can see what is what as it detects them. __________________ Toy-like people make me boy-like.

09-10-2003, 11:51 AM	#5 (permalink)
God of Thunder Talk nerdy to me Location: Flint, MI	The existing drive is probably set up as master or is jumpered to cable-select. If it is set to cable select, set it to master before you install the other drive, which you would set to slave. I know there are alot of people that will point out that you could set them both to cable select and put them in the right order on the cable, but I like hard-coding that with jumpers, just to be sure. __________________ I reject your reality, and substitute my own -- Adam Savage

09-11-2003, 09:27 PM	#7 (permalink)
reverendjay Insane Location: Baltimore	The quickest way to change drive letters in XP is through computer Management. From your desktop, right-click My Computer and choose 'Manage'. Then click on 'Disk Management'. You can right click any of the drives and choose "Change Drive Letter and Paths". Note that you will screw up any games on your PC that require a CD/DVD to be installed when you run them. Your choices will be to either reinstall from your new drive letter, or go out and find a no-cd fix for any games that won't play nice with the change. I went through this on my last hardware upgrade/OS reinstall when one of my IDE cables went bad (and I wasn't paying attention). I found out though that once I reinstalled MOH:Allied Assault/Spearhead that it kept all of my original settings, and basically just updated the path to my DVD-Rom. __________________ I'm married now, so the only thing in my house that pulls out now is the couch.

09-10-2003, 10:37 AM	#3 (permalink)
charliex Junkie Location: North Hollywood	if theres only one drive on the IDE bus, it can't be slave.

09-10-2003, 03:17 PM	#6 (permalink)
Sledge Pasture Bedtime	Thanks! I did it! And nothing exploded! The bundled utility decided to install it as drive letter F:, keeping my DVD and CD-RW drives at D: and E:, respectively. Is there a quick and easy way for me to put the new hard drive at D: and move the others? Will that ruin all my shortcuts, installed program pointers, etc.?