I tried to install a 2nd HD into my computer but when I turned the computer back on it went to a black screen that said:
Non-System disk or disk error
Replace and strike any key when ready
I am having problems w/setting the master on the original HD. I was wondering since it is already installed on my computer isn’t already set as the master? I’ve looked all over the HD and no where does it tell me (like on the other HD it gives me a diagram of how to set the master/slave)how to set the (jumper?) to make it a master or slave. Is there another way to find this information out?
Are there HD that are not compatible? Because these two look nothing alike. One is big and bulky and the other one is slim.
Also how do I find out what the cd/dvd is set too: master/slave/cable select? And how can I tell if my original HD is sata and if it is how can I make sure it is set as the boot drive?
I also asked earlier How to install a 2nd HD and one of the responses was very thorough but also very confusing. Here’s some of what was wrote, maybe someone can explain it a little better or maybe break it down further
If the current drive (from now on, C: ) has the cd/dvd drive plugged into the second slot on the existing hard drive cable (connects to IDE-0 on the motherboard usually) you can just connect up the old hard drive cable from the old case to the "old" hard drive as well as plug it into the vacant IDE-1 slot on the motherboard and away you go.
But if you have a second drive cable connected to the cd/dvd drive then you will need to figure out which cable will be easier to reroute past the mounting point for the "old" hard disk. You will then need to establish if you need to set the "old" drive to master or slave based on the existing (hard/cd/dvd) drive. if its to the same cable as C: you need to find out if your C: is set to "cable select" or "master", this can be established by the table of settings printed on the top of the drive, If it is "cable select" then you need to set it to "master" and then the new drive to "slave"
If its going to the cd/dvd drive cable you then need to figure out if the cd/dvd drive is set to master/slave/cable select and adjust so that either the "old" drive is set to master and the cd/dvd is set to slave or vice versa.
It’s not as complicated as it may seem from what i wrote up, im just being thorough so you understand most (if not all) the "what if’s"
Please help I am in a real need to install the 2nd HD so that I can send my pictures and music files to the 2nd HD. I have no room on my original one and can do nothing, can’t download any music or picture for that matter.
One more question After I do get the 2nd HD installed how do I go about transfering my files over to it and how can I figure out what I don’t need on it, so I can delete them so it doesn’t take up so much space?
Several things: first, the issue about setting the master and the slave drives – on the end of the drive, there is a series of small metal pins. There are probably two rows, and maybe 4 across. There is a small black plastic jumper crossing a couple of the pins – it has metal in it, so it connects the two pins together.
The idea is to connect the two pins that make the drive a slave drive. There will be a sticker on the drive showing which pins to connect as M (master) and S (slave). Since the drive you already have is the master, the new one has to be the slave. The reason for this is that you want the computer to know which drive to go to for bootup information, and to find the operating system and so on.
As far as the explanation about the cable, think of it as an extension cord in the house where you’d plug in one light in that corner, and another light in this corner. All he was saying was that there is a place on the cable to plug in the new drive – you’ll see it when you plug the cable in.
Once the hard drive is installed, you can just click on the MY COMPUTER icon on your desktop, and you should see both the original hard drive (which will probably be called the C: drive) and the new hard drive (which could possibly be called the D: drive, depending on how many drive letters the original drive has on it).
Also, as a reminder, once the computer assigns a drive letter to the new hard drive, remember that the CD drive, the DVD drive, and any other drives you have installed will now have new drive letters. If the CD drive was originally the D: drive, it will get pushed back to becoming the E: drive. That’s not a real issue, except that if you have programs that say "insert the CD into the CD drive D:", that won’t work any more because the program won’t know to go look in drive E: for the CD. You can fix that later by changing the program’s INI files or just reinstalling them.
You want my recommendation? Head over to the computer store (or on eBay or Craigslist) and buy a portable hard drive. You can get a 360 gig drive for about fifty bucks, and all you have to do is plug it into the USB slot whenever you want to use it. Then you could just drag and drop the files from your C: drive onto the portable, and have all kinds of room.
Lotta information here. Hope some of this helps.
- Stuart
Stuart | May 17, 2009
Master goes on the end of the cable, slave in the middle, (Goes for Hard Drives or CD/DVD drives) that attaches to IDE-0
CD/DVD drives go on IDE-1
Do not mix drive types on a cable.
Johnny M | May 17, 2009
Sorry about being confusing before, i guess i assumed a few things and wanted to cover a lot of issues "in case" as its harder to go back and interactively figure out what works/doesn’t using yahoo than it does when you are asking someone via chat/email/forum/standing next to them.
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Firstly Stuart has explained how the drives connect in a pretty accurate way. If im having trouble figuring the master/slave status out i usually head to the net and search for the drive manufacturer & model & the drive stats & how to set master/slave come up fairly quickly.
From the sounds of it if you want to continue down your current path you need to go into the bios and figure out if the new drive is correctly detected or not, from the sounds of it there may be a clash (like both believing they are master)
Honestly though, i think stuart is right about it being easier to use an external portable drive rather than going and diving into the guts of your old computer to salvage an old drive for space. For that matter if you do wiish to salvage the current spare drive, an external enclosure would be a safe bet too.
lastly sorry about any confusion on the matter as well, there’s unfortunately so many different permutations of everything that covering them off in one answer is very tricky. You did a good job interpreting my hurried explenation.
Michael | May 17, 2009
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