New Hard Drive questions

[Boatdude]

I hope you solve it! Just repaying the help you gave me lol

 

[Slammer]

Just wanted to give an update, I still haven't gotten the new HD yet, the money is taking longer than I thought to get. I'll be seriously dissapointed if I don't have it by September though. I still hope to get help from all your knowledgeable comments when I do procure one!

 

[Slammer]

Well I've rechecked online and it seems that there aren't really any 1TB 9.5mm thick 2.5" HDs out there, only 12mm ones, and my laptop only takes the 9.5mm ones. I did find one on ebay, but it's really new technology and a bit more expensive than I want to pay ($100) so I think I'm just going to grab a 2TB external one for that price and store anything I need on that. So now I have some new questions!

1- Can I partition one, load an OS (probably Win 7) one one partition and still use the other for normal storage? Will it let my computer boot an OS that's on an external HD? I know in my BIOS it has a removable media option for booting, but I'm not sure if that's just for installing an OS off a flashdrive or if it'll let me boot totally from there. If I can, how bad would it be if the USB cable got pulled out on accident or something while I was using the OS on it?

2- (just another question about normal internal HDs) I've seen some internal HDs online that say something similar to "Max. 334GB formatted capacity per disk" Does that mean I have to partition the whole 1TB into 3 smaller partitions for it to work? What exactly does that mean?

3- If I just use the internal HD in my computer for my OS and some programs, are there any problems associated with installing other programs on a partition in the external HD? Other than only being able to access them when it's plugged in? Again, what are the risks of having it suddenly disconnected while running a program off it?

Those are my main three right now, if I missed something or you have any advice I'd appreciate it. I'll probably come up with more questions after I get responses for these

 

[Slammer]

Anyone? Haha. I'll start a new thread with these questions if no one responds in a day or two.

 

[tom982]

1. 1. Yes you can, I do it
   2. No you can't, see this
   3. All sorts of problems, data corruption etc. Similar sort of damage as if you pull the power cable out of a PC
2. The formatted capacity is how much space you have after a format, see this. You wont have a formatted capacity of 334MB for a 1TB hard drive, maybe there are 3 discs in the 1TB hard drive and they are 334MB each if you get what I mean?
3. Nope, no problem at all I don't think, a mate of mine does that. Same as 1.3 really

Tom

 

[Slammer]

Thanks Tom!
To clarify:

1- Questions 1.1 and 1.2 were talking about the same thing, so I'm assuming you thought 1.1 was about internal drives even though I was referring to external ones in both questions, and that's why you said "yes" to 1.1 and "no" to 1.2. I know I can partition internal HDs with one partition for OS and one (or more) for program files/other media data, so thanks for letting me know that I can't use that setup on an external one, since windows wont boot on an external drive. That's what I was going for nice link.

2- I know HDs always have less space available in the computer than they advertise, and even less after formatting, so a 1TB will have roughly 954 GB free after format (curtsey Google search). I wasn't sure if they meant "disc" as in a "Hard Drive Disc Drive" type thing that is recognized by your computer (I think it was being sold from China, and they usually have weird English in their product description on eBay, so that's where I'm getting that from), or if they meant each of the individual 3 platters inside the drive, as if I would need to know that for some reason even though it wouldn't effect partition space. Hopefully that sentence made sense.
I ask because I've heard that certain BIOSes will only recognize single HD partitions up to a certain size (a similar concept to how 32 bit systems only recognize up to about 4GB of RAM, no matter how much RAM you actually install). So I wasn't sure if that phrase was somehow related that BIOS limitation I've heard of, and would therefore force me to make 3 partitions of that size to use it all. Speaking of which, is that BIOS limitation true? How do I know what size of HD my BIOS will recognize as a single partition before forcing me to divide it up into multiple smaller ones?

3- Got it

Sorry for my rambling approach to explain myself, I just find it more efficient to ask multiple questions at once to speed up time it takes to get them all answered and I'm not great at organizing them all efficiently. So thanks for bearing with me!

 

[tom982]

Thanks Tom!
To clarify:

1- Questions 1.1 and 1.2 were talking about the same thing, so I'm assuming you thought 1.1 was about internal drives even though I was referring to external ones in both questions, and that's why you said "yes" to 1.1 and "no" to 1.2. I know I can partition internal HDs with one partition for OS and one (or more) for program files/other media data, so thanks for letting me know that I can't use that setup on an external one, since windows wont boot on an external drive. That's what I was going for nice link.

2- I know HDs always have less space available in the computer than they advertise, and even less after formatting, so a 1TB will have roughly 954 GB free after format (curtsey Google search). I wasn't sure if they meant "disc" as in a "Hard Drive Disc Drive" type thing that is recognized by your computer (I think it was being sold from China, and they usually have weird English in their product description on eBay, so that's where I'm getting that from), or if they meant each of the individual 3 platters inside the drive, as if I would need to know that for some reason even though it wouldn't effect partition space. Hopefully that sentence made sense.
I ask because I've heard that certain BIOSes will only recognize single HD partitions up to a certain size (a similar concept to how 32 bit systems only recognize up to about 4GB of RAM, no matter how much RAM you actually install). So I wasn't sure if that phrase was somehow related that BIOS limitation I've heard of, and would therefore force me to make 3 partitions of that size to use it all. Speaking of which, is that BIOS limitation true? How do I know what size of HD my BIOS will recognize as a single partition before forcing me to divide it up into multiple smaller ones?

3- Got it

Sorry for my rambling approach to explain myself, I just find it more efficient to ask multiple questions at once to speed up time it takes to get them all answered and I'm not great at organizing them all efficiently. So thanks for bearing with me!

No worries Adam Glad I can help

1. Yes I did, sorry about that!
2. What motherboard have you got?
3. Good

It's fine, as you said it saves time, us being in different time zones can really slow things down and you've found a way around it

Tom

 

[Slammer]

Um idk how to find out what my motherboard is... the one that comes on a Dell Inspiron 1545? haha.

Quick random question: how important is it to keep my BIOS up to date? I have version A03 for my computer, and there's a newer one, A05. Is it really risky to update a BIOS? Is it going to really improve anything? Is it in any way related to the maximum partition size my computer can recognize?

 

[richc46]

If you download speccy, you may be able to determine the MB
Update bios only if there are problems and you know how to do it. Update can cause problems if not done correctly.http://www.piriform.com/speccy
or even better belarc
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
If it does not give MB inormation, just call Dell

 

[Slammer]

Thanks Rich.
I'll see if it will tell me

 

[richc46]

Belarc may be better than Speccy.

 

[Slammer]

Speccy says:

Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
Model: 0G848F
Chipset Vendor: Intel
Chipset Model: GM45/GM47
Chipset: Revision 07
Southbridge Vendor: Intel
Southbridge Model: 82801IM (ICH9-M)
Southbridge: Revision 03
System Temperature: 52 °C
BIOS
Brand: Dell Inc.
Version: A05
Date: 02/25/2009
PCI Data
Slot PCI-X
Slot Type: PCI-X
Slot Usage: Available
Data But Width: 256 bit
Slot Designation: PCIE Slot 0
Slot Number: 0
Slot PCI-X
Slot Type: PCI-X
Slot Usage: Available
Data But Width: 256 bit
Slot Designation: PCIE Slot 1
Slot Number: 1