Dsastray
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Can I boot from a secondary hard drive that is housed in a cd bay converter?
I have a laptop.
I have a PATA primary drive that currently houses c:\windows, program files, etc.
I replaced my optical drive with a SATA hard drive (using an adapter similar to this).
Can I boot from this (currently secondary) SATA drive? Is it as simple as cloning my current boot drive to the secondary adapter one?
(Does BIOS still recognize that drive bay as an optical device, for the purposes of boot order?)
Finally, can I expect a speed penalty? The current drive is a 7200 rpm pata, the replacement would be a 7200 rpm sata, but connected via er, ATAPI?
I have a PATA primary drive that currently houses c:\windows, program files, etc.
I replaced my optical drive with a SATA hard drive (using an adapter similar to this).
Can I boot from this (currently secondary) SATA drive? Is it as simple as cloning my current boot drive to the secondary adapter one?
(Does BIOS still recognize that drive bay as an optical device, for the purposes of boot order?)
Finally, can I expect a speed penalty? The current drive is a 7200 rpm pata, the replacement would be a 7200 rpm sata, but connected via er, ATAPI?
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SOLUTION
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Give more information in your question next time, it will help experts point you in the right direction. i.e. Model number of your computer and adapter.
ASKER
You make a good point. Not sure what would be needed... I was able to find the drive caddy:
http://newmodeus.com/shop/ index.php? main_page= product_in fo&product s_id=177
Related specs:
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name D7RDCP81
System Manufacturer Dell Inc.
System Model Inspiron 9300
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8 GenuineIntel ~1994 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. A05, 9/19/2005
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\Harddisk0\DP(2)0x2 f10c00-0x1 175413800+ 3
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
Total Physical Memory 2,048.00 MB
[C is the original HD]
Item Value
Drive C:
Description Local Fixed Disk
Compressed No
File System NTFS
Size 69.83 GB (74,981,650,432 bytes)
Free Space 12.84 GB (13,782,245,376 bytes)
Volume Name
Volume Serial Number 1483770A
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Hitachi HTS721080G9AT00
Bytes/Sector 512
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type Fixed	hard disk media
Partitions 3
SCSI Bus 0
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 1
SCSI Target ID 0
Sectors/Track 63
Size 74.53 GB (80,023,749,120 bytes)
Total Cylinders 9,729
Total Sectors 156,296,385
Total Tracks 2,480,895
Tracks/Cylinder 255
Partition Disk #0, Partition #0
Partition Size 47.03 MB (49,319,424 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 32,256 bytes
Partition Disk #0, Partition #1
Partition Size 69.83 GB (74,981,652,480 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 49,351,680 bytes
Partition Disk #0, Partition #2
Partition Size 4.64 GB (4,984,519,680 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 75,039,229,440 bytes
[D is the caddy HD]
Drive D:
Description Local Fixed Disk
Compressed No
File System NTFS
Size 298.04 GB (320,020,967,424 bytes)
Free Space 182.17 GB (195,605,540,864 bytes)
Volume Name
Volume Serial Number 1483770A
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model ST9320421AS
Bytes/Sector 512
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type Fixed	hard disk media
Partitions 1
SCSI Bus 0
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 2
SCSI Target ID 0
Sectors/Track 63
Size 298.09 GB (320,070,320,640 bytes)
Total Cylinders 38,913
Total Sectors 625,137,345
Total Tracks 9,922,815
Tracks/Cylinder 255
Partition Disk #1, Partition #0
Partition Size 298.04 GB (320,020,968,960 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 49,351,680 bytes
http://newmodeus.com/shop/
Related specs:
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name D7RDCP81
System Manufacturer Dell Inc.
System Model Inspiron 9300
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8 GenuineIntel ~1994 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. A05, 9/19/2005
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\Harddisk0\DP(2)0x2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
Total Physical Memory 2,048.00 MB
[C is the original HD]
Item Value
Drive C:
Description Local Fixed Disk
Compressed No
File System NTFS
Size 69.83 GB (74,981,650,432 bytes)
Free Space 12.84 GB (13,782,245,376 bytes)
Volume Name
Volume Serial Number 1483770A
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Hitachi HTS721080G9AT00
Bytes/Sector 512
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type Fixed	hard disk media
Partitions 3
SCSI Bus 0
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 1
SCSI Target ID 0
Sectors/Track 63
Size 74.53 GB (80,023,749,120 bytes)
Total Cylinders 9,729
Total Sectors 156,296,385
Total Tracks 2,480,895
Tracks/Cylinder 255
Partition Disk #0, Partition #0
Partition Size 47.03 MB (49,319,424 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 32,256 bytes
Partition Disk #0, Partition #1
Partition Size 69.83 GB (74,981,652,480 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 49,351,680 bytes
Partition Disk #0, Partition #2
Partition Size 4.64 GB (4,984,519,680 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 75,039,229,440 bytes
[D is the caddy HD]
Drive D:
Description Local Fixed Disk
Compressed No
File System NTFS
Size 298.04 GB (320,020,967,424 bytes)
Free Space 182.17 GB (195,605,540,864 bytes)
Volume Name
Volume Serial Number 1483770A
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model ST9320421AS
Bytes/Sector 512
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type Fixed	hard disk media
Partitions 1
SCSI Bus 0
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 2
SCSI Target ID 0
Sectors/Track 63
Size 298.09 GB (320,070,320,640 bytes)
Total Cylinders 38,913
Total Sectors 625,137,345
Total Tracks 9,922,815
Tracks/Cylinder 255
Partition Disk #1, Partition #0
Partition Size 298.04 GB (320,020,968,960 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 49,351,680 bytes
ASKER
Worth asking again? I'm happy to award more points and a better grade, if I can get some firm guidance as to whether I should take the plunge and start cloning drives, etc.
ASKER
(btw, the other partitions on C: are dell diagnostic and recovery partitions.)
Symantec Ghost should make the process relatively painless. http://www.symantec.com/themes/theme.jsp?themeid=ghost
There are also other free solutions that do the same thing. Easeus Backup, DriveimageXML. If that is indeed what you wish to achieve.
All,
Re-grading this question at the request of the author
Thank you,
SouthMod
Community Support Moderator
Re-grading this question at the request of the author
Thank you,
SouthMod
Community Support Moderator
ASKER
Duly noted overdrive79, that's a very useful thing to watch out for.