second hard drive

Dfran · Posted: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 23:43:14 Post Subject: second hard drive

I want to get another drive to back up my files to. I currently have a 160gb WD. I wanted to get a Raptor(as primary) but that is only 74gb. Can I switch that as my main drive and then use the 160 as storage, backing up the entire Raptor and then having extra for less crucial storage? Do I have to partition that drive? Any better plans?
thanks

LaTech · Posted: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 07:05:15 Post Subject:

Shouldn't be that hard to clone your present drive to the Raptor and then run on it. That way you've already got your "backup" on the 160. Cost, however, would be a different issue. You can probably get a 160 GB MUCH cheaper than a Raptor.

Does your board support SATA?

Dfran · Posted: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 10:48:39 Post Subject:

Is the Raptor that much faster?

LaTech · Posted: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 13:24:40 Post Subject:

Well, I have a raptor in my system. Is it faster? Yes. Is it faster so much so that I would rush right out and buy one? No. Would I buy 2 and put them in a RAID? Yes...

You aren't going to notice THAT MUCH of a difference with just 1 drive...imho.

LaTech · Posted: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 18:33:36 Post Subject:

Maybe one of the other hardware geeks would have a different opinion... ?

Spire · Posted: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 23:10:10 Post Subject:

I have two of the smaller Raptors, I don't think they are all that in a world of SATA II 3.0Gb/s drives. That is if your board can support SATA II...

Dfran · Posted: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 12:58:26 Post Subject:

74Gb Raptor vs 3.0 Gb/s hard drives:

What about the Seagate Barracuda 160mb 7200.9 8mb cache 3.0GB/s drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148105
or the WD SE16 250Gb 16mb cache, 3.0Gb/s drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701
in comparison to the raptor (as a primary drive)?

Dfran · Posted: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 11:37:47 Post Subject:

Can I Partition a drive that already has data on it? Is it better to have the OS on a seperate partition?

Kilamon · Rated XXX Joined: 22 Mar 2005 Posts: 811

Yes, you can repartition a drive with data on it. You can then reformat your new partitions and get on with life. Alternately, if you're rying to save the data, you'll need to use a tool like Partition Magic or, if you're comfortable with linux and some possibly strange results, the free tool called qparted. You'd be better off just backing up your important data and then making your new drive a single partition, reinstalling the OS and installing your applications and restoring your data. That's what I do and it insures a stable system every time. It helps if you're practiced in centralizing your data storage.