Recently a new hard drive was installed into my computer. How can I install the old hard drive into the computer so that I can access this drive through Windows? What cables, jumper settings, and BIOS changes are needed? The computer is running Windows 98, but I am considering upgrading to Windows NT.

Most of the drives, if not all, in your computer will be IDE drives. These are connected to the computer motherboard by ribbon cables - a flat, grey cable. Each ribbon cable is capable of having two IDE devices. In order to distinguish these two devices, one device is called the ‘master’ and the other is the ’slave’. The master/slave setting is determined by the ‘jumper’ setting on the device.

There are two IDE ‘channels’ in each computer (i.e., there are two IDE ‘ports’ on the computer motherboard). One IDE ribbon cable is plugged into each of these ports. As each IDE ribbon cable supports two IDE devices, this allows each computer to have a maximum of four IDE devices connected at once.

Now we have some of the theory out of the way, it is time to open the computer. Before doing so, remember to unplug the computer from the power-point. You should also have an anti-static wrist strap connected to the computer case chassis to ground yourself from static electricity (to avoid frying any important computer components). Some people say that instead of using a wrist strap you should leave the computer plugged into the power-point with the power-point switch off, in order to discharge any static electricity via the earth pin. I don’t like this idea, as it leaves you exposed to a live power source. Using a wrist strap is much safer!

Locate the new hard drive, have a look at the jumper setting. The drive should be set as a ‘master’. If you are unsure of what the jumper setting means, you will need to refer to the diagram which is normally located on the top of the hard drive. Normally, the main computer hard drive will be the master drive on the primary IDE channel. Now you will find you are in one of the following two situations:
‘¢ There is no ’slave’ device on the same IDE channel as the hard drive (so there is only the new hard drive on that IDE channel)
‘¢ There is another device (e.g., CD-ROM drive) as the ’slave’ on the same IDE channel as the hard drive.

In the first situation, you should install the old hard drive as the ’slave’ device on the same IDE channel as the new (’master’) hard drive. To do this, you will need to make sure the jumper setting on the old hard drive is set to ’slave’. Refer to the diagram on the top of the hard drive to determine the present setting and, if necessary, how to change this setting to ’slave’. You may need a pair of tweezers for this task! Once you have done this, mount the hard drive in a spare bay in the computer case, connect the IDE ribbon cable, and then connect the power cable.

For the second situation, which is the more likely, there are no free spaces on the new hard drive’s IDE channel (as there are two devices on the channel). Therefore, you will need to setup the hard drive on the other IDE channel. You can setup the hard drive as either a ‘master’ or ’slave’ - this shouldn’t affect the boot order of the computer since the primary IDE channel takes priority over the secondary IDE channel. However, you should adhere to the following rules:
‘¢ If there is already a device on the other IDE channel, you should setup the old hard drive as a ’slave’
‘¢ If there are no other devices on the other IDE channel, you should setup the old hard drive as the ‘master’
Follow the same procedure as given before for mounting and setting up the hard drive.

Once the drive is installed, put the case back on the computer and boot-up. If the hard drive is not automatically detected, you will need to go into the BIOS setup and tell the computer about the hard drive you just installed. The BIOS is normally accessed by pressing the DEL key during the computer power on self test (POST). Once you are in the BIOS setup, go into the ‘Standard BIOS Setup’ (or ‘Standard CMOS Setup’) part of the setup. In this section you will need to make the necessary changes to the setup in order to make the computer aware of the new hard drive. You may find that the BIOS setup has already detected the hard drive. The computer may attempt to boot from the old hard drive (which has no operating system), once the hard drive has been configured in the BIOS setup go into the ‘Advanced CMOS/BIOS Setup’ where you should be able to configure device boot order. These instructions may vary on different computers. In any case, be very careful in the BIOS, as changing the wrong setting could make your computer unbootable!

Regarding upgrading to Windows NT, I assume that you are not talking about Windows NT 4.0 (since this was discontinued by Microsoft quite a few years ago) but rather about a new version of Windows such as Windows 2000 or XP. I would only upgrade to these versions of Windows if your computer generously exceeds the requirements for the software. Windows 98 is a good operating system, and if you upgrade to 2000 or XP and your computer cannot handle the demands, you will notice a significant performance decrease. Since your computer is running Windows 98, I assume it is a few years old. I suggest that you stay with Windows 98 for the time being.