which is the "C" drive?
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Posted by Big_Al on July 5, 2008, 3:23 pm
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>>> Hello,
>>> >>> I have a PC with 2 SATA hard disks in it (logical C and D drives) and >>> wish to replace the "C" drive with a new hard disk. >>> >>> How do I know which is the "C" drive in the case? >>> >>> I once before got the wrong and the PC tried to boot off the "D" drive >>> which then made the files on this disk inaccessible. >>> >>> Thanks >>> >>> Geoff >> If the drives are not identical, you should be able to identify each in "my
>> computer", but then you'll have to be able to read the nameplate on the >> drive to know which is which. You can also take a 50-50 shot, and just >> disconnect one. The worst thing that'll happen is the machine won't boot. >> Then you'll have to remove the non boot drive , in the bios, from the boot >> order >> >
> 'afraid the drives are identical in make and size! > > plus! as I said I had the previous bad experience with the 50:50 > approach in that the PC failed to boot off what wa the D: drive but > after putting the C: drive back I couldn't access the D: drive. > > can I tell which is which from the cables? > > Cheers > > Geoff You're manual should tell you what plug on the motherboard is sata connector #1 and #2. You've already figured out C: is the first. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Geoff Cox on July 5, 2008, 6:18 pm
Please log in for more thread options >Geoff Cox wrote:
>>
>>>> Hello,
>>>> >>>> I have a PC with 2 SATA hard disks in it (logical C and D drives) and >>>> wish to replace the "C" drive with a new hard disk. >>>> >>>> How do I know which is the "C" drive in the case? >>>> >>>> I once before got the wrong and the PC tried to boot off the "D" drive >>>> which then made the files on this disk inaccessible. >>>> >>>> Thanks >>>> >>>> Geoff >>> If the drives are not identical, you should be able to identify each in "my >>> computer", but then you'll have to be able to read the nameplate on the >>> drive to know which is which. You can also take a 50-50 shot, and just >>> disconnect one. The worst thing that'll happen is the machine won't boot. >>> Then you'll have to remove the non boot drive , in the bios, from the boot >>> order >>> >>
>> 'afraid the drives are identical in make and size! >> >> plus! as I said I had the previous bad experience with the 50:50 >> approach in that the PC failed to boot off what wa the D: drive but >> after putting the C: drive back I couldn't access the D: drive. >> >> can I tell which is which from the cables? >> >> Cheers >> >> Geoff >
>You're manual should tell you what plug on the motherboard is sata >connector #1 and #2. >You've already figured out C: is the first. OK - now to find the manual! Cheers Geoff | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Joel on July 5, 2008, 7:37 pm
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<snip>
> 'afraid the drives are identical in make and size! > > plus! as I said I had the previous bad experience with the 50:50 > approach in that the PC failed to boot off what wa the D: drive but > after putting the C: drive back I couldn't access the D: drive. > > can I tell which is which from the cables? > > Cheers You may not be able to tell from the cable *unless* you know which PORT the cable connected to. Example Port-0 is usually drive C: and Port-2 is drive D Of course with EIDE which you can connect up to 2 EDIE devices to same PORT, and drive D can be changed depending on how you FDISK your drive (partition). But drive C still on Port-0 So, I guess it should work the same with SATA. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Geoff Cox on July 6, 2008, 1:44 am
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>
><snip> >> 'afraid the drives are identical in make and size!
>> >> plus! as I said I had the previous bad experience with the 50:50 >> approach in that the PC failed to boot off what wa the D: drive but >> after putting the C: drive back I couldn't access the D: drive. >> >> can I tell which is which from the cables? >> >> Cheers >
> You may not be able to tell from the cable *unless* you know which PORT >the cable connected to. Example Port-0 is usually drive C: and Port-2 is >drive D > > Of course with EIDE which you can connect up to 2 EDIE devices to same >PORT, and drive D can be changed depending on how you FDISK your drive >(partition). But drive C still on Port-0 > > So, I guess it should work the same with SATA. Joel, I have just found a diagram of the motherboard on the Net and it shows the two SATA sockets, SATA 0 and SATA 1 so I assume SATA 0 is the C: drive and SATA 1 is the D: - could this be wrong?! Cheers Geoff | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Paul on July 6, 2008, 2:33 am
Please log in for more thread options Geoff Cox wrote:
>
>>
>> <snip> >>> 'afraid the drives are identical in make and size!
>>> >>> plus! as I said I had the previous bad experience with the 50:50 >>> approach in that the PC failed to boot off what wa the D: drive but >>> after putting the C: drive back I couldn't access the D: drive. >>> >>> can I tell which is which from the cables? >>> >>> Cheers >> You may not be able to tell from the cable *unless* you know which PORT
>> the cable connected to. Example Port-0 is usually drive C: and Port-2 is >> drive D >> >> Of course with EIDE which you can connect up to 2 EDIE devices to same >> PORT, and drive D can be changed depending on how you FDISK your drive >> (partition). But drive C still on Port-0 >> >> So, I guess it should work the same with SATA. >
> Joel, > > I have just found a diagram of the motherboard on the Net and it shows > the two SATA sockets, SATA 0 and SATA 1 so I assume SATA 0 is the C: > drive and SATA 1 is the D: - could this be wrong?! > > Cheers > > Geoff I can give you an approach, but it isn't completely foolproof. Download a copy of HDTach. http://www.simplisoftware.com/Public/index.php?request=HdTach When it starts up, there will be a menu with hard drives in it. The drive letter (C:) is shown to the left of the rest of the drive identity information. Start the Quick Bench running, by clicking the "Run Test" button. When you get to the "Random Access Test", the head on the disk will fly around, and the drive will shake a bit. The drive with the shakes, will in that case, be the C: drive (because you selected C: from the test menu). Why isn't the test foolproof ? Because the vibration shakes the whole frame of the computer case. I tried my C: drive and my E: drive, and I could feel the shaking in the C: drive in both cases. So it'll be a judgment call, as to which one is doing the shaking, during the Random Access test. The C: drive is not related to the SATA port. Your C: could be connected to SATA 0 or to SATA 1. Perhaps looking at the drive serial number in the BIOS, or with a utility, and looking for a sticker on the outside of the drive, with the same information, would be another way to do it. I have one drive, that does have the serial number printed on the outside. And a more recent drive from the same company, where there is no serial number on the outside. I bet that saved a whole penny of manufacturing cost, by not printing the serial number on it. And makes it real easy to determine if the warranty is still valid, if that drive dies on me (fat lot of good a serial number stored on the platters is going to do, if the drive fails). Paul | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
