Bios

  • Thread starter Thread starter Endulini
  • Start date Start date
E

Endulini

Hi,

I have an old Dell system running XP which I'm gradually finding new uses
for, one
limitation that someone mentioned to me though was that upgrading the hard
drive might be limited by the Bios. Is this likely to be an issue and if so
what is my limit likely to be - the Bio version is A6? Is there a way around
this?

Cheers
 
Endulini said:
I have an old Dell system running XP which I'm gradually finding new uses
for, one limitation that someone mentioned to me though was that
upgrading the hard drive might be limited by the Bios. Is this likely to
be
an issue and if so what is my limit likely to be - the Bio version is A6?
Is there a way around this?
Click to expand...

Visit Dell, see if there is an updated BIOS.

However - I doubt the updated BIOS will do anything about what hard drives
it will/will not support. Although that happens - not often and not for
many machines bought in the last... 7 or so years.

What size hard drive do you have?
What is the model of your current Dell system?
 
From: "Endulini" <[email protected]>

| Hi,

| I have an old Dell system running XP which I'm gradually finding new uses
| for, one
| limitation that someone mentioned to me though was that upgrading the hard
| drive might be limited by the Bios. Is this likely to be an issue and if so
| what is my limit likely to be - the Bio version is A6? Is there a way around
| this?

| Cheers


It depends on the system build date but there are BIOS' that won't work with hard disk
drives greater than 137GB and a BIOS upgrade would be the solution.

However you didn't mention what Dell platform this is.

Go to; http://support.dell.com and enter your platfom in (ex. Dimension 3400) and see if
there is a BIOS greater than rev. A6.
 
what you can try is to boot
into the bios and see what
is the size of the primary
disk (disk0)

then double check to see if
there is a line item for a slave
drive (disk1)

if you have a line item for
disk 1 but no settings for it,

then this means your system
can handle a second hard
drive.

so what you can now do is to
buy another hard drive that is
the same size as disk0

and install the new hard drive
as a slave, i.e. disk1.

in other words, if at this time
you only have a c drive,

then the additional hard drive
when installed will become your
new drive d.

therefore, my suggestion is to
add the hard drive to your
current configuration instead
of replacing the original drive
because

the original drive has been
setup with the o.s. and the hard
ware drivers and third party
programs.

---------------

incidentally, if you choose the
methodology above,

then the next step after installing
the d drive is to move "my
documents" folder from the
c drive and over onto the
d drive.

this will free space on the c
drive.

to see what I'm referring to,
simply right click on "my documents"
and access its property page.

then you will find a field and
a button that can be used to
automatically move the entire
"my documents" folder to
another location,

like your new d drive.

--

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DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
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~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen
 
Shenan Stanley said:
Visit Dell, see if there is an updated BIOS.

However - I doubt the updated BIOS will do anything about what hard drives
it will/will not support. Although that happens - not often and not for
many machines bought in the last... 7 or so years.

What size hard drive do you have?
What is the model of your current Dell system?
Click to expand...
It's a Dimension XPS T500 bought around 1999, current hard drive is 9GB.
Would potentially like to go as high as poss, whatever that is :)

Thanks
 
Endulini said:
It's a Dimension XPS T500 bought around 1999, current hard drive is
9GB. Would potentially like to go as high as poss, whatever that is
:)
Click to expand...

Wow - I hope it's not heavily used. heh That's a classic in computer terms.
*grin*

http://support.dell.com/support/dow..._PNT_P03_XPS_T___&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=

Latest BIOS - A11.

Here's the Manual:
http://support.dell.com/support/top...stems_info/manuals?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~ck=anavml

Specifically: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dkub/

I would bet that may not accept drives above 137GB readily. EIDE only.

You can use a software interface to allow you to make larger partitions -
but - I wouldn't recommend it (you're going slow enough as it is.)

With a system that old - I wouldn't recommend spending any money *on it* - I
would just find a refurbished one online for $199-$299 with probably 50
times the space native, newer operating system (or possibly the same if you
are using XP) and who knows how many times the processor power and memory.
Better spent money, IMHO.
 
Endulini said:
It's a Dimension XPS T500 bought around 1999, current hard drive is 9GB.
Would potentially like to go as high as poss, whatever that is :)

Thanks
Click to expand...

I agree pretty much with what Shenan said about the probable limitations on
this system. Manufacturers seldom if ever indicate the limitations of any
version of their BIOSs; that would make it way to easy to know whether or
not installing a newer bios might get around current problems.

I purchased a 320 GB IDE drive for under $100 a year or two ago. IDE drive
prices are now significantly higher than the same size SATA drives, and
larger IDE drive sizes are not being offered.

-Paul Randall
 
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