hdd as primary slave

[vizor]

hello.
on my new pc, i noticed that the manufacturer has installed my hdd as
primary slave, instead than pimary master.
My pc also has a DVD drive and a CD burner both on secondary.

my questions:
1) if I switch the hdd to primary master, would it be faster?
1.1) if I do it, will WinXP complain about changed hw and makes me
reactivate?
2) sometimes when I turn my pc on it does the POST correctely but doesn't
detect the HDD and does not boot. ctr-alt-canc restart the system and
always solves the problem. Can this be caused by the hdd in prim. slave?


thanks in advance to everyone.

 

[Shep©]

hello.
on my new pc, i noticed that the manufacturer has installed my hdd as
primary slave, instead than pimary master.
My pc also has a DVD drive and a CD burner both on secondary.

my questions:
1) if I switch the hdd to primary master, would it be faster?
No.

1.1) if I do it, will WinXP complain about changed hw and makes me
reactivate?

I doubt it.

2) sometimes when I turn my pc on it does the POST correctely but doesn't
detect the HDD and does not boot. ctr-alt-canc restart the system and
always solves the problem. Can this be caused by the hdd in prim. slave?

More likely a loose cable/jumper or the Auto Detect in the BIOS is not
doing it's job well.Cahnge to,"User" and press the Enter key and the
BIOS should detect the correct parameters for the drive manually then
save on exit.
I've had to fit system hard drives as slaves before owing to space
limitations in the case.It causes no problems.
Depending on your burning needs it's better if you are
burning,"On-The-Fly" e.g straight from Cd to CD to have the two Cdrom
drives on separate IDE ports.

HTH



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[DaveW]

It should be the Primary Single. If that's not a choice then make it the
Primary Master.

 

[Trent©]

hello.
on my new pc, i noticed that the manufacturer has installed my hdd as
primary slave, instead than pimary master.
My pc also has a DVD drive and a CD burner both on secondary.

my questions:
1) if I switch the hdd to primary master, would it be faster?

Might be...based on what you say below about frequent POSTing errors.

Are you SURE its the primary slave? You would determine this by the
way the jumper is set on the drive...NOT by where the drive is
connected to the cable.

1.1) if I do it, will WinXP complain about changed hw and makes me
reactivate?

Not re-activate. But it will probably detect the new setting as new
hardware...and ask you to reboot just the one time after the change.

Again...having the drive as the primary slave would be HIGHLY unusual.

2) sometimes when I turn my pc on it does the POST correctely but doesn't
detect the HDD and does not boot. ctr-alt-canc restart the system and
always solves the problem. Can this be caused by the hdd in prim. slave?

You didn't mention the age of your system. But it sounds like the
drive is spinning up slowly from a cold start. This is usually NOT a
good sign!...long-term.

Some BIOS's have a delay boot-up setting that can be adjusted a few
seconds to help compensate for this kind of problem. See if your BIOS
has such a feature.

Good luck.


Have a nice week...

Trent

Certified breast self-exam subcontractor.

 

[Boba & Ilinka]

As far as I know computer can't work that way. Could you check jumper
settings on HDD. Is it cable selected or as a slave?

Boba Vancouver BC

 

[~misfit~]

Might be...based on what you say below about frequent POSTing errors.

Are you SURE its the primary slave? You would determine this by the
way the jumper is set on the drive...NOT by where the drive is
connected to the cable.

Also what the BIOS says. If it says Primary Slave then that's what it's
junpered as.

 

[Trent©]

Also what the BIOS says. If it says Primary Slave then that's what it's
junpered as.

Only if the BIOS is set to auto.


Have a nice week...

Trent

Certified breast self-exam subcontractor.

 

[VISOR]

(...)
Are you SURE its the primary slave? You would determine this by the
way the jumper is set on the drive...NOT by where the drive is
connected to the cable.

the BIOS says

Not re-activate. But it will probably detect the new setting as new
hardware...and ask you to reboot just the one time after the change.

Again...having the drive as the primary slave would be HIGHLY unusual.

correct!

(...)
You didn't mention the age of your system. But it sounds like the
drive is spinning up slowly from a cold start. This is usually NOT a
good sign!...long-term.

it may signal a defective HDD?

Some BIOS's have a delay boot-up setting that can be adjusted a few
seconds to help compensate for this kind of problem. See if your BIOS
has such a feature.

I'll check it


thank you very much 4 your answer.

Have a nice week...

Trent

Certified breast self-exam subcontractor.

!!! ;-) i'm following a course to begin my career! ;-)