Mount IDE hard drive externally

[Mint]

I want to add a second hard drive to an older system.

Can I mount it externally if I can find a cable extension?
(It's too cramped inside the HP Pavillion.)

Thanks,
Andy

 

[Mike Easter]

I want to add a second hard drive to an older system.

Can I mount it externally if I can find a cable extension?
(It's too cramped inside the HP Pavillion.)

Which HP Pavilion?

 

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

I want to add a second hard drive to an older system.

Can I mount it externally if I can find a cable extension?
(It's too cramped inside the HP Pavillion.)

Thanks,
Andy

The short answer is yes.

I've done this many times, on a temporary basis as when swapping one
hard drive for a larger one (ie cloning the small drive information
onto a large drive). You don't even need a case for the "external"
drive for this, but for long time use, it might be better to get a
case to protect the drive.

BUT.... look more carefully inside that HP case. There are usually a
lot of places you can put a drive. I've even run with one "velcroed"
to the door that you remove to access the case. Another place to put a
drive is in the floppy drive slot. Many cases still have such a slot
even though floppies are almost extinct. Or maybe there is a slot for
a second optical drive.... sometimes the extra slot is taken up by a
set of USB & I/O ports in HP cases, but the "back" side of that slot
may still have room for your extra drive.

 

[Paul]

I want to add a second hard drive to an older system.

Can I mount it externally if I can find a cable extension?
(It's too cramped inside the HP Pavillion.)

Thanks,
Andy

I leave the side off my PC, and connect stuff to it all the time.
That includes leaving a raw drive (either IDE or SATA) on the table
next to the PC. It's how I do backups. No wasted money on ESATA
cards, drive enclosures, that sort of thing. I hate having to bolt
slides and U-brackets to drives (for internal installation), and
it's a lot easier to just rest the drive on the table. (You can use
HDTune and SMART, to keep track of whether the drive is getting
too hot.)

I also have a 5.25" USB2 enclosure, and I keep a DVD writer in there.
That's for sharing with the PCs that don't have their own DVD capability.
I have more CD drives in the house, than DVD ones. So you can also
use enclosures as a way to add stuff to a PC. Yet another way to do
that, is with Firewire 400 or Firewire 800. I actually have a couple
enclosures of the 400 variety around here too, but they don't get
used that much. One advantage of Firewire, is the ability to daisy
chain, but due to the chip design in the enclosure, the second drive
in the chain doesn't get as good a transfer bandwidth as the first.
The Firewire 400 is fast enough for backups, but not good for much
else (I don't think the PC will boot from it, so it's not an OS drive).
I still don't have any Firewire 800 gear, no adapter cables
for that or the like. USB2 or USB3 are probably cheaper standards
to use, than Firewire, due to the volumes of USB gear.

Running cables outside the PC, in theory, could spread RF emissions
and upset TV or radio gear. But I haven't seen any signs of that
for eons. Years ago, I brought home an experimental computer from
work, and it emitted so much RF, I couldn't watch TV while it was
powered. (I had to take it back to work, it was *that* nasty.)
Eventually, we managed to design gear that met FCC requirements
To give you some idea how long ago that was, it had 8" floppy drives.

Paul

 

[Flasherly]

I want to add a second hard drive to an older system.

Can I mount it externally if I can find a cable extension?
(It's too cramped inside the HP Pavillion.)

Thanks,
Andy

This afternoon I saw a still active link at Fat Wallet dotcom to a USB
3.5 docking station. Has its power supply and besides the ESATA
connect. About $25 shipped -- low profile around the drive, and it
has about 15 good reviews for cooling. (Or wait for a better deal on
a combo PCI USB3 card and USB3 dock). Generally the "preferred" way
for swapping around those stacks of $50-75 1-1.5T drives laying
around. The "hang-by-wire" route, the looks, would get on my nerves
eventually.

 

[Mint]

Which HP Pavilion?

I could not find the model.

It's fairly old.
It originally came with Windows ME.

Property Value
Manufacturer Asus
Model A7V-VM
Version 1.02

North Bridge VIA KT133A Revision 03
South Bridge VIA VT82C686 Revision 03

CPU AMD Athlon(tm) Processor
Cpu Socket Socket A (462)

 

[Mint]

The short answer is yes.

I've done this many times, on a temporary basis as when swapping one
hard drive for a larger one (ie cloning the small drive information
onto a large drive). You don't even need a case for the "external"
drive for this, but for long time use, it might be better to get a
case to protect the drive.

BUT.... look more carefully inside that HP case. There are usually a
lot of places you can put a drive. I've even run with one "velcroed"
to the door that you remove to access the case. Another place to put a
drive is in the floppy drive slot. Many cases still have such a slot
even though floppies are almost extinct. Or maybe there is a slot for
a second optical drive.... sometimes the extra slot is taken up by a
set of USB & I/O ports in HP cases, but the "back" side of that slot
may still have room for your extra drive.

HP really jammed stuff in this model.

I had to mount an external fan on top of the primary drive.



Andy

 

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

On Sun, 20 Feb 2011 05:40:51 -0800 (PST), Mint

HP really jammed stuff in this model.

I had to mount an external fan on top of the primary drive.



Andy

Hmmmm. I cannot imagine why anyone would want to mount a fan on top of
a hard drive. If your drive is running too hot, get a better drive.
My present main computer has 5 internal hard drives, ranging from 400
GB to 1 TB, and two optical drives, and none are running hot.

 

[Mike Easter]

Mike Easter

I could not find the model.

It's fairly old.
It originally came with Windows ME.

Property Value
Manufacturer Asus
Model A7V-VM
Version 1.02

North Bridge VIA KT133A Revision 03
South Bridge VIA VT82C686 Revision 03

CPU AMD Athlon(tm) Processor
Cpu Socket Socket A (462)

I was actually more interested in the model number to determine the
case. Current Pavilions come in slim and full sized desktops.

The numerous different Pavilions which came with the Asus A7V-VM mobo
were various 7800 series and 500 series which had an empty 3.5" hdd bay
for your 2nd hdd and a removable drive cage to facilitate installation.
Some also had an empty 5.25 external.

 

[Jon Danniken]

Hmmmm. I cannot imagine why anyone would want to mount a fan on top of
a hard drive. If your drive is running too hot, get a better drive.
My present main computer has 5 internal hard drives, ranging from 400
GB to 1 TB, and two optical drives, and none are running hot.

I've been running a fan in front of my HDDs for the better part of a decade
now. Wouldn't dream of doing it otherwise.

Jon

 

[GMAN]

I've been running a fan in front of my HDDs for the better part of a decade
now. Wouldn't dream of doing it otherwise.

Amen Brotha!!!!

heat kills

 

[John Doe]

Hmmmm. I cannot imagine why anyone would want to mount a fan on
top of a hard drive.

Probably because you are clueless about the subject.

If your drive is running too hot, get a better drive.

You have no idea what "too hot" is.

Some modern cases, like mine, put an intake fan directly in front
of the hard drive rack.
--

 

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

Amen Brotha!!!!

heat kills

Sure, heat does kill drives. But it takes quite a lot to really harm a
drive, and if your case has a decent design with a decent fan, you
should get plenty of cooling.

An example of what a drive will take: I have two Seagate Freeagent Pro
drives, one 1 TB and one 750 GB, connected to two DirecTV HD-DVRs. Now
the drives run 24 hours a day 365 days a year, each continuously
recording 2 separate channels.... additionally when I'm actually
"watching" TV, at least one of those drives is also reading the data
from the disk and sending it to the TV. these drives are totally
enclosed in a plastic case, just a bit larger than the actual drive.
with no fan and no noticable ventillation holes. Both have run this
way for over 2 years.

 

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

Probably because you are clueless about the subject.


You have no idea what "too hot" is.

Actually, I do. My drive temperatures never exceed 40 deg C. I can
send you the report if you want to see it. It also shows how long the
drives have been "on" and their expected remaining life.

Some modern cases, like mine, put an intake fan directly in front
of the hard drive rack.

Yeah, and some case designers don't care how much noise their fans
make, either. I use an Antec Sonata (one case fan plus the PS fan),
but there are many quiet systems that don't overheat the components.

I say use that fan in front of your drives if you need it.... but I
really doubt if you do need it.

 

[FatterDumber& Happier Moe]

I want to add a second hard drive to an older system.

Can I mount it externally if I can find a cable extension?
(It's too cramped inside the HP Pavillion.)

Thanks,
Andy

Sure ya can. Remember the PC had to be secured enough originally to
be shipped and we know how those boxes get treated when being shipped
around the country. I've got a couple of PC's with the hard drives
laying in the bottom. Like others I leave the side off and use a quiet
fan to cool the processor and a quiet power supply. I hate a computer
that sounds like a mini vacuum cleaner. If you happen to use an AM
radio tuned to a distant station near the computer you will probably get
some noise on the radio other wise use some common sense and you should
be just fine. Make sure the printed circuit board on the hard drive
isn't in contact with any metal.... go for it. You can also visit some
2nd hand stores and find an old mid tower case and move the stuff into
it. Some of those old computers were like a Chinese puzzle trying to
figure out how to open them and get to the various drives.

 

[Mint]

I've been running a fan in front of my HDDs for the better part of a decade
now.  Wouldn't dream of doing it otherwise.

Jon

You are like me, why waste something ?

With my setup, my H.D. temp is currently 25 degrees C, way cooler than
the 41 degrees that I typically
see.

 

[Mint]

I was actually more interested in the model number to determine the
case. Current Pavilions come in slim and full sized desktops.

The numerous different Pavilions which came with the Asus A7V-VM mobo
were various 7800 series and 500 series which had an empty 3.5" hdd bay
for your 2nd hdd and a removable drive cage to facilitate installation.
Some also had an empty 5.25 external.

It has the empty hard drive bay, but you have to swivel out the power
supply to
install any hardware.

I don't think much was spent on the "hardware engineering" for that
model.

Someone else suggested buying a 2nd hand case that is larger.

Dell's older case (10 yrs.) for the Optiplex are way bigger than most
I have seen now a days.

Andy

 

[Mike Easter]

It has the empty hard drive bay, but you have to swivel out the power
supply to install any hardware.

I don't think much was spent on the "hardware engineering" for that
model.

Dell has a tool to show you how to find and use your service tag to
determine your model and system information
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_systems_info/en/details?servicetag=
or http://dell.to/gepq2k View the system information for a particular
service tag. - What is a Service Tag? | Find My Service Tag

.... in case you needed it for future reference or information.