Second HDD

[Paul]

I have just ordered an OEM hard drive off the internet, its 60GB, I want to
use this drive to put Linux on to it, to see what the OS is like, if I dont
like I will use this as a slave drive with XP.

When I get it out of the box, connect the cables (do I need this as slave or
master because im having Linux OS on it?), then power the pc with XP. What
do I need to do next??

Will XP automatically detect this and format it for me?? or do I need to do
something else?? When I got my first drive I used FDISK to format it and put
XP on.

Your help will be much appreciated.

Thanks

Paul

 

[OneMouseTooMany]

Master/Slave is pretty much irrelevant in this case, I think, except
maybe for which boot sector is checked first...
When you install Linux, it'll install what it calls the "Boot loader".

This will allow you to select on each boot whether, at the time being,
you feel like running Windows or Linux.

Hard drives, I believe, come pre-formatted, but Linux will probably
format it anyway (a quick format unless you tell it to do otherwise).

And Linux can be (or HAS to be?) installed directly from the CD, no need
to go to XP first.

 

[Paul]

Thanks for that Mouse, XP will be the system I use most, im just putting
Linux on just for experimental purposes, see what its like, you never know,
I might like it. I would like the option to use XP or Linux when switching
my pc on, so should I have the 2nd HDD slave or master?

I do have the CD's already to install Linux so I do know about the CD boot
thing!

 

[OneMouseTooMany]

I know, I've been there myself

Like I said, it shouldn't matter.
Depending on your BIOS, though, you may have to actually change the boot
sequence each time you want to boot into a different OS.
(Mine has a nifty little menu I can call up for temporary changes =D)

Besides, as long as you install Linux at the right place (i.e. where you
want it to be, and you don't accidentally overwrite XP), there isn't
much that can go wrong.

And even if you can't boot into another OS, we can (or I can =P) help
you out here.

 

[Paul]

Ok, so in brief:

I install the HDD, then put the CD for Linux into my CD-ROM drive, reboot
pc, it will ask me what HDD I want to install Linux on. Then I just choose
the second HDD. Is that right?

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have just ordered an OEM hard drive off the internet, its 60GB, I wantto
use this drive to put Linux on to it, to see what the OS is like, if I dont
like I will use this as a slave drive with XP.

When I get it out of the box, connect the cables (do I need this as slave or
master because im having Linux OS on it?), then power the pc with XP. What
do I need to do next??

Will XP automatically detect this and format it for me?? or do I need to do
something else?? When I got my first drive I used FDISK to format it andput
XP on.

If it goes on the same cable as the present hard drive, you need to set
it as a Slave (take the jumper out). If as an additional drive on the
second cable make it the Master (and any CD or the like that you may
have there change to Slave. This is a hardware matter - not a system
one.

If you are going to put Linux on it, I would install that and ignore the
drive for the moment in XP. It will then be formatted as part of he
Linux install to use the Linux ext2 file system.

If later you tire of Linux and want to use it in XP (or if you want to
use it there initially) then in XP, go to Control Panel - Admin Tools -
Computer Management, select Disk Management and look lower right for the
graphic of the drive. R-click in any existing Linux partition, and
Delete. Then r-click in Unallocated space and Create Partition, which
will continue into Format

 

[OneMouseTooMany]

That sounds correct.
If you run into any problems, just come back here and ask. Or rant, lol.

 

[Kamal]

Yes that is correct.

Ok, so in brief:

I install the HDD, then put the CD for Linux into my CD-ROM drive, reboot
pc, it will ask me what HDD I want to install Linux on. Then I just choose
the second HDD. Is that right?