3 HDDs without Raid

[rc1299]

I need help. About 6 mos. ago, I bought a rebuilt system (Gigabyte GA-K8VM800M, AMD Sempron 3100+ i gig DDR333Mz PC2700, onboard Raid. The system had 2 Maxtor ATA/133 HDDs. I had a Samsung SV6004H Spinpoint Ultra ATA/100 HDD from my old system that was still good, and had data that I didn't want to lose, so I asked the tech I bought the "new" system from if there was a way to add the Samsung to this system. Apparently, raid wasn't an option, because of the different ATA. The Maxtors are ATA/133, 7200rpm, and the Samsung is ATA/100, 5200rpm. Anyway..............the tech installed a Promise Ultra66 PCI IDE controller for the Samsung. I wanted to use 1 of the Maxtors as the main drive, the other maxtor as an emergency backup(Maxtor has a utility to copy 1 drive to the other), and I wanted to use the Samsung for pictures, videos,etc. I didn't know jack squat about computers at this point.
I have had nothing but problems with this system; 1 crash after another. I have reinstalled the OS(XP Home SP2) several times. The last time the system crashed, it rebooted to no hard drives and the message; Disk Boot Failure. Through a long process of elimination, I ended up removing one of the ram modules, as the computer booted to disk boot failure whenever I had a module in 1 of the DIMM sockets. So it appears as though the DIMM socket is bad. The tech tells me that if the socket is bad, the motherboard is on it's way to the boneyard. So now I'm looking at a new mobo. I've done hrs. of research, and I found that the Samsung is Ultra ATA/100, so I don't understand why he installed the Ultra66 controller, as apparently, it reduces the ATA/100 to ATA/66.
I am now wondering whether or not it is a good idea to have the 3rd hdd in the system. I am pretty confused about all of this. I don't have money to burn, and if I'm going to put a new mobo in, I want to make d... sure that everything is set up to optimum.
Any advice?
Thanks

 

[iss]

and I found that the Samsung is Ultra ATA/100, so I don't understand why he installed the Ultra66 controller,

Becuase he had it in stock and becuase you didint know enough about computers to ask what he was installing and why. so you have learned a valuable lesson about dealing wiht computer shops.

I have never been to impressed with PCI IDE cards, many seem to cause more problems than they are worth. if your new board has sata you could run your OS and backup drive on the sata ports ( you would have to buy sata hard drives.)and that would leave you 4 IDE ports for other hard drives and optical drives. if you dont have the money or inclination for sata drives then just use your two maxtors on the boards IDE ports and take the samsung and put it in a USB 2.0 enclosure and run it that way as a back up drive.

 

[rc1299]

Figures

Thanks iss; I had a sneaking suspiscion that was the case. I've never heard of the USB 2.0 enclosure. Can I get info on that at any computer store? I like that idea much better, as I was never able to do what I wanted with that 3rd drive; I could put stuff on it, but couldn't seem to run anything from it.

Thanks
Rick

 

[iss]

most decent computer stores carry USB 2.0 enclosures. but they generally want about twice what you can get one online for. if you are in the US you can find them online at newegg.

And welcome to Techpot!

 

[rc1299]

Thank you

Thank you for your help, and for the welcome.

 

[Phantasm66]

The best thing to do is learn as much as possible about all of this. It will help you fix problems and will prevent you from getting taken advantage of because you will be able to do all of this work for yourself.