Hi - My hard disk just died, and I've ordered a replacement for it (ATA 100, IDE, 
3.5 inch desktop) and wish to run it as before, as a single master drive. 

I've never installed a HD before, so my main questions are:  Should I leave the current 
DVD Rom player [Drive D] and CD Writer [E] drives connected when I switch on the 
new HD after connecting? Will they be configured automatically or should I disconnect 
them and reconfigure them after the HD is formatted and the OS installed?

The same question too for the pci cards attached at the moment - presumably they 
should be taken out and reinstalled after the OS [98SE] is installed? Should I be 
starting with just the bare HD?

Be gentle with me - I'm a fairly raw beginner. 
Thanks for any help -

John.

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Hardware question: installing a hard disk Tuesday, January 3, 2006 at 5:42 am Posted by Kiwi (2228 messages posted) For the purely mechanical aspects, if you bought a brand name drive in the "Retail" package, it comes with a CD of useful programs, a users' manual, and a Quickstart folder to show you the basics. Follow the steps outlined and you can hardly go wrong. For a so-called "OEM" drive, then you need to download a copy of the manual, but it's still available. There are dozens of step by step guides duplicating the manuals in other folks' phraseology that can be found on the 'net. Tuesday, January 3, 2006 at 3:39 am, John wrote: >Hi - > >I've never installed a HD before, so my main questions are: Should I leave the >VDVD Rom player [Drive D] and CD Writer [E] drives connected when I >switch on the new HD after connecting? Will they be configured automatically >or should I disconnect them and reconfigure them after the HD is formatted and the OS installed? > Both of those should be connected to the Secondary IDE already, and can be left as is for the OS' install. >The same question too for the pci cards attached at the moment - presumably >they should be taken out and reinstalled after the OS [98SE] is installed? Depending on the cards involved, sometimes it does make getting things going again easier if the Modem, NIC, and Sound Card are added one at a time. Fairly often, it isn't necessary. If the modem isn't a real one, the WinModem devices are very problematic during a reinstall and definitely should be set aside at first. >Should I be starting with just the bare HD? > >Be gentle with me - I'm a fairly raw beginner. You have to have a CD to perform the OS install, quite certainly, and ATAPI devices are generally very standard for the BIOS and the OS to recognize. . Kiwi ** [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Hardware question: installing a hard disk Wednesday, January 4, 2006 at 4:09 am Posted by Avi (3 messages posted) Hi, the cdrom and/or dvd drives are needed for OS installation and are easily detected if you choose "cdrom support" at the beginning of the installation so the best is to leave them untouched. Normally, you can even leave the other cards in their places but taking them out may serve as a good precaution when it comes to Win98. On Tuesday, January 3, 2006 at 5:42 am, Kiwi wrote: >For the purely mechanical aspects, if you bought a brand name drive in the "Retail" >package, it comes with a CD of useful programs, a users' manual, and a Quickstart >folder to show you the basics. Follow the steps outlined and you can hardly go wrong. > For a so-called "OEM" drive, then you need to download a copy of the manual, but >it's still available. > >There are dozens of step by step guides duplicating the manuals in other folks' phraseology >that can be found on the 'net. > > > >Tuesday, January 3, 2006 at 3:39 am, John wrote: >>Hi - >> >>I've never installed a HD before, so my main questions are: Should I leave the >>VDVD Rom player [Drive D] and CD Writer [E] drives connected when I >>switch on the new HD after connecting? Will they be configured automatically >>or should I disconnect them and reconfigure them after the HD is formatted and the >OS installed? >> >Both of those should be connected to the Secondary IDE already, and can be left as >is for the OS' install. > >>The same question too for the pci cards attached at the moment - presumably >>they should be taken out and reinstalled after the OS [98SE] is installed? > >Depending on the cards involved, sometimes it does make getting things going again >easier if the Modem, NIC, and Sound Card are added one at a time. Fairly often, >it isn't necessary. If the modem isn't a real one, the WinModem devices are very >problematic during a reinstall and definitely should be set aside at first. > >>Should I be starting with just the bare HD? >> >>Be gentle with me - I'm a fairly raw beginner. > >You have to have a CD to perform the OS install, quite certainly, and ATAPI devices >are generally very standard for the BIOS and the OS to recognize. > [Reply or follow-up to this message] Whether you have quibbles or not, address the OM with them Wednesday, January 4, 2006 at 4:27 am Posted by Kiwi (2228 messages posted) The Original Messenger (OM) asked the question you seem to be answering. But it was all already answered. Then you came along and sent a reply to *ME*, when I don't need help with any new hard drive of mine at this point in time, and have not needed it for roughly 20 years now. . Kiwi ** On Wednesday, January 4, 2006 at 4:09 am, Avi wrote: >Hi, the cdrom and/or dvd drives are needed for OS installation and are easily detected >if you choose "cdrom support" at the beginning of the installation so the best is >to leave them untouched. Normally, you can even leave the other cards in their places >but taking them out may serve as a good precaution when it comes to Win98. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] I suppose I meant "IF you have quibbles" Wednesday, January 4, 2006 at 5:36 am Posted by Kiwi (2228 messages posted) My message's subject line was at odds with content. Ari wrote to me, which could've been to take exception to MY comments, which would've fit better as "IF you have quibbles" instead of saying whether or not he quibbled. I meant to say to address the correct party. . Kiwi ** On Wednesday, January 4, 2006 at 4:27 am, Kiwi wrote: >The Original Messenger (OM) asked the question you seem to be answering. >But it was all already answered. > >Then you came along and sent a reply to *ME*, when I don't need help >with any new hard drive of mine at this point in time, and have not needed it >for roughly 20 years now. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] Supplemental, web tutorial on installing new hard disk Friday, January 6, 2006 at 6:32 am Posted by Kiwi (2228 messages posted) http://www.cybertechhelp.com/tutorial/article/install-new-hard-drive . Kiwi ** On Tuesday, January 3, 2006 at 3:39 am, John wrote: >Hi - My hard disk just died [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Whether you have quibbles or not, address the OM with them Monday, January 16, 2006 at 6:33 am Posted by Avi (3 messages posted) My answer was to the original question. Avi On Wednesday, January 4, 2006 at 4:27 am, Kiwi wrote: >The Original Messenger (OM) asked the question you seem to be answering. But it >was all already answered. > >Then you came along and sent a reply to *ME*, when I don't need help with >any new hard drive of mine at this point in time, and have not needed it for roughly >20 years now. > > > > > . > >Kiwi > >** > [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows 98 Discussion Forum