Changes to year old computer

[MinGraphics]

Hi Guys,
My computer is a year old, it along with one other computer has been infected by a virus, my computer has up to date protection but we all know that new stuff comes out everyday, it sucks. Anyway Both computers freeze up after running for 5 minuets. One has been reformatted and is fine, but I want to take this opportunity to make some changes in mine. This is what I have

Antec 900
Intel core 2 duo e8400 Wolfdale
Asus P5KC
EVGA GeForce 8800GT 512mb
Corsair 520HX psu
Corsair XMS2 2GB 2x1GB DDR2 RAM
WD 320GB SATA HD
Samsung 226BW 22" widescreen
Vista 32bit home prem

I have another 320GB hard drive I want to put in and I also have 2 more sticks of the Corsair XMS2 2GB 2x1GB DDR2 RAM to install...I have vista 64 bit that I will be installing not the old 32bit.

My questions are, how would I install a second hard drive, just plug it into the SATA cable the comes off the cable that is attached to the one that already in the computer? And when I install vista 64 I would still install it to the C drive, the one already there?

Another question I have is, if I use the second drive to store all my pictures and the computer ever gets hit with another virus would I have to reformat hard drive number 2 with the pictures or just the main hard drive. I am looking for a work around to having to reinstall and re tag 8,000 + pictures, it took me a week the first time. :mad: As alway thank you for helping me.

[The Wise Monkey]

I assume you are talking about the SATA power cable (the larger flat rectangle) as opposed to the SATA data cable (the small one with an L-shape). The power cable can be plugged into another device, but you will need another data cable to go from the drive to the motherboard; it doesn't matter which slot you plug it into on the motherboard.

When you install Vista, it will check for existing installations, so you can just reformat the drive that has the existing OS on and know that it is the right one.

Viruses tend to only go after core operating system files, so the other drive will probably be safe.

May I suggest that you look into an alternate anti-virus solution though, as your current one obviously isn't up to the task. :(

[MinGraphics]

Thanks Wise, I have all the left over cables. Glad to know that my thinking that virus go for the core system files was right. Now I will feel better knowing that I won't have to fix my pictures again :D Do you have any recommendations about a good virus program.

[The Wise Monkey]

Kaspersky is pretty good, as is Bitdefender. Norton has also improved a lot these days in terms of resource usage, so that is definitely an option.

[MinGraphics]

I tried to put bitdfender on my computer and it would not work, I even had tech support on the phone and the poor guy could not make it work. He finely said he would give me back my money because he could not help me. I wonder if it would work with a fresh system.

[The Wise Monkey]

Wow... that's very strange. :/

I've never had any issues with it before, so I'm sorry that it didn't work for you. Were you trying to install it on the infected PC?

[MinGraphics]

I put hard drive number 2 in and the 2 new sticks of ram and I know the computer can see them, but it wont start, it keeps going back to the screen that gives me 3 start up options. I tried to get it to boot from the vista CD and I got a blue screen of death. Does it make a difference that the new hard drive is in SATA slot number 4 and nothing is in 3. The book that come with the mother board said to connect hard drive 2 with a black wire and I have no idea what its talking about. I used the other red one just like the one in HD 1. Not sure if that is doing it or should I remove the ram until after I install vista 64bit.

[The Wise Monkey]

Try one thing at a time - only make very small changes to try and isolate the problem.

Take all the RAM out and disconnect the new hard drive, and put one stick of the new RAM in and see if the PC will boot. If it does, replace it with the other new stick. This will rule out potential any issues with the RAM.

If your PC boots OK with the two sticks separately, try putting them both in together and see what happens. If this is all good, then try booting the PC with just the new hard drive in and the original sticks of RAM i.e. disconnect your old hard drive (you don't have to remove it from the case, just unplug the power and data cables).

How far did you get into the Vista setup before getting a BSOD?

[MinGraphics]

A line across the buttom of the screen said loading windows and after it went across the whole screen it would go back to the screen that had the 3 start options. So it never loaded at all

I will do as you said but I can't do it right now, I just pulled my back out and will have to wait for someone to come home that can lift the computer for me.

[The Wise Monkey]

Ooh, that sucks. Get well soon. :)

(that applies to your PC as well!)

[MinGraphics]

OK tried all sticks of mem and 1 of the new ones is bad, so I left it out. When I tried to start the computer with the new HD in, it tried to boot from the new one and could not start. I then decided to unplug the new HD and just try to get the new vista 64 bit installed on the old HD.

How do I get the computer to start from the CD so that the HD will be reformatted.

I got vista to load it was just so different, and I was not seeing an option to reformat but I found it.
Loading drivers now and when that is done I will hook up HD 2 and see what happens.

[The Wise Monkey]

If you go into the BIOS, there should be a section which controls boot options including the boot order. Move the CD/DVD drive to the top of the list, then save and exit the BIOS.

Make sure the CD is in the drive, and it should say "press any key to boot from CD/DVD". Press a key, and you will enter the Vista setup.

[MinGraphics]

Done, it is installing updates. I still have to hook up the new HD. When I tried earlier the computer was trying to boot from the new HD and not the old one with windows on it. The user guide was not very clear about what wire to use or what slot on the MB. The manual said the wire should be black, I only have red wires. when I try red wire I assume one end should be in SATA 3 on MB, and not SATA 4 but not sure.

[The Wise Monkey]

In the BIOS boot order, there might be an option to set the priority of hard drives, so you can boot from the one you want.

[MinGraphics]

HD number 2 installed and computer started fine, when I go into disk management it says the disk is unallocated. When I open my computer the drive does not show up. What do I need to do now?

[The Wise Monkey]

The new hard drive won't be formatted by default, so you need to do that now.

Open up the disk management tool, right click on the new hard drive and choose to create a new partition on it. Format it as NTFS (default iirc) and you should be all set.

[MinGraphics]

Thanks you so much, the new HD is up and running! It's wonderful to have a place to ask questions and get such quick answers. Thank you Wise Monkey!

[The Wise Monkey]

No problem - glad you got it sorted. :)