two HD's one PC

giluser · 04-14-2007, 02:47 PM

Hello!
A couple of quick questions. First, I want to install two hard drives on one pc. One as a master and one as a slave. Now my question is, do they both need to have the same OS, or can they have two different OS's. The other question is, can they both run off the same power supply connector using a spitter, or do I have to use two sperate connectors. Thanks for your help.

ceri sheeran · 04-14-2007, 02:56 PM

Hi,

Only one hard drive needs an Operating System.

Your PSU should be able to handle two hard drives, unless it is a low spec. and low powered unit.

What WATTAGE is the PSU. If it is 400 to 500 W or greater it should not be a problem. Do you have a high specification graphics card which needs a separate power supply as well.

hth

Ceri

**mattlock** · 04-14-2007, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by giluser

Hello!
A couple of quick questions. First, I want to install two hard drives on one pc. One as a master and one as a slave. Now my question is, do they both need to have the same OS, or can they have two different OS's. The other question is, can they both run off the same power supply connector using a spitter, or do I have to use two sperate connectors. Thanks for your help.

If only running one OS it is only installed to the master drive. You can however install a different OS on each drive. If your motherboard doesn't have an "Easy Boot" option to allow you to choose you boot device from a list, then you would need a boot manager, to choose which OS you want to boot with.

giluser · 04-15-2007, 02:24 PM

Hello again,
Now I know you mentioned that only one drive needs to have an OS, so does the second drive need to be formatted at all or how do I go about using it as a slave drive. By the way, my psu has a max output of 150watts

Thanks for any help that you can provide me with

**Doby** · 04-15-2007, 08:47 PM

Your second drive does have to be formatted if it is new.If the drive was used on another computer it would have already been formatted and in most cases should be able to be read.

Are these drives sata or ide?

04-14-2007, 02:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
giluser Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 68 OS: xp	two HD's one PC Hello! A couple of quick questions. First, I want to install two hard drives on one pc. One as a master and one as a slave. Now my question is, do they both need to have the same OS, or can they have two different OS's. The other question is, can they both run off the same power supply connector using a spitter, or do I have to use two sperate connectors. Thanks for your help.

04-14-2007, 02:56 PM	#2 (permalink)
ceri sheeran Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 285 OS: WINXP	Re: two HD's one PC Hi, Only one hard drive needs an Operating System. Your PSU should be able to handle two hard drives, unless it is a low spec. and low powered unit. What WATTAGE is the PSU. If it is 400 to 500 W or greater it should not be a problem. Do you have a high specification graphics card which needs a separate power supply as well. hth Ceri

04-15-2007, 02:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
giluser Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 68 OS: xp	Re: two HD's one PC Hello again, Now I know you mentioned that only one drive needs to have an OS, so does the second drive need to be formatted at all or how do I go about using it as a slave drive. By the way, my psu has a max output of 150watts Thanks for any help that you can provide me with Last edited by giluser; 04-15-2007 at 02:26 PM.

04-15-2007, 08:47 PM	#5 (permalink)
Doby Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Central PA (USA) Posts: 8,059 OS: XP sp2/ Vista My System	Re: two HD's one PC Your second drive does have to be formatted if it is new.If the drive was used on another computer it would have already been formatted and in most cases should be able to be read. Are these drives sata or ide? __________________ Would you like to help TSF fight cancer and other diseases??? JOIN TEAM TSF