Laptop 2.5 hdd on pc

tomandjerry · 05-14-2008, 04:55 PM

Hello everyone,

I need abit of help, what i want to do is replace my PC 3.5 IDE hard drive with 2.5 Laptop Hdd.

I bought 2.5 40pin to IDE connector so i can hook it up to my pc

http://ubuntuguru.files.wordpress.co.../hxidek1_s.jpg

I have two IDE cables on my pc, one connecting to 3.5 Hard drive which is primary master and the other to dvdwriter which is secondary master.

I removed the original hdd and connected the laptop hdd to converter and converter to the ide cable.

The drive was detected in bios so i popped in the xp cd to install windows on it. I got to the partitioning screen and i could see the drive appear on there with unpartitioned space, so i pressed "c" to create partition and use all of the space and pressed enter. At this point it goes back to the parition screen and everything is same as it was, no partition was created.

Can you please help on what i am doing wrong? i assumed i did not have to mess about with jumpers as i am going to use it as the main drive on primary ide.

Is it not possible to use 2.5 hdd only on a pc?

johnhook · 05-14-2008, 10:39 PM

tomandjerry,

The link to the converter in your post does not work. What you're trying to do should work - provided the 2.5" hard drive is configured/cabled properly and your PC sees the drive upon power-on. Go into your PC's BIOS setup and make sure the 2.5" drive is recognized.

What OS are you attempting to install? Was there some other OS already installed on that 2.5" drive? If so, you might need to first remove that old partition before attempting to install a new OS.

Check out:

http://insidecomputer.stores.yahoo.n...tode3hadr.html

What is the make/model of the PC/motherboard your attempting to install that 2.5" drive on? What is the make/model of the 2.5" drive? What OS are you attempting to install? What, if any, OS was installed on that 2.5" drive prior to this?

- John

tomandjerry · 05-15-2008, 12:15 PM

The laptop Hdd is: 2.5" HDD, 20GB, Fujitsu, MHR2020AT

http://tinyurl.com/6b4kp6

My pc is: Epox ex5-320n

http://www.epox.com/usa/product.asp?id=EP-EX5320N

The 2.5 hdd is detected in bios, there was windows xp on the 2.5 hdd before and i am trying to install same win xp pro on it.

The link you gave for the converter is the exact one i bought from ebay.

I connected my original hdd back and this time i put the 2.5 on the dvd drive ide and then i right clicked my computer -> manage - > disk utilities and i formatted the drive in there.

I then reconnected the dvd drive and connected the 2.5 hdd by replacing the original hdd on primary ide but the same thing happens. I cannot partition it.

johnhook · 05-15-2008, 12:57 PM

tomandjerry,

First, if you're going to install XP on that 2.5" HD, you need to connect it on the Primary IDE controller as the MASTER or DRIVE 0. You shouldn't connect it elsewhere and format it under Windows. You can connect it to a running Windows installation and use Disk Manager to remove the partition - but don't partition or format it. The XP Setup will establish a primary active partition and format it with NTFS when it's installed as the Primary Master.

You might have an IDE cabling or setting problem if you can't get to that drive when you connect the DVD drive. If you have a Cable Select cable - you need to configure both drives on that IDE channel as CS (jumper setting). If you have a standard IDE cable (need to use an 80-pin EIDE cable), you need to configure the hard drive as MASTER or Master w/slave and the DVD/CD drive as SLAVE. You could also connect the CD/DVD drive to the SECONDARY IDE channel as a MASTER (if no other drives are on that channel).

Once you wired up those drives as I mentioned above, power-reset your PC - go into BIOS setup and make sure the BIOS has auto-detected all of the drives. Disable any drives that are no longer connected. Also, be sure to set the Boot Order so that the system boots from the CD/DVD drive first (if you're installing XP), then the 2.5" IDE hard drive Second.

Hope this helps.

- John

tomandjerry · 05-15-2008, 04:36 PM

2.5 HD is on the primary IDE controller and it is master / drive 0. It is detected in bios and there is no other hard drive connected. The only other thing connected is the dvd drive which is on secondary ide but the xp setup does not create partition or format it.

So in brief, i have the 2.5 HD connected on primary and the dvd drive on the secondary and it shows up fine in bios but for some strange reason the p setup does not create partition. I press "c" on the partition screen and it asks how much space i want to allocate, i select whatever it shows on there which is the max available space and it goes back to previous screen and there is no change.

The reason why i connected the original hdd back and then connected the 2.5 HD on the secondary was to try and format it under windows, check if the 2.5 HD works properly. But it does not matter what i do the xp setup is unable to create partition on it.

johnhook · 05-19-2008, 05:46 PM

tomandjerry,

It's possible that your 2.5" HDD has bad sectors such that Windows cannot write a partition table to the drive. I've also seen write-protect jumpers on some drives that inhibit writing to the device. Also, try removing ALL the master/slave/CS related jumpers on your 2.5" HDD and see if this works (only documented jumpers - NOT jumpers on the circuit board unrelated to the drive's address settings).

Go to http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/COM...rod-manual.pdf and see detailed specs for your 2.5" drive.

- John

05-14-2008, 04:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
tomandjerry Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP Pro SP2	Laptop 2.5 hdd on pc Hello everyone, I need abit of help, what i want to do is replace my PC 3.5 IDE hard drive with 2.5 Laptop Hdd. I bought 2.5 40pin to IDE connector so i can hook it up to my pc http://ubuntuguru.files.wordpress.co.../hxidek1_s.jpg I have two IDE cables on my pc, one connecting to 3.5 Hard drive which is primary master and the other to dvdwriter which is secondary master. I removed the original hdd and connected the laptop hdd to converter and converter to the ide cable. The drive was detected in bios so i popped in the xp cd to install windows on it. I got to the partitioning screen and i could see the drive appear on there with unpartitioned space, so i pressed "c" to create partition and use all of the space and pressed enter. At this point it goes back to the parition screen and everything is same as it was, no partition was created. Can you please help on what i am doing wrong? i assumed i did not have to mess about with jumpers as i am going to use it as the main drive on primary ide. Is it not possible to use 2.5 hdd only on a pc? Last edited by tomandjerry : 05-14-2008 at 04:56 PM.

05-14-2008, 10:39 PM	#2 (permalink)
johnhook Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 810 OS: MS SBS 2003 SP2	Re: Laptop 2.5 hdd on pc tomandjerry, The link to the converter in your post does not work. What you're trying to do should work - provided the 2.5" hard drive is configured/cabled properly and your PC sees the drive upon power-on. Go into your PC's BIOS setup and make sure the 2.5" drive is recognized. What OS are you attempting to install? Was there some other OS already installed on that 2.5" drive? If so, you might need to first remove that old partition before attempting to install a new OS. Check out: http://insidecomputer.stores.yahoo.n...tode3hadr.html What is the make/model of the PC/motherboard your attempting to install that 2.5" drive on? What is the make/model of the 2.5" drive? What OS are you attempting to install? What, if any, OS was installed on that 2.5" drive prior to this? - John __________________

05-15-2008, 12:15 PM	#3 (permalink)
tomandjerry Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP Pro SP2	Re: Laptop 2.5 hdd on pc The laptop Hdd is: 2.5" HDD, 20GB, Fujitsu, MHR2020AT http://tinyurl.com/6b4kp6 My pc is: Epox ex5-320n http://www.epox.com/usa/product.asp?id=EP-EX5320N The 2.5 hdd is detected in bios, there was windows xp on the 2.5 hdd before and i am trying to install same win xp pro on it. The link you gave for the converter is the exact one i bought from ebay. I connected my original hdd back and this time i put the 2.5 on the dvd drive ide and then i right clicked my computer -> manage - > disk utilities and i formatted the drive in there. I then reconnected the dvd drive and connected the 2.5 hdd by replacing the original hdd on primary ide but the same thing happens. I cannot partition it.

05-15-2008, 12:57 PM	#4 (permalink)
johnhook Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 810 OS: MS SBS 2003 SP2	Re: Laptop 2.5 hdd on pc tomandjerry, First, if you're going to install XP on that 2.5" HD, you need to connect it on the Primary IDE controller as the MASTER or DRIVE 0. You shouldn't connect it elsewhere and format it under Windows. You can connect it to a running Windows installation and use Disk Manager to remove the partition - but don't partition or format it. The XP Setup will establish a primary active partition and format it with NTFS when it's installed as the Primary Master. You might have an IDE cabling or setting problem if you can't get to that drive when you connect the DVD drive. If you have a Cable Select cable - you need to configure both drives on that IDE channel as CS (jumper setting). If you have a standard IDE cable (need to use an 80-pin EIDE cable), you need to configure the hard drive as MASTER or Master w/slave and the DVD/CD drive as SLAVE. You could also connect the CD/DVD drive to the SECONDARY IDE channel as a MASTER (if no other drives are on that channel). Once you wired up those drives as I mentioned above, power-reset your PC - go into BIOS setup and make sure the BIOS has auto-detected all of the drives. Disable any drives that are no longer connected. Also, be sure to set the Boot Order so that the system boots from the CD/DVD drive first (if you're installing XP), then the 2.5" IDE hard drive Second. Hope this helps. - John __________________

05-15-2008, 04:36 PM	#5 (permalink)
tomandjerry Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP Pro SP2	Re: Laptop 2.5 hdd on pc 2.5 HD is on the primary IDE controller and it is master / drive 0. It is detected in bios and there is no other hard drive connected. The only other thing connected is the dvd drive which is on secondary ide but the xp setup does not create partition or format it. So in brief, i have the 2.5 HD connected on primary and the dvd drive on the secondary and it shows up fine in bios but for some strange reason the p setup does not create partition. I press "c" on the partition screen and it asks how much space i want to allocate, i select whatever it shows on there which is the max available space and it goes back to previous screen and there is no change. The reason why i connected the original hdd back and then connected the 2.5 HD on the secondary was to try and format it under windows, check if the 2.5 HD works properly. But it does not matter what i do the xp setup is unable to create partition on it.

05-19-2008, 05:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
johnhook Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 810 OS: MS SBS 2003 SP2	Re: Laptop 2.5 hdd on pc tomandjerry, It's possible that your 2.5" HDD has bad sectors such that Windows cannot write a partition table to the drive. I've also seen write-protect jumpers on some drives that inhibit writing to the device. Also, try removing ALL the master/slave/CS related jumpers on your 2.5" HDD and see if this works (only documented jumpers - NOT jumpers on the circuit board unrelated to the drive's address settings). Go to http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/COM...rod-manual.pdf and see detailed specs for your 2.5" drive. - John __________________