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Dimension 4600 - The Largest Recognizable Drive?
Hi Gang
Was wondering how far I can go, (the size capacity), that will be recognized by an older 4600? I hope to use an IDE to SATA adapter and try for a 500GB system drive? This will depend upon the OEM Bios setting - anyone know what it is?
Thanx
Mike
rdunnill
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April 27th, 2012 22:00
The 4600 has SATA support, and should support any SATA hard drive, including the 4tb units now on the market.
shesagordie
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April 27th, 2012 22:00
shesagordie
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April 28th, 2012 07:00
J8G1+J8G2 on the motherboard are not the power connectors, they are the data connectors, the power connectors are part of the power supply's wiring harness.
ENIGMACODE
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April 29th, 2012 11:00
Woops! Forgot to hit the space bar to SAVE changes - kept pressing ENTER - Formatting right now thank you. Oh and BTW, with regard to installing SP1, most people think I'm crazy. Well, yes it's a little risky, but this particular machine is dedicated to an old web design software called Sausage Page Wiz. It will only work in SP1. So I stay OFFLINE as I'm designing, then perform uploads, and I'm off. I never stay connected, or browse the internet with this machine.
I'd like to thank eveyone for their help - I was given this machine for free - it's cosmetically perfect, like a new machine.
I went out and picked up some cheap additional RAM, even bought a brand new ATI 256MB AGP Video Card for $35. And this 4600 beats my older 4100's.
Hey - Anyone interested in #3 immaculate 4100's complete with all the original install software discs, keyboards and mice?
Best
Mike Fraticelli
osprey4
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April 29th, 2012 14:00
Hi Mike,
I had a 4100 a couple years ago that I couldn't even give away on Craig's list. It ended up in our local electronics recycle bin. :emotion-6: That case was so solid.
ENIGMACODE
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April 29th, 2012 17:00
All is well now - Thank You Ron
shesagordie
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April 29th, 2012 20:00
ENIGMACODE
Glad to hear the issue is resolved.
Bev.
RoHe
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April 27th, 2012 19:00
"Search" in upper right-hand corner of the forum window is your friend. :emotion-5:
Read this and this.
ENIGMACODE
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April 27th, 2012 19:00
Hi ya Ron - nice to see you :emotion-2:
Also found this post which mentions, (as I recall), I'll also need to flash the current A02 Bios FIRST - And upgrade it to A12 - Do you agree?
en.community.dell.com/.../19775660.aspx
And after this, I shouldn't have any problem using an IDE to SATA Adapter - Like this one below - correct?
en.community.dell.com/.../19775660.aspx
Thanx
Mike
ENIGMACODE
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April 27th, 2012 22:00
The 4600 does not have SATA connectors - as I mentioned above, I'll need to pick up adapter connectors.
rdunnill
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April 27th, 2012 23:00
Yep, I almost bought a 4600 mainboard on eBay for that reason (and that it had an AGP slot).
ENIGMACODE
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April 28th, 2012 01:00
Thank you shesagordie & rdunnill
They appear to supply Power for 2 SATA Drives - What about the Data Connections for 2 Sata Drives? Looks like still the old style ribbon?
Thanks for all you help - BTW - Forgot to ask, I'll need to go into the Bios and choose SATA - Correct? And I found out the Bios was upgraded to version A10.
One last question, is it possible to format/erase a drive which previously had XPSP3, and instead install XPSP1?
Thanx
Mike
ENIGMACODE
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April 28th, 2012 09:00
Hi Bev
You're always very helpful. I'll take another look at the motherboard on the 4600 and take account of what I'll need to buy at the Microcenter. Maybe I'll even bring the machine with me. I actually have 3 old 4100's, and use them from time to time. My main machine is a 8400. But I also have 3 Mac G5's which I use mainly for Video and Audio. About the 4600; I would assume it's a bit faster than these older 4100's (being only 733mhz). The 4600 is about 2.4 Pent 4 and can take up to 4 GB's Ram.
Somewhere I read that once you've installed SP3 in a particular drive, you couldn't reformat go back to SP1.
Thanx Bev
Mike
shesagordie
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April 28th, 2012 10:00
ENIGMACODE
Mike,
Once the hard drive has been formatted, all the data is deleted and it becomes a bare drive, allowing you to install a new operating system.
You can also, mount the hard drive in a working system as a secondary, or use an USB adaptor similar to THIS, then attach the hard drive to a USB port of a working computer, to format the drive.
Bev.
rdunnill
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April 28th, 2012 13:00
Actually, the data is still there after a format, and a forensics disk tool like Encase will find it. To truly delete the data (i.e. if the user were donating the hard drive) requires "wiping" the disk via overwriting each and every sector with zeros (or other data) multiple times.