Add second drive to E310

The old drive is an EIDE/IDE drive and I only have one DVD drive installed, so it looks like I just need to buy the adapter kit.  Thanks for the advice!

LuckyB

 

As it is EIDE and because the E310/3100 motherboard has only one IDE connector for two IDE devices, to install an additional IDE hard drive and there's already have two IDE devices installed and if a spare PCI slot is available, you could buy a IDE PCI controller card [cost $30-$50] that has two IDE ports.

To install an IDE hard drive, in the second hard drive 3.5" bay, you need to buy the E310 second hard drive plastic "bracket" from Dell Spare Parts @ 1-800-357-3355 option 4, M-F 7 to 7 CDT and have the system's "Service Tag" handy, or you could try browsing eBay for the plastic bracket, the Dimension 5100/E510 tray will also, fit the E310. [Part # H7283 - U6436 - G8354]

You could also, use an USB 2.0 IDE powered external enclosure, install the IDE hard drive in it and connect the drive to a USB 2.0 port.

If you have one optical drive installed, connect the second hard drive to the end connector, set the jumpers to "Master"  and the optical drive's jumpers to "Slave" and install the drive in the spare 5.25" bay,using a set of the following brackets, as shown here.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16856999211

After the installation, enter the setup and check that the hard drive is set to "Auto" [on].

In order for windows XP to recognize the second hard drive, it must be partitioned and formatted. 

 

These are generic instructions for installing an additional hard drive using Windows XP Disk Management, they are by Seagate, but apply to all brands.

http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/howto/install_xp_disk_mgmt.html

The easiest method, would be to install a second SATA hard drive.

Bev.
      

Thank you very much for all of the options.  This is much more helpful than the Dell Support Chat session I just had.

 

I only have one optical drive installed, so it appears that installing it in the second 5.25 bay is an option.  I do see that there is a second IDE connection point coming off of the Cable that connects the DVD drive that I can connect the old hard drive to. 

 

I assume I do need to connect a power supply to the old hard drive.  My old hard drive has  4 reasonably large prongs where the power was connected to it in my old computer. So I'll need to see if there is a power connection inside my Dell E310 that will work. 

 

If all else fails, it does sound like getting an external case for the old drive would work.  I would like to get a couple of files off of the old drive and then wipe it out and use it for backup storage.

 

I'll read through the link you provided and determine what seems best.  Thank you very much for all of the information.

 

LuckyB

 

You should be fine, the E310 has spare 4-pin Molex power connectors inside the case,

 

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim3100/en/sm/techov0.htm#wp1052309

 

If you decide to use external powered IDE USB 2.0 enclosures, try to buy a unit same as shown here,

http://www.shop4tech.com/user.htm?go=view_item&id=5140&cata=3&s_cata=184

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145378

Make certain, it's a metal enclosure, not plastic.

 

Bev.

 

 

 

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