Hard Drive upgrade

Question

System: Dimension 8250 O/S: XP Current Hard Drive:  EIDE 80 GB  WD800   Old drive is dead and want to replace with larger drive.  How large can I go with this system?   Old drive is Western Digital WD800.  New drives on WD's site have letters attached to the drive id, as in WD800JB  or WD800BB.  There may be more tags but these are the ones I remember.  Do the letters after the drive id have any real meaning?

shesagordie · Answer

jbotzman

With the D-8250 model, to support hard drives larger than 137gb, you need XP-SP1 or higher and BIOS version A02 or later installed.

Starting with that BIOS version A02, 48-bit LBA support was added to the BIOS, for hard drives larger than 137gb.

Bev.

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BoazEhud · Answer

I have recently acquired an approoximately 3 year old Dimension 8200 P4 2ghz with 512mb RAM that was originally equipped with an 80gb HD that has been retained by the previous owner.  I obviously need to acquire a new hard drive, and was thinking of going for 350 - 500 gb, but have been told by Dell sales that the largest I can put in is 100gb, although I can put in two of them.  I'm assuming your post here applies to my circumstances as well.  Does that then mean that as long as I load XP sp2 or better and use the appropriate BIOS, which I assume again I can download from Dell's site, that everything will come together?  Or am I better off just sticking with the 100gb hard drive they have limited me to?  Thanks in advance for the help, rest assured as I try to resurrect/reconstruct and upgrade this unit there will be more queries.  Jon

shesagordie · Answer

BoazEhud

To install above 120gb hard drives in the D-8200 requires, WinXP-SP1 or higher and BIOS version A02 or higher.

Bev.

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BoazEhud · Answer

OK, I now know that was an exceptionally ignorant question, at least part of it.  The entertainment was free.  Assuming I'm 'locked' into my current BIOS, is it the reason I cannot exceed 137gb hard drive size?  Jon

BoazEhud · Answer

Thank you.  Can I determine my BIOS without having a hard drive in the unit?  Jon

shesagordie · Answer

BoazEhud

Having never try it, I really don't know, but if you can enter the System Setup [F2 on start] the BIOS version are displayed.

Bev.

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BoazEhud · Answer

I appreciate the assistance in education.  My searching has revealed some insightful information.  First, yes you can ID your system BIOS, and several other information items without having a hard drive in place.  I turned the unit on and hit F2 to reveal that my BIOS is version 'A05'.    With it comes a return question then:  'How do I know HOW BIG of an internal drive I can install and access.   In the process I also found a very clear path for updating BIOS through this link:    http://www.sideroad.com/Computer/how-to-update-BIOS.html   It was the third link I had tried, the others neither leading me my BIOS or making much sense to me.  This guy laid it down idiot proof.  I hope to spend some more time cruising the site.   Thanks again for the assitance, the question 'how big is too big'  - Jon

shesagordie · Answer

BoazEhud

I gave an anwser, about how large a hard drive, can be installed in the D-8250 here

With a Dell computer, when updating the BIOS, you need to use Dell's BIOS version and it would appear that you have the latest version.

You can find all the Dimension 8250 downloads here

Bev.

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BoazEhud · Answer

Bev, my experience with you has been most beneficial for me, and I have to admit I'm beginning to feel a little like Abraham in his plea for Sodom & Gomorrah, but...................... Your link/original post doesn't REALLY tell me how large of a hard drive I can make use of, just that I am apparently in position to do SOMETHING greater than 137gb.  Sorry this wall is so thick, but could you please talk a little louder?  BTW, thanks for the download link, that will be most helpful.  Jon

shesagordie · Answer

Jon.

If the Dimension 8250 has XP-SP1 or higher and BIOS version A02 or later installed, then there's no size limit on the hard drive you can install.

Bev.

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BoazEhud · Answer

I heard that!  Thank you again.  Does everything that applies to the D8250 apply to the D8200 as well?  Jon

shesagordie · Answer

Jon.

Yes, it's the same.

For the D-8200, you also, require Windows XP SP1 or higher and BIOS A02 or higher.

Bev.

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Storage, Drives & Media

Hard Drive upgrade

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