Add Hard Drive to E310

Question

I want to add a hard drive to my E310, my first question. Is there a certain type of drive That will or will not work with the Dell System? Also if i add an internal hard drive, and ran PC Restore, would it erase my second drive?

shesagordie · Answer

BoCrazy

You need a SATA hard drive. Try to buy either a Seagate, Western Digital, Samsung or Hitachi. Maxtor is not a good buy at this time, due to high failure rates. Check the lenght of the warranty, there's one to five years on hard drives.

The E310 does not include the bracket for a second hard drive, to buy this bracket, call 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 tray, the Dimension 5100/E510 tray will also, fit the E310. [Part # H7283 - U6436 - G8354]

A SATA [90* x 180* x 24"] data cable, will be required, like the unit shown here,

http://www.ajump.com/ajump/product.asp?dept%5Fid=4719&pf%5Fid=3630048&sku=99%2D99%2D99%2D99%2D99%2D3630048

Adding 2nd SATA hard drive to E310,

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_harddrive&message.id=103199

Bev.

BoCrazy · Answer

Thanks for the Info,   One more Question, you siad the SATA is easier to install, i found the Maxtor SATA sold out at Comp USA, and the Seagate ATA 200gb on sale at BestBuy for 80 bucks.

rickmktg · Answer

BoCrazy wrote:

Thanks for the Info,

One more Question, you siad the SATA is easier to install, i found the Maxtor SATA sold out at Comp USA, and the Seagate ATA 200gb on sale at BestBuy for 80 bucks.

I don't see where Bev said anything about SATA being easier to install, she said SATA. Never mentioned anything else. Also told you NOT to buy Maxtor.

You didn't ask a question above...

In answer to your first post, Dell PC Restore will NOT affect a 2nd drive at all.

shesagordie · Answer

BoCrazy   Seagate is a good hard drive with an excellent warranty, usually five years.   Bev.

BoCrazy · Answer

Thanks Bev,   Your Information was helpful

BoCrazy · Answer

I don't see where Bev said anything about SATA being easier to install, she said SATA.  Never mentioned anything else.  Also told you NOT to buy Maxtor.    You didn't ask a question above...     Why are most people i run into on this board in nicer terms rude?

shesagordie · Answer

BoCrazy   Pleased to have helped.  :)   Bev.

shesagordie · Answer

joelbra

As it is IDE 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

Bev.

joelbra · Answer

All of the information is very helpful.

One more question, if I already have an 120 GB IDE hard drive from an old machine, how difficult would it be to get this to work in the E310 given that it is set-up for SATA.

I've read enough to know that I would need another bracket and may have to modify it, but is it just a matter of getting the right cable to connect to the mother board (what one would that be)?

Thanks in advance!

Joel

BoCrazy · Answer

Thanks, I got the SATA set up, the 80 drive was an ata, so I continued shopping around and found a 300gb SATA on sell at BestBuy for 129 , sets up pretty easier, I did have to go into the setup and turn the sata SATA port ON, but other than that, seagate and dell make it pretty simple.   Tom

shesagordie · Answer

BoCrazy   You're welcome.   Happy to hear that you have the new drive working.     :)   Bev.

joelbra · Answer

Thanks.

Seems that adding it as an external drive is far simpler unless I'm going to buy a new SATA drive -- especially given that it is only for backups.

How much slower are external (USB 2.0) drives than making it an internal slave?

shesagordie · Answer

joelbra

USB 2.0 hard drives, claim to have a maximum speed of 480 Mbps.

All internal may be 100/133/150/300 Mbps capable, but no single 7200rpm hard drive can deliver more than about 66 Mbps sustained, no matter what the interface is.

Even the fastest SATA drives [10,000rpm WD Raptors] can only deliver about 70 Mbps maximum.

Bev

Storage, Drives & Media

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