New Hard Drives for Dimension 4100 and 4400

Question

Hi,   We have two PCs a Dimension 4100 and a Dimension 4400 with 10gb and 40 gb hard drives respectively.   We are also updating the 4100 memory to 512 and the 4400 to 1gb using Cruciale cards.   What are the largest additional hard drives that we can use for each machine? Can you suggest a supplier? I am assuming these would be additional drives not replacements.   Thanks   Geoff

ejn63 · Answer

EIDE; the 4100 will support up to 120G, and the 4400 may support a larger drive. Seagate, WD, Samsung and Hitachi are your best bet in desktop drives.

Geoffdesmond · Answer

Thank you that was fast!   Is that a staright plug in or do we need to change anything else?   G

shesagordie · Answer

Geoffdesmond

Basically, yes. Set the jumpers to the "Cable Select" setting and you will need to reinstall windows

Dell has not published the procedures for replacing the hard drive in the D-4400, but because the D-4550 has the same case and chassis, you can use the same instructions for the physical hard drive replacement,

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4550/replace.htm#1152669

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4400/replace.htm#1101572

Guide to replacing the D-4100 hard drive,

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dzuul/rr.htm

Bev.

Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.

Message Edited by shesagordie on 01-01-200705:16 PM

Majestic · Answer

Geoff, some additional information on the 4100.....   If you install a PCI ATA Controller card then you can use any size hard drive.  A controller card will cost around $30 to install.     Some owners of the Dimension 4100 also reported a 'software solution' for getting around the 137 gig BIOS limitation your system has.  They have reported that using the Intel Application Accelerator have allowed them to exceed the 137 gig barrier.  You can click here for the Intel Application.  For a $30 investment, a controller card maybe a safer approach.   As for the 4400, that model will support any size hard drive with BIOS version A03 or later.  You can view the version number of your currently installed BIOS by pressing the DEL key when the system is first booted.  The current version number will be shown on the top of the screen. Message Edited by Majestic on 01-02-200711:33 AM

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