Hey folks, this is what I'm looking to do. I have 4 HDDs in my computer at the moment, One I use for just windows and apps, and 3 others I use for downloads. I want to combine those three drives and leave the one drive alone. I just want windows to show two drives, the windows and my "media" drive. Possible? Any suggestions. I appreciate it in advance.
Yes,it's possible.It's called JBOD (just a bunch of disks) Catchy Huh? Anyway,it's a type of raid configuration.Of course your motherboard would have to support this.What are your computer specs? Mother board,model number etc...
Wow man, thanks for the help but honestly I have no idea about that stuff, or even how to find it without popping my PC open and looking for stickers. Does a Asus motherboard sound familar?, I could have sworn that was on the box when I installed the board.
Asus..but ofcourse! (look at sig.below. )It would be nice to have the model number,what cpu do you have?
go here and download this program>http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181 After you install it click on motherboard,it will tell you the model number. Then post back with it and I'll get back to you with some info when I get more time or you can check out the Asus website for your user's manual.The info should be in there.
Nope,that's all I need. I actually had one of those once but I can't recall the details,I'll look it up. ********update********** OK,I did some checking.That old socket A board won't support it on it's own but you could get a pci card that will allow you to run a JBOD array.I'll do some more searching later,I've got to get some shut-eye.
This is pretty much what boxwrench was talking about. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816123009 Basically, plug all your drives into this card and do a quick configure and you are done. Keep in mind though, that when you build an array, the drives should be empty. You have to backup all your data BEFORE you try to set this up. ~Rich
@Tweeder-what DoubleDwn suggested is exactly what you need,when purchasing a pci-ide controller card don't go for the cheapies.Remember-This is your important data,you don't want to lose it by saving a few bucks. Just follow the directions to install and don't forget to back up all your data before installation! @DoubleDwn-Thanks for the hand,I was falling asleep at the keyboard and had to pull the plug.
Thank you both for the help, I do happen to have a Ultra ATA 100/133 PCI Adapter in my computer from when I installed my 160GB harddrive long ago, is this what I need?
Tweeder,Check out the manual to see if your card supports JBOD,if you don't have the manual go to they're website. Please...again I must tell you "back up your drives before attempting this!" Btw-Thank me when you got it working! lol!!
I've said it once, boxwrench has said it twice. but its worth repeating. BACK UP YOUR DATA FIRST! I think we got the point across now. lol What card do you currently have installed? It may just be an IDE controller, not an array controller. ~Rich
After some research, it is just an ide controller which means no go. I think this idea is coming to a sudden stop. a) I have about 300GB of data right now on the drives and it'd have to be deleted and started over. b) My motherboard doesnt support it (thanks for the info guys) and neither does my IDE card. c) I'm going to end of up with a 14 pound paperweight. I guess I figured I could use partition magic or something similar and just make windows "think" all the drives we're combined. I thank you both for the help and answers, your both an asset to the forums and I hope I talk to you soon about other topics on these boards.
If you have XP Pro (not Home) you can create Dynamic disks without a RAID controller and span multiple disks to have them appear as a single volume. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309044&sd=tech This link gives a little more info with beter definitions of the difference in a basic disk and dynamic. http://www.petri.co.il/difference_between_basic_and_dynamic_disks_in_windows_xp_2000_2003.htm
