I bought on a local government auction an HP d530 CMT. It's got a 2.80 GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 1.25 GB of RAM, a Maxtor 40 GB hard drive, 6 USB 2 ports and a CD drive with Windows XP Pro SP 3 installed. It came with no manual, no documentation and no discs.
For upgrades I installed: a XGI Volari video card into the single PCI socket to drive a LG digital monitor; an Intel dialup modem; replaced the CD drive with an old LG CD burner that was lieing around; then a new LG "Super Multi" DVD burner as a second optic drive.
Then my wife buys me Microsoft Flight Simulator I always wanted. It won't load due to insufficient room on the 40 GB hard drive.
(1) How do I install a new large hard drive since I have no XP discs?
(2) Should I just copy everything on the old drive onto DVD discs, install the new hard drive, then power up with the disc(s) in the DVD drive?
(3) Would it be better to leave the original hard drive alone and get an external USB drive?
(4) Would the Flight Simulator run well with my system using an external hard drive?
(5) What power source does an external drive use?
Thanks,
Mark
Hi Mark,
External drives have come a long way and run almost as fast as many
internal drives. If your need for extra hard drive space is pretty
much driven by the Microsoft Flight Simulator game, you could get by
with using an external drive. A few things, though: Make sure your
system is supporting USB 2.0 (it should be) and that the drive runs at
least 5400rpm. External HDD's run off standard 120v AC power.
Otherwise, if you want to get an internal drive, you can certainly get
another ATA-133 drive. But SATA is faster and your computer may
support it. The D530 CMT (convertible mini-tower) definitely does. But
there is also the D530 SFF (small form factor), and D530 USD (ultra
slim desktop)--not sure if those are rigged for SATA support.
As for maximum hard disk size supported, that's up to the operating system (e.g. Windows XP vs. Vista). You likely won't need any bios updates because of a new hard drive installation. However, its not a bad idea to review the BIOS update release notes to see what they're addressing.
Mark, I have the same computer: D530 CMT. This computer supports SATA, which is a faster data connection than IDE. I suggest you buy a SATA drive.
On the power cables, you will see a SATA power connector. It is black and about half as thin as the standard 4 pin power connector. On the left side of the motherboard, you'll see a very small circular component with a yellow dot on it, labeled for "CPU Reset". On either side of this are the SATA motherboard connectors. The one on the left is slot "0", which is the one you would use.
What version is your BIOS? I have updated to 2.44 Rev. A, which was released on August 2008. You can obtain this from the HP support website.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/Tec...
As for hard drives, I can't recommend a particular model. Many are good--you just need to shop around.
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2 choices for you. Get the external to run the game or 2. Add a larger hdd to the system as a slave drive leaving the smaller drive as the master. If you go the 2nd route just make sure you buy a compatible hdd. Hope this helps & please remember to rate my answer.
1.You need HD clone software such as truwe image home. 2. That wil not work. 3. I personally don't think so,if anything add an extra HD inside the case set up as the slave. A lot cheaper. 4.Where the HD is located wwil have no effect on how that software will run on your machine. 5.Mine has it's own transformer that hasds to be plugged into the 115V wall outlet. I hope iu have answered all that you have asked.
HP Compaq Business d530 Ultra-Slim (Pentium 4 2.8GHz, 256MB RAM, 40GB HDD, XP Pro)
Type Personal computer 934 views
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Okay - you both suggest a 2nd hard drive - so a 2nd hard drive it is. The label on the existing one states: Maxtor 3.5 Series N256 DiamondMax Plus 8 ATA/133, 12V 79omA, 5V 647 mA 40 GB. There are 6 power leads and an unattached serial plug marked "Slave" (I swapped out the the factory cord with a sheathed ATA/133 one although I don't know if that'll speed up anything).
(1) So what HDD is compatible?
(2) Does the BIOS or something limit the size I should get?
Thanks guys.
Mark
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