New HDD 7200.11

[wideloadwhitford]

Hey I just got my New HD. So my thing is

Q: Can I just pop this in and Install FS9 on it right away or Must I have to format the Disk to NTFS. Its a OEM Drive too. I will have my old 250 Gig for backup and the OS on it, and the 320 for Strictly FS9.

Q: What software must I use if I have to?

Thanks!!

[JamesChams]

Hey I just got my New HD. So my thing is

Q: Can I just pop this in and Install FS9 on it right away or Must I have to format the Disk to NTFS. Its a OEM Drive too. I will have my old 250 Gig for backup and the OS on it, and the 320 for Strictly FS9.

Q: What software must I use if I have to?

Thanks!!

1. You should ALWAYS format new HDD's; especially if its OEM (your BIOS might have issues with the vendor's format tables on the File Allocation Table [FAT]).  The use of NTFS is the best solution; but, read up on your addon's as some are affected by the use of it.
2. Then, after its formated and ready, you can simply copy the entire FS9 folder in windows to the new drive.
3. After that, use this tool ( Flight1's FSX/FS9 Registry Repair Tool (36KB) from the Flight1's Free File Library ) to get the windows registry to recognize the new folder location.
4. REBOOT Windows before you use FS9 again.

That's all.

Good Luck! 

[wideloadwhitford]

Thank you very much. My thing is what Do I use to reformat??? The Windows XP Disk? I don't want to putting windows on it.

[JamesChams]

Thank you very much. My thing is what Do I use to reformat??? The Windows XP Disk? I don't want to putting windows on it.

If you see the disk in windows explorer; Just Right-Click on it and choose Format.

If you DON'T see the disk in windows explorer; Click on the Start Menu, then choose Run and type FDISK.
You will need to initialize the disk and then Format it. Use the Help Menu in the FDISK utility to guide you on how to do that.

Good Luck!

[wideloadwhitford]

Im really sorry but more more NOOB question, What should my Allocation size be? Im such a noob at this kind of stuff.

[JamesChams]

Im really sorry but more more NOOB question, What should my Allocation size be? Im such a noob at this kind of stuff.

For FS9 use 512KB as it works better (faster) for 32-bit OS' and with many Terrain/Landclass products like MegaScenery.  It is also a better size for compression (if you choose to do that) to disk space at some later point.

Good Luck!

[wideloadwhitford]

Thanks man!!

This is my Drive, hope it works good!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148316

Bad reviews but I got to have faith for now. haha

[JamesChams]

Thanks man!!

This is my Drive, hope it works good!!...

It should do fine; if not, that's what warranties are for.

PS: Your Welcome!

[wideloadwhitford]

haha yeah

[wideloadwhitford]

Alright now im confused, I pop in the HD its recognized in the BIOS, but it doesn't show up in my computer. I tried RUN---FSDISK but an error comes up. I right click on my Local Disk(Old one) and I see my 320 gig there but can format it.

[JamesChams]

Alright now im confused, I pop in the HD its recognized in the BIOS, but it doesn't show up in my computer. I tried RUN---FSDISK but an error comes up. I right click on my Local Disk(Old one) and I see my 320 gig there but can format it.

Some system BIOS' are NOT able to read above 250GB HDD's without a BIOS FIRMWARE Update.  Suggest that ...

1. you go to your system vendor website and make sure you have the latest BIOS version installed. 
2. Look at the SeaGate Manual/Website to see if they have an LBA or HighCapacity Drive Utility for systems that DON'T support >250GB HDD's.

Good Luck!

[wideloadwhitford]

The 1st thing I did when I built my System was update the BIOS, It can support up to a 1TB haha!!

I went through the Disk Management and Did what you said 512kb and all that, now its says "Healthy" Flight Sim E: NTFS.

Thanks for the help!!

[JamesChams]

Good!  Just reboot your system at least one time before your start using the drive; this will ensure that all the OS' validation needs are meet for the newly installed hardware.

PS: Your welcome. 

[wideloadwhitford]

Geeze im really getting stuck, Im thinking of just reformatting my new drive with XP on it and use my OLD 250 gig as a backup. But can I do this??? Can I still go into my old drive under the New Fresh installation of XP and see my files, even if XP is installed on there too, but im not booting to it...

[JamesChams]

Geeze im really getting stuck, Im thinking of just reformatting my new drive with XP on it and use my OLD 250 gig as a backup. But can I do this??? Can I still go into my old drive under the New Fresh installation of XP and see my files, even if XP is installed on there too, but im not booting to it...

If you are now trying to use the old 250GB Drive's Win XP installation.  But, you now want that onto the new SeaGate drive, you will need a cloning software which will do a drive-to-drive copy/clone; then you need Symantec Norton's Ghost.

Good Luck!