Lesson Plan

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October 27, 1999

Details

     
 

Title

DOS System Disks
Hard Drive Installation
Dual Hard Drive Installation
Hard Drive Management

Time Allotment

2 hrs

Afternoon Coursework

ITCSS 2000 Hardware Lab

Setup and installation of new hard drives varies depending on the computer BIOS and hardware as well as the operating system that is installed. One of the ways to configure hard drives is to create your own system boot disk that has the configuration utilities on it. This is useful in the event you are working on your primary drive.

Please be very careful when installing and removing the hard drive data cables. The pins are very fragile and breaking a pin will effectively make the hard drive unusable. Do not force anything by applying too much pressure. If you are having trouble, ask Nick or myself.

Using a DOS System Disk

Creating a DOS System Disk

These steps may vary depending on system configuration. 

  1. Power on your lab workstation and allow it to boot up.
  2. Place a blank floppy in Drive A.
  3. Format the disk using the Windows Explorer (make sure the disk is bootable option is set).
  4. Launch the DOS command shell.
  5. Is it a system disk? If not, SYS A: will make it a system disk.
  6. This step will vary depending on configuration:

    1) Go to the DOS directory: Type CD \DOS

    or

    2) Go to the Windows Command directory: Type CD \Windows\Command
     
  7. Type COPY FDISK.EXE A: and press Enter.
  8. Type COPY FORMAT.COM A: and press Enter.
  9. Exit DOS by typing EXIT.

Verifying Your System Disk

  1. Keep the disk in Drive A.
  2. Reset your PC.
  3. The computer should boot from your disk.

Hard Drive Installation & Support

Removing an IDE Hard Drive

  1. Power off the lab workstation and unplug the power cord.
  2. Remove the case from the lab workstation.
  3. Locate the hard drive.
  4. Unplug the IDE cable and the power connector from the hard drive. Note the position of the data and power connector.
  5. Use a screwdriver to dismount the hard drive.
  6. Plug in the power cord.
  7. With the hard drive removed, power on the lab workstation and wait for the BIOS error message.
  8. Enter the setup program if necessary and follow the menu instructions for the workstations BIOS to validate the hard drive changes.
  9. Save the changes and reboot the workstation.

Installing an IDE Hard Drive

  1. Power off the lab workstation and unplug the power cord.
  2. Using the hard drive from the previous exercise, mount the hard drive in its original position.
  3. Connect the IDE data cable and the power connector. (Be sure that you connect the cables in the same manner they were previously connected; the red stripe on the data cable should be aligned with the pin 1 setting on the hard drive).
  4. Plug in the power cord.
  5. When the workstation boots, enter the setup program.
  6. Verify that the BIOS has automatically detected the hard drive (reconfigure if necessary).
  7. Save the BIOS changes and exit the setup program.
  8. Reboot the workstation and test the installation by booting into the operating system.
  9. Shut down the workstation and power it off.
  10. Unplug the power cable and secure the case.
  11. Plug the workstation back in and power it on.

Configuring a Dual Hard Drive System

Installing a Slave Drive Using the Master/Slave Configuration

  1. Power off the lab workstation and unplug the power cord.
  2. Remove the case from the lab workstation.
  3. Locate the hard drive.
  4. Unplug the IDE cable and the power connector from the hard drive.
  5. Dismount the hard drive if it is necessary to view the hard drive jumper configuration.
  6. Verify that the installed hard drive is set to Master. Note: Refer to hard drive documentation for the description of jumper settings if not marked on the drive.
  7. Set the jumper settings of the second hard drive to the Slave position.
  8. Locate an available bay to mount the second hard drive.
  9. Mount the second hard drive.
  10. Plug in the power connectors to each drive.
  11. Plug in the IDE data cable to each hard drive.
  12. Plug in the power cord.
  13. With both hard drives plugged in, power on the lab workstation and wait for the BIOS error message.
  14. Enter the setup program and follow the menu instructions for the workstation's BIOS to validate the hard drive settings. Note that the BIOS should now recognize two hard drives.
  15. Save the changes and reboot the lab workstation.
  16. Boot into the operating system to verify if the additional hard drive is recognized.

Hard Drive Management

Note Current Drive Configuration With Both Drives

  1. Power off your lab workstation.
  2. Insert the boot disk into drive A.
  3. Power on your lab workstation and allow it to boot from the floppy disk.
  4. At the A prompt, type FDISK.
  5. From the FDISK menu, select option 4 by typing the number 4 and pressing Enter.
  6. Observe your current hard drive configuration.

Replacing the Original Drive With the Spare

  1. Power off the lab workstation and unplug the power cord.
  2. Remove the case from the lab workstation.
  3. Locate the hard drive.
  4. Unplug the IDE cable and the power connector from the primary hard drive. Note the position of the data and power connector.
  5. Reconfigure the Slave drive to be the master by adjusting its jumpers (remove drive if necessary).
  6. Plug in the power cord.
  7. With the hard drive removed, power on the lab workstation and wait for the BIOS error message.
  8. Enter the setup program if necessary and follow the menu instructions for the workstations BIOS to validate the hard drive changes.
  9. Save the changes and reboot the workstation.

Configuring the Drive

  1. Power off your lab workstation.
  2. Insert the boot disk into drive A.
  3. Power on your lab workstation and allow it to boot from the floppy disk.
  4. At the A prompt, type FDISK.
  5. From the FDISK menu, select option 4 by typing the number 4 and pressing Enter.
  6. Observe your current hard drive configuration.

Deleting a Partition

  1. Press the Esc key to return to the main menu.
  2. From the FDISK main menu, select option 3 by typing 3 and pressing Enter.
  3. Select the primary partition on your hard drive by typing in number 1 and pressing Enter.
  4. Type the volume label of the primary partition.
  5. Confirm deletion by typing the letter "Y" and pressing Enter.
  6. Press the Esc key to return to the main menu.
  7. Press Esc again to exit the FDISK utility. The workstation will then be restarted.
  8. Press the spacebar to restart the computer.

Creating a Partition

  1. Boot the workstation using the floppy disk again.
  2. At the A prompt, type FDISK.
  3. At the FDISK main menu, select option 1 and press Enter.
  4. When the FDISK utility asks you if you would like to use all of the available space for the primary partition and set it active, select No by typing N and pressing Enter.
  5. When FDISK prompts you to enter the amount of drive space you would like to use, type 500 and press Enter.
  6. When prompted for a volume label, type DRIVE 1 and press Enter.
  7. Press Esc to return to the FDISK main menu.

Setting an Active Partition

  1. Select option 2 from the FDISK main menu.
  2. Choose the primary partition that you created by typing number 1 and pressing Enter.
  3. Press Esc to exit FDISK and your workstation will be restarted.

Hard Drive Preparation

Formatting the C Drive

  1. Power off your lab workstation.
  2. Insert the boot disk in drive A.
  3. Power on your lab workstation and allow it to boot from your DOS boot disk.
  4. At the A prompt, type FORMAT C:.
  5. When asked to confirm before proceeding, type Y and press Enter. The format command will begin to format drive C.
  6. When formatting is complete, type a volume label of DRIVE 1.

Making Drive C Bootable

There are many different ways that can be used to make a drive bootable. The following includes two examples:

Example 1

  1. Power off your lab workstation.
  2. Insert the boot disk into drive A.
  3. Power on your lab workstation and allow it to boot from your DOS boot disk.
  4. At the A prompt, type SYS A: C: and press Enter.

Example 2

The /S switch tells DOS to SYS the drive after it has been formatted. Use the /? option to view other FORMAT switches.

  1. Power off your lab workstation.
  2. Insert the boot disk into drive A.
  3. Power on your lab workstation and allow it to boot from your DOS boot disk.
  4. At the A prompt, type FORMAT C: /S and press Enter.
  5. When asked to confirm before proceeding type Y and press Enter.
  6. When the formatting is complete, type in a volume label of DRIVE 1.

Lab Notes

Extended partition - An extended partition is a section of the hard drive that allows the partitioning of logical drives. Note that there can be only one extended partition per hard drive.

Logical drive - A logical drive is a partition that holds a drive letter and behaves as a separate physical drive. Note that logical drives can only be created within extended partitions.

Active partition - If a partition is set active, the system will attempt to boot from that partition.

Reconfigure System to Original State

  1. Power off the lab workstation and unplug the power cord.
  2. Locate the Slave hard drive.
  3. Unplug the IDE cable and the power connector from the Slave drive.
  4. Dismount the hard drive.
  5. Plug in the data and power connectors to the original drive.
  6. Plug in the power cord.
  7. Power on the lab workstation and wait for the BIOS error message.
  8. Enter the setup program and follow the menu instructions for the workstation's BIOS to validate the hard drive settings.
  9. Save the changes and reboot the lab workstation.
  10. Boot into the operating system and verify workstation is operating correctly.
  11. Replace the system case.