Adding new hard disk

I'm using a seagate barracuda 80gb sata hard disk right now, and I have a new same hard disk with 500gb storage.

if you want to know my system specs. i can tell.
i use pentium 4 3.2GHz processor (very old )
my motherboard is asus p5vd2-mx
2gb ram

any comments, ideas are highly appreciated. :)

btw, i've read something about hard disk, i saw a modification like SATA0, SATA1, etc. but i'm not that knowledgeable with those things.

i don't wanna lose the files in my 80gb hard drive.

You need a new SATA cable. I'm not sure if it came with the new harddisk you bought, as different product different package.

You simply need to plug the cable into the motherboard slot and plug the other end into your new HDD. That should do.

smarteyeball said:

You're simply adding the new drive aren't you? If so you simply plug it in and attach the power and sata cable to it. (Turn PC off first )

Nothing else to it. It won't affect your existing 80GB drive.

iksyaj said:

btw, i've read something about hard disk, i saw a modification like SATA0, SATA1, etc. but i'm not that knowledgeable with those things.

That simply refers to the motherboards sata ports physical locations

If your motherboard has 4 sata ports, then:

Sata0 is the first port
Sata1 is the second
Sata2 is the third etc

so i'm thinking of a more complicated thing. :))
thanks, would my 500gb be the slave? and 80gb as the master? is that so?

ddadda82 said:

You need a new SATA cable. I'm not sure if it came with the new harddisk you bought, as different product different package.

You simply need to plug the cable into the motherboard slot and plug the other end into your new HDD. That should do.

thanks, you're right. it doesn't have a sata cable. just the harddisk.

SATA does not use master and slave.

ignatzatsonic said:

SATA does not use master and slave.

oops, sorry, my bad.

another question when i directly add my 500gb harddisk, can i install/use applications on my 500gb or just a storage? (bootable?)

sorry, too many questions.

my hard disk was detected in device manager, but it's not usable in my computer, how do i activate my hard disk?

Is it seen in Disk Management? If not, try a refresh or rescan from the "action" menu.

Did you make at least 1 partition on it and format?

i've been exploring the disk management. :)
i can't make a partition and format. it is now online and basic (hard disk)