DescentBB

Got my HD today and installed it in the case with no problems. I used my old SATA controller cable, which fit fine.
But I hit a snag with the power cable. My old drive used a 4 pin connector.
This WD 640gb Black Caviar HD doesnt have a spot for the 4 pin power connector, but instead a very small slot for a 8 pin connector, which is half the size of the 4 pin slot. (interestingly, the old HD as this same spot for an 8 pin connector)

Am I missing something here? I am assuming that's for the power cable, which I dont have (I have dozens of different cables, but none that will fit this little 8 pin slot).
Can anyone confirm that this is for the HD power?

I tried looking online but couldnt find a connector that matches....

Thanks!

RM

--edit--
There's also a long skinny connector to the left of the sata cable...is that the power connector slot? I DO have one cable that fits that.

I think this link shows the back of the HD:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images ... nics&img=2


Sorry for the hillariously noob questions...

Never mind, I plugged in the one that fit, and the pc recognizes the HD.

However, ran into another snag:
I had put the HD into AHCI mode, then put the boot priority to the dvd first, then the HD.
Rebooted.
I get the error:

\"Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key\"

I turned AHCI mode back to IDE mode, then rebooted, same error. Changed boot sequence to every possible sequence, and still same error.

Is the CD of windows 7 bad?
or do I have to format the HD first? (dont remember the dos command for that, or how to do it if I dont even have an OS on the drive...)

any help is appreciated

Just checked, and my old XP disk is read by the dvd drive and it even starts to load windows...
bad disk, or is there a setting somewhere in teh bios that I am missing? (maybe something to do with 64 bit system?)

Odd....
Got frustrated with the install, and shut the system down, holding the power button for 15 seconds or so.
Then I read about a billion threads regarding the same issue, but no solutions...after an hour I rebooted the pc, and immediately it recognized the bootable OEM Win 7 disc and started installing...it's installing now.

This makes absolutely no sense....half expecting the install to be messed up....

Any idea what might be going on?

that 8 pin connector is actually where the jumpers are. so you wouldn't want to connect anything to that.

seems the pc can see everything now. you shouldn't have any problems from this point on but be warned. it may ask for drivers during the install process, at which time you have to provide them before the install can go any further.

Ferno! Great to see/hear you!
Thanks for the info.

Interestingly, when the disk loaded it's files, it rebooted and the drive didnt recognize the disk (again).
So I shut it down by holding the power button for 15 seconds, and then restarted it, and it continued to load windows.
I had to do this 2 times....

It's finishing up loading windows now.

I'm wondering if the disk is bad or what could be up with my drive and this particular disk....

Windows loaded, tho I had to reboot the pc for it to read the dvd each time...

Apparently my drive has a problem with ms products, as trying to install office from the original disks, the pc wont even read the install disk, tho it happily recognizes the 2nd install disk.

Tried the reboot thing, but it still wont see office (2007 ultimate).

Very frustrating. I had no issues with xp..

Check for firmware updates to your DVD drive, and your PCs BIOS. If they address any of the issues you are having go ahead and run them, but if they are just media compatibility / processor compatibility updates then skip them.

ReadyMan wrote:Ferno! Great to see/hear you!
Thanks for the info.

Interestingly, when the disk loaded it's files, it rebooted and the drive didnt recognize the disk (again).
So I shut it down by holding the power button for 15 seconds, and then restarted it, and it continued to load windows.
I had to do this 2 times....

It's finishing up loading windows now.

I'm wondering if the disk is bad or what could be up with my drive and this particular disk....

One thing you should always be aware of, once the system "reboots" it should reboot from the hard drive and not the CD/DVD. All files needed to complete the installation are copied to the NOW boot-able hard-drive before the "reboot."

Thanks Alpha. Good reminder. boot priority is now HD, then DVD.
Will do Krom.

I got office to boot...the dvd drive I have wouldnt recognize the #1 install disk, tho it would recognize the #2 disk for some reason.
However, my printer has a dvd player in it
for printing onto dvds (it came with one from costco....sheesh, I didnt even know it had one till my wife said \"hey, is that a dvd drive on the printer?\").
So I put the disk in there and VOILA! it loads office right up! lol. (tho it was a bit slow).
Wish I had seen that when trying to load win 7.

Booting up via a printer DVD probably wouldn't have worked anyway, unless it could read it as a USB device