Most new HDs come with software that makes this much easier than your
plan. You will probably get a new IDE cable with the new HD, allowing
you to attach the new one as a slave. This may be a physical challenge
with a compact case.  Use the software to clone the old drive, and
you're done.
I checked the Dell forums, and the experts there say you have room to
add a second drive in one of the 3.5" bays.
If there are BIOS limitations to your HD size, this may be a bit more
challenging, including a possible need for more partitions or overlay
software. Changing to NTFS may help. You could also check with Dell for
a BIOS update.



Loy Pressley wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Since I got no answers to my previous query, I'll try to phrase this a
> different way.
>
> I have a 40 gig hard drive on this system.  Windows XP recognizes only
> 31.7 gig as usable.  Why this is, I do not know.  16.2 gig is in use
> with 15.5 gig free space.  I need more hard drive space so I want to go
> to an 80 gig or larger IDE hard drive.  I have only one drive bay in
> this system (Dell L800r running at 800 MHz, WinXP SR2 operating system,
> FAT32 file system).  My plan to change out the hard drive is:
>
>    - using Norton Ghost, make an image of Drive C:
>
>    - physically remove the old hard drive and install the new drive.
>
>    - using the Windows XP System Setup Disk that I just downloaded from
> the good folks at Free PC Tech Support,
> http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml, I will format and partition
> the new hard drive.
>
>    - then, I will restore the image of Drive C: I made earlier with
> Norton Ghost, to the new hard drive and I should be ready to go.  Right?
>
> Will this work?  What kind of pitfalls am I likely to encounter?  Any
> help and/or guidance would be greatly appreciated.  I am certainly no
> expert on computers.
>
> Thanks...
>
>        The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website,
>           web based bulletinboard for questions and answers:
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>
>

        The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website,
           web based bulletinboard for questions and answers:
              Visit our sister website at http://nospin.com