What kind of hard drive can I add to my D4996t?

[Threemoons]

All,

I have a D4996t running Windows Vista Home Premium.

I want to add a second hard drive--not bootable, just for documents, extra game data, etc.

What kind of drive does it take, SATA or IDE?  Don't want to order the wrong one.  Last time I did this was 13 years ago with an ancient Micron.

Thanks so much!

[ManjunathTech]

Hi

Please find the link given below for your unit. This unit has been shipped with Sata 

HP Pavilion Ultimate d4996t Product Specifications

[Threemoons]

Thanks so much!  Would I need any additional cables or just the bare drive?  Any size recs for Visa Home Premium?

[ManjunathTech]

Hi

You will need the New Hard drive with the cables as i understand as your unit will not have the cable in it you have the slot to connect the Cable with Hard drive.

[Threemoons]

Okay, thank you!  So....what kind of CABLE do I need?  Would it come with the HD?  Is there a moron-proof how-to with pictures re what to hook up where?

[Big_Dave]

Hi,

This service manual should help you with the installation.

Your motherboard has 6 SATA ports near the lower right edge of the motherboard. Just pick an empty port and connect the drive using a sata data cable.  You need to buy the sata data cable.

A SATA II  3.5" 7200 RPM hard drive should work. Don't buy an "advanced format" model.  Perhaps a 500-750 GB model has enough capacity for your needs.  Look at this Hitachi model as an example.

Look inside your PC near the existing hard drive for an extra power connector.  If one is not available then you will need a Y sata power adapter as a possible solution to obtain power for the drive.  Look at page 6 and 7 of the abover referenced manual to determine the type of power connector for the existing hard drive if a spare power connector is not available.

[ManjunathTech · Accepted solution]

Hi

These will be the Sata cable for the Hard drive images are given below for your information.

[Threemoons]

You are the best, THANK YOU!!! 

Next weekend will open my box to see if there are in fact secondary connectors available.

[Rick-Peterson]

I am trying to connect a WD 3TB SATA drive; but, BIOS only sees 801GB and Windows 7 Ultimate sees 746GB.  Do I need to update my BIOS in order to connect a HDD over 2GB?  If so, how do I update the BIOS?  I have already called WD and they said the problem was my motherboard or BIOS.