How to add 2nd hard drive

[mccoady]

Guys I got my son a Dell XPS 8700 desktop computer for Xmas. He had a 2nd internal hard drive in his old Dell so I'm trying to install it in his new one.

Is anyone familiar with the 8700 because I can't seem to figure out how to mount the drive. The OS drive is mounted directly to a wall bracket that extends from top to bottom of cabinet. There is however a typical bracket that surrounds the the OS drive and slides out after removing screws.

This 2nd hard drive I'm trying to install has to somehow mount to it but I can't see how. The holes on it don't line up in any way with with the bracket and I'm not entirely sure if the circuit board faces out like the OS drive.

I can't find any video's and the manual doesn't explain the procedure clearly enough for me I guess. On his old Dell desktop the drives were mounted to plastic brackets that simply slide in and out.

Probably really simple but can anyone help!

[jman98]

Dell deliberately builds their PCs in a way to make them difficult for consumers to work on so you have to pay them to do it. So I'm not surprised that you are having problems.

Honestly you don't HAVE to use the bracket they have. As long as the drive has power and and SATA connection you can literally put it anywhere. I've had drives lie in the bottom of PCs directly on the case bottom and they've worked fine. As long as you can put it in a place where it will stay relatively stable it should be fine, but perhaps someone with Dell experience can provide a way to use their bracket.

[hech54]

Dell drive rails. I believe they are color coded, easy to find on Ebay....but like jman said....just lay it in a bay but be careful moving the computer.

[mccoady]

Thanks I think I would prefer picking up some drive rails. While there's a lot listed on eBay I'm not seeing one for my specific XPS 8700?

[drjtech]

Here's a Dell Community discussion:

XPS 8700 Adding Second Hard Drive
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19521716

[mccoady]

Thanks very much! I kept messing with it and finally got it! I still might pick some of those rails up though. Thanks again!

[LMotlow]

Unsecured hard drives are subject to damage from vibration -- not to mention some unknowing idiot moving your PC around to clean up or fetch something off the floor. An unmounted hard drive colliding with your motherboard will be all she wrote for your Dell.

[nic2k4]

I still might pick some of those rails up though.

You mean a drive cage (refer to page 38 of the fine user manual).

When I need to add more drives to a case that has no space left I like to use a drive cage recovered from an old computer case. Sometime I just snip it apart and only use the sides. I just line up the slots with the bottom drive screw holes and use the longer case screws to mount it instead of the short drive screws. You can do the same thing with duct metal strapping, it's just not as pretty.

[hech54]

Mine are like these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-8-pair-different-Dell-Drive-Rails-16-total-/20123540055...item2eda908768

[redwudz]

A bit late, but if you have a spare SATA internal connection and a spare PCI blank backplane, you could add a external SATA HDD. I've done a few with just a SATA>eSATA rear panel connector.

Or if you have a space PCI type slot, you could use a PCI>SATA or eSATA card. A external SATA most times runs the same speed as a internal HDD and allows for easy changes or expansion in a tight chassis.

[mccoady]

Ok I ran into an issue I can't figure out. He had his computer monitor and his HDTV mirrored on his old computer so I figured this would be a snap on his new one. His HDTV is connected via an DVI (PC) to HDMI (TV) cable and that connection works fine. The 8700 came with a NVIDIA GeForce GT 720 1GB DDR3.

When I change the setting on my computer display setting I can't seem to get the HDTV to mirror the computer monitor. If I change multiple display setting to Extend or Duplicate it will briefly display on the TV and then revert back to the computer monitor after saying invalid format.

Now this same setup worked with his 6 year old Dell and a cheap video card so this has got me stumped. If I disconnect the computer monitor it will display on his TV with no issues. What do you make if this?

Could not using a regular HDMI cable instead of DVI to HDMI to connect the HDTV somehow be causing the issue even though it worked fine with his old computer?