New Hard Drive on Dimension E310

peejaroni

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Sep 14, 2008
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Hey everybody,
I have a Dell Dimension E310 with an 80 gigabyte hard drive, and its running out of room. I'm thinking of adding a second hard drive. What I want to know is:
1) Is there another slot or whatever to add a second hard drive? I googled it and it looks like I can, but I'm not sure. It'd be great if I wouldn't have to open up my case to figure this out because the fewer times the case is open, the less of a chance I feel like "experimenting" and "checking stuff out" and "pressing ALL the buttons I can see".

2) Most of the hard drives I see on newegg/tiger direct/mwave say "oem". Usually oem means that it comes with just the main thing (in this case a hard drive) so will I need any extra wires or doodahs if I get an oem hard drive? If I do need some cables I have a slightly older dell, could I cannibalize that for the right parts? Also, what is the advantage/disadvantage of retail v.s. oem hard drives?

3) I assume installing a second hard drive is relatively simple, but just in case is there a good guide someone could direct me to? Is there anything else I should know? Is there a particular 500GB hard drive that is better than the others? (My budget is 75 dollars)

And then just in case it is important, I run ubuntu linux 99% of the time.

Thanks for your help,
PJ
 

PianoManGSL77

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Jun 22, 2009
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http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-xVaBB8X6KhQ/adding_a_hard_drive_to_a_dell_dimension/

^
Movie for installing a hard drive on e310

I am thinking about updating my e310 hard drive also. If you open it, which isn't as scary as you think, you will see the hard drive slots if you follow the two chords that are snapped into the fan housing. This picture from wiki is the inside of the e310 and the hard drive slots are in the upper left corner. The blue parts are holders for the hard drives and I am sure they can be removed and reused. The sata power cable installed supports two drives, but you will need to have a sata data cable. I would suggest that if you are getting a large hard drive then you should just replace the existing one. That way you can use the existing data cable and blue holder. The only problem with this is that you have to start all over with a blank hard drive - you need your operating system installation disc and any other software. If you are looking for the right hard drive, make sure it is sata and I would suggest a 7200 rpm. You can find a few really cheap hard drives if you just search "dimension e310 hard drive" on ebay. And make sure to watch the static because it can wreck your hard drive.