Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware (More info?)

I bought a second hard drive to install in a friend's Pavilion 7940 but
in researching the HP site, it stated that there is only one 3.5-inch
internal bay which is already being used by the hard drive that came
with the computer. When I opened up the computer, I discovered that
there is a second drive bay. I installed an old hard drive I had
laying around just to see if it would work and it does. Does anyone
know if there is some reason that I shouldn't install the new second
hard drive in this open bay? The only thing I can think of is that
maybe the power supply couldn't handle it long term. Would appreciate
any thoughts anyone might have on the subject.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware (More info?)

Two possibilities for long-term problems:

Power supply wattage capacity may be exceeded. The HP web site indicates that
the power supply is rated at 185w, which is probably sufficient. The math to do
a detailed power supply computation and the data to do the math are fairly
difficult. What else has been added to the computer? I would expect the
computer to need more memory for use by a sane person than originally delivered
by HP, who are chronic in low-balling the amount of memory delivered. (HP is
not alone in this respect. Ditto for Gateway, eMachines, Dell in my
experience.)

The additional heat generated by a second spinning hard drive can create
problems with ventilating heat in the fairly cramped HP chassis. Make sure the
chassis is cleaned regularly, removing dust and dirt with compressed air. Make
doubly sure that all cooling fans spin freely, without excessive noise, and free
of dust and dirt... Ben Myers

On 6 Jun 2005 09:07:28 -0700, "Barb" <bsmullenix@houston.rr.com> wrote:

>I bought a second hard drive to install in a friend's Pavilion 7940 but
>in researching the HP site, it stated that there is only one 3.5-inch
>internal bay which is already being used by the hard drive that came
>with the computer. When I opened up the computer, I discovered that
>there is a second drive bay. I installed an old hard drive I had
>laying around just to see if it would work and it does. Does anyone
>know if there is some reason that I shouldn't install the new second
>hard drive in this open bay? The only thing I can think of is that
>maybe the power supply couldn't handle it long term. Would appreciate
>any thoughts anyone might have on the subject.
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware (More info?)

Thanks for the reply Ben. My main concern was the wimpy power supply.
I went ahead and installed the second hard drive and told him to let me
know if they had any problems. I think the only things he has added to
the computer was a CDRW and upped the memory to 256mb. I may be
mistaken about the CDRW, it may have come with it. I couldn't believe
the 11mb of video memory shared. I did tell him that if he ever bought
another computer, please get in touch with me so I can tell him what he
needs. HP ought to be ashamed of themselves for the the way they push
these systems on uninformed customers. Many people have no idea what
they are buying when they go shopping. If the salesman tells them
that's all they need, they just have to take their word for it.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware (More info?)

According to the HP web site, the CD-RW is original.

Low-balling system memory is endemic in this business. I've seen Dell and
others selling 128MB XP systems, to get the price down. This is downright
stupid and causes customers to wonder why their systems are slow. It's not just
HP that does it.

The 11MB shared graphics memory is due to the fact that HP (and, again, other
name brands) often use Intel's Extreme Graphics integrated on the motherboard,
rather than a separate graphics card. For most use, the integrated graphics is
not bad at all, but it does take away valuable memory from the system.

.... Ben Myers

On 6 Jun 2005 16:12:52 -0700, "Barb" <bsmullenix@houston.rr.com> wrote:

>Thanks for the reply Ben. My main concern was the wimpy power supply.
>I went ahead and installed the second hard drive and told him to let me
>know if they had any problems. I think the only things he has added to
>the computer was a CDRW and upped the memory to 256mb. I may be
>mistaken about the CDRW, it may have come with it. I couldn't believe
>the 11mb of video memory shared. I did tell him that if he ever bought
>another computer, please get in touch with me so I can tell him what he
>needs. HP ought to be ashamed of themselves for the the way they push
>these systems on uninformed customers. Many people have no idea what
>they are buying when they go shopping. If the salesman tells them
>that's all they need, they just have to take their word for it.
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware (More info?)

Ben Myers wrote:
> Two possibilities for long-term problems:
>
> Power supply wattage capacity may be exceeded. The HP web site indicates that
> the power supply is rated at 185w, which is probably sufficient.

No, it shows input power of 185W, output of 124 or 149W. With two CD type drives,
and two hard disks, that might be really marginal, particularly if they have the
124 watt version.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc [...] en&lang=en

Personally, I'd take this system and rebuild in a better case, with at least a 300 watt
supply. That's 300 watts output, not input, which is how power supplies are rated.




The math to do
> a detailed power supply computation and the data to do the math are fairly
> difficult. What else has been added to the computer? I would expect the
> computer to need more memory for use by a sane person than originally delivered
> by HP, who are chronic in low-balling the amount of memory delivered. (HP is
> not alone in this respect. Ditto for Gateway, eMachines, Dell in my
> experience.)
>
> The additional heat generated by a second spinning hard drive can create
> problems with ventilating heat in the fairly cramped HP chassis. Make sure the
> chassis is cleaned regularly, removing dust and dirt with compressed air. Make
> doubly sure that all cooling fans spin freely, without excessive noise, and free
> of dust and dirt... Ben Myers
>
> On 6 Jun 2005 09:07:28 -0700, "Barb" <bsmullenix@houston.rr.com> wrote:
>
>
>>I bought a second hard drive to install in a friend's Pavilion 7940 but
>>in researching the HP site, it stated that there is only one 3.5-inch
>>internal bay which is already being used by the hard drive that came
>>with the computer.

The specs show one internal bay used by the supplied hard disk, and another
3.5 inch external bay that was available. Probably has a punch-out cover
over it if you want to use it for removeable media. So the intention was
to allow another drive to be added, but the power and cooling might be marginal
for it. A 5400 rpm drive should be safer than a really fast drive.

So the system has 256 Megs with Windows ME still installed? Probably enough
memory, but I'll bet it's badly in need of a clean install by now. Your
friend is at the classical decision point whether to upgrade or replace.
ME is one of the worst releases Microsoft ever came out with, so I'd be
inclined to do a clean install of W2K, and leave XP to those who enjoy
working with bloated pigs. The original drive may be on its last legs,
so I'd put W2K on the new drive. You have to consider whether this much
work is justified on a fairly old system. Given the marginal power supply,
I wouldn't even leave the original drive in the box, unless you do upgrade
the box.

-Dave







When I opened up the computer, I discovered that
>>there is a second drive bay. I installed an old hard drive I had
>>laying around just to see if it would work and it does. Does anyone
>>know if there is some reason that I shouldn't install the new second
>>hard drive in this open bay? The only thing I can think of is that
>>maybe the power supply couldn't handle it long term. Would appreciate
>>any thoughts anyone might have on the subject.
>>
>
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware (More info?)

For sure, 124w is marginal. Thanks for the clarification. Just goes to show
that you can't accept at face value everything on the HPaq web site, not your
paragon of on-line tech support info... Ben Myers

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 07:01:39 -0600, David Kinsell <kinsell@poboxyz.com> wrote:

>Ben Myers wrote:
>> Two possibilities for long-term problems:
>>
>> Power supply wattage capacity may be exceeded. The HP web site indicates that
>> the power supply is rated at 185w, which is probably sufficient.
>
>No, it shows input power of 185W, output of 124 or 149W. With two CD type drives,
>and two hard disks, that might be really marginal, particularly if they have the
>124 watt version.
>
>http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&docname=bph06582&product=58464&dlc=en&lang=en
>
>Personally, I'd take this system and rebuild in a better case, with at least a 300 watt
>supply. That's 300 watts output, not input, which is how power supplies are rated.
>
>
>
>
> The math to do
>> a detailed power supply computation and the data to do the math are fairly
>> difficult. What else has been added to the computer? I would expect the
>> computer to need more memory for use by a sane person than originally delivered
>> by HP, who are chronic in low-balling the amount of memory delivered. (HP is
>> not alone in this respect. Ditto for Gateway, eMachines, Dell in my
>> experience.)
>>
>> The additional heat generated by a second spinning hard drive can create
>> problems with ventilating heat in the fairly cramped HP chassis. Make sure the
>> chassis is cleaned regularly, removing dust and dirt with compressed air. Make
>> doubly sure that all cooling fans spin freely, without excessive noise, and free
>> of dust and dirt... Ben Myers
>>
>> On 6 Jun 2005 09:07:28 -0700, "Barb" <bsmullenix@houston.rr.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I bought a second hard drive to install in a friend's Pavilion 7940 but
>>>in researching the HP site, it stated that there is only one 3.5-inch
>>>internal bay which is already being used by the hard drive that came
>>>with the computer.
>
>The specs show one internal bay used by the supplied hard disk, and another
>3.5 inch external bay that was available. Probably has a punch-out cover
>over it if you want to use it for removeable media. So the intention was
>to allow another drive to be added, but the power and cooling might be marginal
>for it. A 5400 rpm drive should be safer than a really fast drive.
>
>So the system has 256 Megs with Windows ME still installed? Probably enough
>memory, but I'll bet it's badly in need of a clean install by now. Your
>friend is at the classical decision point whether to upgrade or replace.
>ME is one of the worst releases Microsoft ever came out with, so I'd be
>inclined to do a clean install of W2K, and leave XP to those who enjoy
>working with bloated pigs. The original drive may be on its last legs,
>so I'd put W2K on the new drive. You have to consider whether this much
>work is justified on a fairly old system. Given the marginal power supply,
>I wouldn't even leave the original drive in the box, unless you do upgrade
>the box.
>
>-Dave
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>When I opened up the computer, I discovered that
>>>there is a second drive bay. I installed an old hard drive I had
>>>laying around just to see if it would work and it does. Does anyone
>>>know if there is some reason that I shouldn't install the new second
>>>hard drive in this open bay? The only thing I can think of is that
>>>maybe the power supply couldn't handle it long term. Would appreciate
>>>any thoughts anyone might have on the subject.
>>>
>>
>>