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General discussion

can i put a third rom drive in my pc

Sep 24, 2004 7:56AM PDT

could any one tell me if i can put a third dvd drive in my pc. i already have a dvd rom and a dvd writer, i want to know if i can put a dual layer dvd burner in with out having to take the older burner out.

Discussion is locked

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A standard PC has four IDE ports
Sep 24, 2004 8:02AM PDT

Other than the two existing DVD's you have at least one hard drive. If nothing else is there you have an IDE port to use.

Else you can add a PCI card that will give you four more ports.

Else you can get an external USB type.

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Re: can i put a third rom drive in my pc
Sep 26, 2004 4:31AM PDT

Check your mother board, if it has 2 IDE sockets, you can use up to 4 connections of HDD, DVD, CDRs, what ever the case applies. IDE cable connectors come with two terminals in them while others only have one, ergo, 2 IDE sockets x 2 IDE cable input terminals = 4 connections.
Of course 1 connection is reserved for your HDD which is the master (if you onle have one HDD).
Set-up:
1. 1st IDE socket with one master + 1 slave (IDE0)
2. 2nd IDE socket with one master + 1 slave (IDE1)
3. You can use both the DVD burner and the DVD ROM in the 2nd IDE socket (IDE1)(assuming that you use the IDE0 for the HDD), but ensure that one is set to master while the other one is slave, check settings at the back of the CD/DVD drives, there is a small plastic jumper connector in it, you can change its setting into master, slave or cable select by selecting the right jumper setting (the jumper setting is also imprinted in the driver label).
If that is not the case since some MOBOs have only one IDE socket, you will need an external drive (PCI or USB what ever the case)

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It is possible but why the hell....
Sep 27, 2004 12:11AM PDT

would you want too (apart from being a bower bird!!)- as far as i am concerned 2 CDROM's is one too many - they just slow your machine down and are a never ending cause of problems - so unless you have a definate reason, I would keep them to a minimum.
Peter

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Re: It is possible but why the hell....
Sep 27, 2004 2:42AM PDT

I agree with Pete partially. Why would you need 3? Just upgrade the writer. Put the older one in external box if you want,could have a use. Pete, the reason for DVDRom AND a DVDRW is to do disc to disc burning. Otherwise you have to load to harddrive before burning and that takes extra time. That is still necessary for movies, but not for audio and data discs. chuck

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disk to disk
Sep 27, 2004 11:14PM PDT

Chuck,
I have 4 or 5 CDROMS but have decided one is enough. Burning on the "fly" i just encounted too many problems and went through too many disks. Now i burn via my hard disk and NEVER have any problems. There is just too many software/hardware bugs associated with CDROM at the moment - and until they (all manufacturers associated with CDROMS) get their act together we will end up spending more on lost blank disks than the CDROM and associated programs.
Peter

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Re: disk to disk
Sep 28, 2004 5:23AM PDT

Curious. I use Nero(since version 5, 5.5, 6 and now 6.something) in Windows and KBE in Linux, and the only coaster I ever made was when I forgot what I was doing and opened another program. Now DVDs are another matter.
Still a situation with finding which brand works best in your burner(for each format). Forgot something"Don't use
cheap media". Only name brand-in CDs- like TDK, Memorex, Yamaha, Maxell. chuck

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CDRWs
Sep 28, 2004 7:40AM PDT

Burning an image thru hard disk is good practice but may cause too much defragmentation later on as you copy and delete files, too much a defragmentation decreases program execution.
Before, I used to encounter wasted CDs (using a Sony CDRW) even if I use branded CDs like Kodak, Maxell, Verbatim, Sony, Philips, etc. until I replaced my burner. I am now using a Samsung 52x32x52 burner with buffer underrrun protection feature and had encountered only 1 burning defect out of 30, and I am using generic or non-branded CD's. I also lower the burning speed and I am using Nero Burning ROM version 6. I had the file checked for corruption as well as create a CD image before I execute the burning process (an added feature of Nero). As what I know, Samsung and Lite-on CDRWs are also capable of burning softwares that have Safe Disc and Securom protection.

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Re: can i put a third rom drive in my pc
Sep 27, 2004 7:44AM PDT

relm

Couple of items not mentioned from the other posts

1. Power supply
2. Heat removal

Bill
.