So I got a WD caviar black 1 T HD and two more 2 G Crucial RAM sticks.
Gateway FX530.
Hopefullly I can get a few more months of life out of her.
There's no jumpers on the HD as I assume it's an OEM.
Got it on Amazon.
Do jumpers matter on a SATA?
 
I'm removing the 500 G and putting in the 1 T and restoring.
 
Then later I'll replace the boot drive.
 
Anything hinkly to worry about or is this pretty cut and dried?
 
Thanks
 
WSS

 Yes, no jumpers on an SATA. Should be cut and dry unless you have a raid array. If you do and it's not one of the drives you’re replacing. I would unplug the raid array while you’re cloning the disk

Thanks!
OK so I put in the RAM and even though I had to start it a few times (windows wouldn't load) it finally came up.
8 gig fine and dandy.
 
Now as to the new 1 T HD....
I'm replacing the 500 G but I can't tell which drive is which.
3 bays and the bottom and top are filled.
The bottom has jumpers but not the top one.
How do I tell which is which?
I'd just add the 1 T in the empty slot but there are only 2 sets of cables.
 
BTW I loved Top Cat as a kid!!
Without usung Google who did his voice?
WSS

There are no jumpers, as noted, on SATA drives.  Older PATA style (IDE) drives do require a device type jumper.   Could it be you have a combination of both types?

Download and run the free Speccy program.  It will profile your hardware, and possibly help you ID which is which.

http://www.piriform.com/speccy

There are no jumpers, as noted, on SATA drives.

Hence my confusion.
I'd read that some were equipeed with a jumper to keep (forgive me if muy recollection is shaky) the transfer rate at 1.5 instead of 3.0.
Does that make any sense?
The spec sheet says it supports up to 4 SATA ll drives.
 
I will downoad that specs program.
Thank uyou.
WSS

http://raoulpop.com/2010/05/13/always-check-a-sata-drives-jumper-settings/

This is it.

Will run the diagnostic today.
Thanks again.
WSS

It looks like the stock setting on Western Digital drives is NO jumpers.

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/981/c/123/session/L3RpbWUvMTM1ODcwMTcwMy9zaWQvTHhUeUJOZ2w%3D#satadesktopjump
 
Same way for Seagate drives
http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/193991en