second hard drive

"is it easy to install a second internal hard drive?"

Yep

"will it be cheaper"

Yep

"more stable than getting another external drive?"

Not necessarily.

Hi wob,

I have the same computer as you and installing a second internal hard drive was easy. Instructions including a QuickTime video can be found here:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75314

It's just a case of setting the jumper correctly on the back of the new drive (to slave), screwing it to the existing drive bracket and plugging in the power and ribbon cables.

You just need a standard ATA (parallel not serial) desktop hard drive. I bought a 120GB drive as it doesn't seem entirely clear whether QuickSilvers can make full use of higher capacity drives using the onboard ATA 66 controller.

It should be cheaper as external drives are often just internal drives mounted in a FireWire or USB enclosure containing an ATA to FireWire/USB bridge. Consequently you're not paying for the enclosure or bridge.

Hi wob,

installing a second drive is a very similar process to the second part of replacing the existing drive. Just leave your existing drive untouched and mount the new drive in the drive bracket above the existing one.

You need a 3.5" IDE (parallel ATA) desktop hard drive. I bought a Seagate Barracuda purely because that was the make and model of the existing drive, not that it matters as such, but it had been reliable and quiet and the new drive has been the same.

To keep the cost down, I got a bare bones drive from Komplett.co.uk i.e. basically just a drive in a cardboard box with no fancy packaging or software which tends to be Windows specific anyway. Unfortunately they don't seem to sell 120GB drives anymore as capacities have increased since. With your computer you should have received a small plastic bag containing four drive mounting scews. You'll need these to screw the drive to the bracket or buy some new ones (assuming they don't come with the new drive).

To give you an idea of cost, microdirect.co.uk have a 120GB Seagate Barracuda (8MB Cache 7200 rpm ATA 100 - the same as mine) for just over fifty pounds, although I've never ordered from them before. You could check macwarehouse ( www.macwarehouse.co.uk ) although their website seems to be down at the moment.

I hope this helps.

I'd go with the 8MB cache version as it's only marginally more expensive:

http://www.macwarehouse.co.uk/catalogue/item/SEADR371

The QuickSilvers have an ATA 66 controller which imposes a limitation on the maximum capacity. Three or four years ago drives bigger than 120GB weren't that common so it wasn't really an issue then. Higher capacity drives will almost certainly work, but you won't be able to make use of their full capacity. Also most drives these days are ATA 100 or 133 although they're backward compatible with ATA 66. You could install a PCI card containing an ATA 100/133 controller although it may be over kill for what you need.

Just to confuse the issue though, some QuickSilvers do actually seem to have large drive support:

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/IDE/bigide_drivesupport.html#storytop

It seems to depend on which boot rom version you have.

Macs do use standard PC drives and perhaps they're using PC in a general sense anyway, so I'm sure it would work. It may be that Seagate provide some installation software that's PC specific but you won't need that anyway.

For memory I always use Crucial. Even if you don't buy from them you can always use their memory advisor tool to work out the type you need.

http://www.crucial.com/uk/

Hi

the only bits you need other than the drive itself are the four screws that are used to attach it to the existing drive bracket. My QuickSilver (the exact same model as yours) came with a small plastic bag containing them (I think it was in the bag containing the user guide and other bits of paper). If you're buying a bare OEM version of the drive at the cheapest price possible, I'm doubtful whether it will come with any. If you buy a boxed retail version, it should do along with a ribbon cable etc that you don't actually need.

I hope this helps.

I've never tried to buy just four drive mounting screws before. In your position I'd be looking for an old or scrapped PC, perhaps from work, and pinching them from that. I'd make sure you do use the right screws though, especially length wise, otherwise you may risk damaging the drive.