Whoohooo! Glad I could help. I know I always find it surprising how much effort is needed if I don't do it for a while.

Now I just need to know how to configure startup concerning my 2nd hd (no OS on it) I want to reconnect after with sufficient cable.

Yeah, my thumbs HURT, had to push really hard to get them in, LOL!

Oh, is the second drive new? You'll almost certainly need to change jumpers on one or both of the drives. Master/Slave/Cable Select

Master is the boot drive, if you use CS then it's the drive at the end of the cable. Slave won't boot, if you have CS it's in the middle.

IDE drives generally come set to Master, two masters on the same cable will go wonky.

Looks like I need to do a little more studying on this part & try another day.

I had no idea, SATA or PATA - but I know PATA is more involved so I gave that info, if they're SATA they'll be less scary now

i love you all, you know... but - hm - could you turn back from geekish to english again? i do not understand one word

PacoPooley: Just keep Manu away from cables and you win a cookie

deal