I'm about to add a 4-port USB 2 hub (yes I flashed my bios already), plus my original 40G harddrive in is failing, so I want to get my hands on a mother board manual quick before I intervene.
 
I believe the board is: ACPI\PNPOC01\1, Microsoft ACPI-compliant.
 
I can't seem to find anything of the kind with my original documentation (yes, I kept it all together), nor on the web.
 
Questions:
1.
Is the "Solutions Guide", which ships with the Dimension, meant to take the place of the system board manual? It covers most of the relevant information, but I still feel insecure about moving forward with the hardware replacement without a real mobo manual.
 
2.
I have two hard drive slots, one empty. Would it be possible/advisable to install the replacement drive as a slave in the second slot, back up to it, then flick it over to be the master?
 
The alternative is to install the usb 2 hub, buy an external back-up unit, back-up, then replace the harddrive and restore to it. Which is better?
 
Thanks, in advance, for any feedback you might have.