adding a hard drive

[Guest]

I have a Dell computer running xp pro with an 80 gig Ultra ATA hard drive.
There is only one hard drive bay but there are two optical drive bays that I
am currently using. Can I take out one of my DVD drives and put a hard drive
in that bay that would work along with my current drive? I want to get an
internal drive because of the cost savings over the external. Lastly, is
the drive listed above the same as a SATA drive?
Thank you,

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Yes, it is ok to do that, and no, an Ultra ATA drive is not SATA. To
confirm, open the side and look at the cabling to the drive. If it is the
same type of cabling to the hard drive as it is to the CD/DVD units, your
hard drive is just a regular PATA.

 

[Guest]

Thank you Mike. One more question. I opened my computer and confirmed that
the HD uses the same cabling as the DVD.
Can I pop that cabling off the DVD and plug it into the new hard drive or do
I have to piggy back it onto the hd that's in my dell?
Ooops, one more question. If my current drive is a Pata, what should I be
looking for in a new drive. Pata; Sata; IDE;
Thanks again,

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Steve

After the introduction of SATA (Serial ATA), IDE has been retroactively
renamed PATA (Parallel ATA)..

You just need a regular PATA/IDE drive. The cabling will fit ok.

Dell generally set the jumpers on the drives for CS (Cable Select). You may
need to visit the hard drive manufacturer web site to confirm position of
the jumper(s) on the back of the hard drive.

Also check the jumper of the optical drive removed as this will confirm
whether the drives are in fact jumpered as CS or as Master/Slave.

You will also need a mounting kit as hard drives are 3.5in and optical
drives are 5.25in

http://www.directron.com/mis-kit-hd.html