Installing an internal 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,

 

[DL]

You can remove a dvd drive (but be aware of any heat/ventilation issues with
the hd)
Utra ATA is not the same as sata, to use sata your motherboard needs to
support it, ie have a sata connector (though you can buy sata>ide
connverters)
An internal HD can be used in an external case, allthough depending on the
connection used and the hd usage there may be a performance hit

 

[M.I.5¾]

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.

Yes you can. You will require a pair of rails to make the drive the same
width as the DVD drive was. These should be available from any good
computer shop. Alternatively, you may find a friend has got a box full of
them and will happily part with a pair.

Lastly, is
the drive listed above the same as a SATA drive?

No. ATA (now sometimes unofficially called PATA) is a parallel interface,
whereas SATA is a serial interface with completely different connectors.

 

[Paul]

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,

The Dell site has manuals. To find them, you need to know the name and
model number. For example, this one is for a Dimension 4600.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/bp/4600i/sm/parts.htm

You can see they have a couple 3.5" bays on the inside of the machine,
in the pictures on that page.

You also need to check what ports are available for connecting a drive.
In that example, there are two ribbon cables, for a total of four drives,
The ribbon cable has limited reach, so not all possible combinations of
bays and cables will work.

That machine also has two SATA ports, and SATA cables are the thin ones.
There is one drive per SATA cable, and that means more flexibility in terms of
cabling.

Hard drives use either the ribbon cable (PATA) or they use the newer
thin serial cable (SATA). Make sure you are buying the correct one,
based on what ports are available for the drive. To do that properly,
you'd want to inspect the inside of the machine, and see how the
current drives are connected. The manual may not contain details about
how they are currently wired.

Paul

 

[BigJim]

you can basically put a extra hard drive any where in the case there is
room.
As long as the date cable can be attached (ide drive) power cable also. If
it is a sata drive you will need a
sata cable to connect to the motherboard. I have drilled the bottom of the
case
and shimmed the drive for a mount there. I have hung them upside down of the
main hard drive cage.

 

[Rich Barry]

Steve, sure you can do that. Just make sure that the drive is somewhat
secure in the Optical drive bay.
No, your drive is not the same as a SATA drive. Your drive has a IDE
connector which is totally different.
Depending on how old your computer is you may not be SATA compatible
unless you purchase a SATA PCI
Card. So I would stick with the IDE hard drives. For more info you can
google SATA & IDE