Help needed with fitting 2nd hd

jase_uk_2

Hi
Calling all the clever peeps out there! I have just purchased a Dell dimension 5150, I have a hard drive from an old pc (which has now gone to pc heaven) and wish to install this hard drive into the new Dell as it has pics of my daughter when she was born. The problem is my old drive is a Maxtor D740X-6L which i believe is an ATA and the Dell system supports SATA. Im not really that up on computers (i just tinker with the net and play music etc) so i would really appreciate any advice on how to fit the old drive into my new desktop.

wolfman

I'm sure the Dell will still have IDE connectors within it. Someone will probably confirm this, but I'm reasonably sure you'll be able to hook it up.

Best have a look inside. See how the dvd-rom is connected, it'll most likely still be ATA.

Chippy_Minton

Yes, you can fit your old IDE/ATA drive. See http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_harddrive&message.id=110423

rdwarr

Or just buy an external caddy for it and plug it into the USB2.0 port. Something like this from eBuyer would do the trick.

wonderfullife_2

Hi
I have the Dell 5150 and it has both sata and ide connections. The only problem I can see is, if I remember right the ide cable is very short, and the hard drive bays are on the other side of the pc, so you might have to buy a longer cable, but you can always have a look inside and check
But you can definately do it.
Hope this helps

jase_uk_2

Cheers everybody, after looking at the Dell link i managed to hook up my old hd and have sucessfully moved all my pics to the new pc. All i did was take out my dvd writer and replace it wit the hd, worked perfectly. Im now thinking of getting a power cable splitter and keeping it in there for good using the space where a floppy drive would go.
cheers again everyone

moonrakerz

Have you now got all your valuable pics on your new hd ? What do you do if that hd dies ?
Get a second new hd and put it in your new PC solely as a backup. VERY good insurance !

jase_uk_2

moonrakerz wrote:

Have you now got all your valuable pics on your new hd ? What do you do if that hd dies ?
Get a second new hd and put it in your new PC solely as a backup. VERY good insurance !

Ha No, ill burn it all on a disc, once bitten...