* Jim,*

* Yes, I do have a free drive bay and one free IDE PCI slot. Also, I like 
the idea of having the drive inside the computer case as opposed to the 
outside of it. Would there be a power supply issue here? I noticed that the 
extra/unused cable connector that is supplied for a second drive hookup has 
a different configuration and is incompatible with the old drive. There is 
another unused connector there that does has the correct configuration but I 
believe it is for a ZIP drive hookup/installation and is a bit short in 
length. *

* *

On 7/11/05, James Maki <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Donald DeWitt
> >
> > Dear Members, I'm running a 4yr old Dell Dimension series
> > 4550. All my files
> > (Word, photos, MP3s and etc.) are stored on a Western Digital
> > Slave drive. I
> > recently acquired (new) a series 8400 Dell. When I attempted
> > to install the
> > slave drive from the old computer into the new I found that
> > the new computer
> > has an ATA Master drive and that all the connections to it
> > are unlike the
> > Western Digital connections that I'm use to seeing.
> >
> > Question: Is there a way I can install my old Western Digital
> > slave drive
> > into the new computer (as a slave) using adaptor wires? Would this be
> > practical? If not, what do you recommend?
> >
> >
> > Thank You for your advice,
> >
> > Don DeWitt
> 
> Don,
> 
> A quick look at the Dell website did not show an 8400 series anymore. But
> the models shown all had the newer Serial ATA (or SATA) drives. It may be
> possible to purchase a SATA to PATA (Parallel ATA, also known as IDE)
> adapter, but a quick search of some online stores revealed PATA to SATA
> adapters (i.e., and adapter to utilize a newer SATA drive on an older PATA
> interface, the opposite of what you want to do), but no SATA to PATA
> adapters.
> 
> I would suggest adding an IDE PCI card instead. As long as you have a free
> PCI slot in the computer, and an empty drive bay, you could add one of 
> these
> cards to allow access to your older PATA hard drive. The Promise Ultra 133
> TX/2 card (such as
> http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=130401
> and
> http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=130405
> would do the trick.
> 
> Another option if you have a free USB2 port is to add an external drive
> enclosure, such as
> http://www.dealsonic.com/plpmsiusb20e.html
> which would also give you access to the old slave drive.
> 
> Hope this gives you some ideas you can utilize.
> 
> Jim Maki
> [log in to unmask]
> 
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