> -----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
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