bonnie
Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Posts: 1
Location: Raleigh, NC
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 Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 10:28 am Post subject: Upgrading to a SATA drive |
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| I have a P4 3gHz with a 160gig HDD. I'd like to get a larger drive and I see most the drives out there now are SATA drives. I believe mine is an PATA. How easy is it to upgrade? Also, I only have space for one drive. Any suggestions on how to upgrade also. |
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Mike
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2009 10:06 am Post subject: |
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You can still find IDE drives. It is the easiest way to upgrade. If you want to use SATA, you will probably have to use a PCI SATA controller card. If you take that route, be aware that most SATA drives are now SATA-II (faster). Most PCI SATA controller cards are SATA-I. Depending on the drive and the controller, you may have to jumper the SATA-II drive to SATA-I to even get the new drive to boot.
My recommendation is to go with another IDE drive to replace your present drive. What brand is your present drive? If it is Western Digital, you can get a great deal on an upgraded drive from their web site. Otherwise, BestBuy and TigerDirect should have what you need.
When you get the new drive, if you "image" the new drive from the old one and then resize the partition to the full size of the new drive, you will not have to reinstall anything. The new drive should boot immediately in your computer. |
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