Hard drives

[gloomer]

I'm in dire need of a new hard drive, mine being only 80gb. However, I don't want to throw the 80gb one away. I was wondering if I could use both hard drives.

I need to find out what kind of hard drive I have (SATA, IDE, ATA,) all these names are confusing me. But I need to find out what type of Hard drive I have, and which one to get, and if I can have both going at the same time.

Sorry if I sound a little confusing. I'm just a bit rushed.

 

[rkagin]

If it's a desktop, open it up and determine if the hard drive has a fat cord (IDE) or 4-pin cord (SATA).

As for installing a second hard drive, I believe it's just as easy as popping it in and making sure your bios sees the drive. From there, just format the drive to your desires.

 

[gloomer]

Alright, there's a 4 pin cable that does not look like it's connected to anything, and a smaller cable from the HDD that plugs directly into the motherboard.

So it's SATA I assume? Unfortunately, there's only one slot for a hard drive and doesn't look like there's room for more. Guess I'll have to sell it on craigslist or something heh.

If that above is all true, and it is a SATA, any recommendations? Preferably from NCIX.com - Canada's Premier Computer Store - Great Technology, Service and Selection. because it's the store closest to me. I'm looking for something around 250gigs to 500, but not lower. I'm just hoping the price is under $120.

Thanks!

EDIT: Also, will the physical size of the drive matter? 3.5inch vs 2.5inch?

 

[carnageX]

3.5" is used in desktops, 2.5" is used in laptops.

 

[rkagin]

These seem to be what you're looking for:

NCIX.com - Buy Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 3.5IN 500GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 32MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive - ST3500320AS In Canada.
NCIX.com - Buy Western Digital SE16 500GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB Cache 8.9MS NCQ Hard Drive OEM 3YR MFR Warranty - WD5000AAKS In Canada.

Both are under 100 CAD.

 

[Trotter]

ATA = IDE = EIDE = wide flat ribbon cable

SATA = thin cable, maybe 1/4" wide

Since you don't have room for another drive in the cage, do you have a spare drive bay? If so, you can use this to mount the drive:
Removable drive tray