I have an IDE (PATA) hard drive, but the motherboard I plan to get only has one IDE slot, which I plan to use for two CD/DVD drives. I've heard that there are converter cables out there that can allow IDE devices to utilize SATA slots. I was wondering if these are safe or reliable, and if they require extra drivers to work, etc. Vista needs drivers during an install for SATA drives, but what about IDE drives using a SATA slot? Life is confusing.

Most IDE Cable contain a slave connector and a master connector, so you could connect one drive as slave and the other as master.

No. I have one IDE slot in my motherboard, used for a master DVD drive and a slave DVD drive. Other than that, it has 8 SATA slots and no other IDE slots. Therefore, I would need a converter for my IDE HDD.

oh sorry i misread. Im not sure about their performance as i have never used one but i don't think drivers will need to be installed for it, and im not sure about the vista issue.

I have the same exact situation, In a week or so, i will let you know, I am planning to try an adaptor that lets me use my IDE HDD to SATA motherboard. I bought this one.

IDE Hard Drive to SATA Port Adapter , IDE to SATA Converter

good day