Hi All,

The question I have is regarding an old PATA drive in my current PC - I have got a new PC just arrived and rather than copy to disk and then reload I want to just install my current hdd into the new PC.

The new PC is fitted with 2 SATA hdd's (one with XP home on) and 2 IDE optical drives - if I disconnect one of the DVD drives, will I be able to install the old HDD in it's place and then transfer the data onto one of the new SATA drives?

All help appreciated.

TT

IDE is IDE-- it should work.Just don't make it the boot drive.

Hello Tealtrader,

The short answer is yes with dire warnings. Opening up your PC will void your warranty. The best way to approch this is to purchase an external usb case and install the drive in that. If you have already opened the PC then use an extra IDE cable and connect the drive to the secondary IDE connector.

LC

Depends on the maker, really. Dell encourages upgrades... while this is not technically an upgrade ---I don't see why transferring files as a temporary setup would be an issue. It could not hurt to call and ask,though.

That should be fine though one easier method would be getting/borrowing a usb enclosure or IDE adaptor

Thanks all - new system is barebones so upgrades allowed - no warranty to void.