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Thread: PC Hard Drive

  1. #1
    Team Cheap Bastard
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    Question PC Hard Drive

    I think my home computer hard drive is on its last legs. Any recommendations for a replacement and where to get it?

    Can someone explain the diff. interfaces? (SATA vs. IDE) How do I know which one I can/should use?
    Last edited by sammm; 07-23-2007 at 06:46 AM.

  2. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by sammm View Post
    I think my home computer hard drive is on its last legs. Any recommendations for a replacement and where to get it?

    Can someone explain the diff. interfaces? (SATA vs. IDE) How do I know which one I can/should use?
    Depends on what your sytem can support. SATA is new in the home pc moarket and unless you bought the computer in the last year or so I doubt you have sata capabilities.

    Look at the cables that connect the drives to the system board. If it is 2 rows of pins in a flat connector it is IDE. The sata drives use a much smaller cable.

  3. #3

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    The drives are now labeled "PATA" and "SATA"... Parallel ATA and Serial ATA.

    If your cable has a standard 40 pin connector with a wide ribbon cable then you want to buy a PATA drive. The SATA connector is about 3/4" wide. It's tiny.

    You can get a PATA to SATA converter or a SATA PCI card for your computer if you want to put in one of the newer type drives.

    If your hard drive goes south you can always try putting it in the freezer for a few hours to try and get your data back.

    RJ
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    Lightness? What's that? I drive a PRHT!

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by channelmaniac View Post
    If your hard drive goes south you can always try putting it in the freezer for a few hours to try and get your data back.

    RJ
    Wha??

  5. #5

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    Yes it works, at work we regurally sandwich failing laptop drives between two cans of cold soda to get the last bits of data off before complete failure. (We don't have a fridge, but we are right next to a breakroom stocked with free drinks.) The reason we don't stick it in the cooler is we don't want it walking off and condensation on the board could be an issue.

    Samm, if you take RJ up on the freezer idea, you might want to put it in a zip lock bag first.
    '06 RSX Type-S NBP

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    It's not dead yet and I do have an external back-up drive it's all backed-up to. Looking at newegg's site, I see ATA100 and ATA133. Can I use either? My PC is a little over 2 years old. The invoice states 'Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)' if that helps.

  7. #7

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    Now to answer your first question, other than the difference in plugs/interfaces the main difference between PATA/IDE and SATA is speed.

    IDE usually runs at either 66 MB/s or 100 MB/s or 133 MB/s where as SATA runs at 1.5 Gb/s and the newer one carries 3 Gb/s.

    Here are a couple pretty decent articles on the technologies.
    PATA/IDE Linke
    SATA Linke
    Last edited by Nexus Flux; 07-23-2007 at 08:43 AM. Reason: Added links
    '06 RSX Type-S NBP

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by sammm View Post
    It's not dead yet and I do have an external back-up drive it's all backed-up to. Looking at newegg's site, I see ATA100 and ATA133. Can I use either? My PC is a little over 2 years old. The invoice states 'Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)' if that helps.
    Sounds like a typo somewhere, see my last post above.
    '06 RSX Type-S NBP

  9. #9

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    If you have SATA then your MOBO will more than likely have IDE as well. But I would just put in what I took out

    Sata Cable


    IDE Cable
    Blah blah blah!

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    OK, I just popped the cover off the PC. It is indeed a SATA drive.

    Just like this one - LINKIE

    I just ordered this one - LINKIE (Free 3-day shipping too)
    Last edited by sammm; 07-23-2007 at 09:16 AM.

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    Be sure and take proper precautions when getting rid of the old one.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Majik View Post
    Be sure and take proper precautions when getting rid of the old one.
    BFH?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Majik View Post
    Be sure and take proper precautions when getting rid of the old one.
    Sock it before you soak it?
    Maybe 4 wheels aren't so bad after all... wickett.org
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    Shallow and Pedantic Majik's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sammm View Post
    BFH?
    I would guess anything that keeps the plates from being read. A big hammer could be fun, Ill let the experts tell us if that works or not...

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Majik View Post
    I would guess anything that keeps the plates from being read. A big hammer could be fun, Ill let the experts tell us if that works or not...
    More fun to disassemble and make wall clocks.
    Maybe 4 wheels aren't so bad after all... wickett.org
    It only goes to show when people can no longer discriminate on the grounds of race, religion, or sexual orientation, they can improvise and still find someone to hate. - Dave Moulton

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    Bad Moderator Donut Dave04's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Majik View Post
    Ill let the experts tell us if that works or not...
    According to our policy at Alcatel, all hard drives had to be put in to an industrial shredder that guaranteed no pieces bigger than 0.1" in diameter..... it was fun to see them do a rack at a time...
    --
    Dave
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  18. #18
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    Are there any utilities (freeware/shareware) that will allow me to clone my old drive to my new drive? If so, what are they?
    Last edited by sammm; 07-23-2007 at 02:20 PM.

  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by sammm View Post
    Are there any utilities (freeware/shareware) that will allow me to clone my old drive to my new drive?
    Yes.
    Maybe 4 wheels aren't so bad after all... wickett.org
    It only goes to show when people can no longer discriminate on the grounds of race, religion, or sexual orientation, they can improvise and still find someone to hate. - Dave Moulton

  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by tailchaser View Post
    Yes.


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