IDE To SATA Drive issues

[jmwilema]

Well..I like to think that I know a bit about computers but I find myself at a cross road. I built my own computer and packed up and went to college, here I am and my WD 250G hard drive is filling up fast, so I purchased a new Seagate 250G hard drive without realizing that all of my ATA/100 IDE ports are full.  I am now looking at purchasing a IDE to SATA adapter.  but my problem comes when I want to also connect a third CD-Rom drive to my system also.  Right now I am running with a single CD-Rom drive on a single IDE (there is NO way that I can change this so there are two devices on this cable, that is how my case is designed) and on the other IDE I have a CD Burner and my WD hard drive connected to the other IDE port.  What do you suggest that I do to connect my third CD drive and second hard drive?  Please note that I am running Windows Vista and have all other information for my computer if needed.  Please include brand names to devices recommended, and I am NOT going to replace/sell/buy another hard drive or cd drive to solve this issue.  I am also looking for a CHEAP but affective answer.  Thanks!!!

[jmwilema]

Also feel free to AIM me - jmwileman

[Dusty]

Remove your e-mail address or be prepared for the spammers.....

[jmwilema]

thanks, I was hoping that this would be a place of decent people, but I guess not.

[Dusty]

Yes, we're quite decent folks here but do get the odd troller passing thru'..

Onto your query.   Provided you have a pci slot available, is one of >>these<< cheap enough for you, or perhaps >>this<<, or something along those lines. If you opt for either please ensure you read the specs and reviews, some don't perform very well with atapi devices.

Good luck.

[Deerpark]

thanks, I was hoping that this would be a place of decent people, but I guess not.

It is not the members of this forum you need to worry about. Spammers are known to use software that scans forums, guest books and the like for email addresses. So unless you like spam, never post your email address (or any other personal info) in a public place.

[jmwilema]

Thanks Dusty, I think that I am going to go with the 2 port PCI connector. If I have any more questions I will post up here, but I think that solved my issue.

[Dusty]

You're welcome - glad to be of some small service.

BTW you might want to check your PSU power rating before hanging much more hardware on your pc especially if you're overclocked.  There's a free Lite calculator >>here<< and the Pro version with all the bells and whistles is shown to be priced at an exorbitant $1.99 (yep, just under two bucks).  I've never used it but if you want another calculator there are lots on the WWW.  You would want a safety margin in addition to the required power rating, so if the required rating was say 450w you would want something like 600w for safety.  A psu which cannot withstand the peak loading can cause absolute havoc with hard drives.

Don't omit to backup your work to another medium (cd/dvd etc) hard drives  have been known to die suddenly.

Good luck with your pc and with your studies.

[jmwilema]

Yeah I acually thought of that before I built my computer and how much I would want to be able to add to it, so I am good, my board will comply along with my power supply. but thank you for being concerned, not many people would go out of the way to help others in checking that stuff. thanks again for all your help.

[netforce25704]

another question on this line .... I have the PCI adaptor card because MY MOBO (biostar) only has one IDE port.. I wish to connect 2 HD's and a DVD burner,which the card allows me to do. However, both HD's have windows XP installed on them, will this cause a conflict when I boot up even if I have the Jumpers set correctly ?
 I am also assuming that both HD's should be on the same IDE slot on the card.. I only have the card. no manual or software but I did DL the driver from the Maxtor site  for it , just no "read Me" file ....

[Dusty]

Netforce - you should start your own topic for your query - good forum etiquette.

Having an operating system on both hard drives will not be a concern provided that the hdd you boot from does not have a dual-booting Boot.ini file.

I would suggest that both hdd's be on the mobo ide as master/slave and the dvd burner on its lonesome on the card - or did you mean you want to install an additional two hdd's and the burner?

What is already installed on the mobo ide?

[netforce25704]

Thanks Dusty  for the info was unsure where to post this as a new question .Just connecting  My old HD with a new one and a DVD burner total (3) three. Two (2) HD's off the MOBO and the DVD (1) burner  by it's lonesome got t ...Thanks again 

[Dusty]

You're welcome - thanks for coming back at us.