Stupid question...

[sam112]

What is the difference between a IDE hd, SATA hd and SCSI hd.

I know some will be laughing right now, but I am only learning about computers at this stage and looking to replace my current hd that died (see other thread if u can help)

What should i be looking to use in my PC as a 2nd hd to store pictures and stuff on that is reliable enough not to die?

Kind Regards and many thanks!
Samantha.

[sam112]

Anyone?

[LPDad]

Hi Sam

IDE drives are those that connect to the motherboard with a wide flat Cable. Typically these drives are found on all Computers that older than 2 years. These drives are currently slower the the newer drives and will probably be phased out completely in the near future....in fact Seagate announced a few months ago that they will stop producing them at years end.

ATA (SATA... for Serial ATA) drives are the newer drives and were first introduced about 2-3 years ago. These drives are used in most of the new computes being sold today. They connect to the motherboard via a very small flat cable. Recently the newest SATA drives have 2 settings, the original 1.5 speed and a newer 3.0 speed. to use the 3.0 speed you need a newer motherboard that supports it. typically these drives have a little switch that lets you choose between the 2 speeds.

The SCSI drives are pretty damn fast, they have been around for a long time, and are typically VERY EXPENSIVE. Very few home computers have these kind of drives. Most of the time you need a special controller card plugged into your motherboard that controls the SCSI.

If your computer is 3 years old the you most probably need a IDE Drive.
if your computer is 2-3 years old you could have either an IDE or a SATA. Simply open the case and look at the type of cable that connects your motherboard to the hard drive. If it is wide and flat you have an IDE.
If it is connected with a small cable (about the size of a childs finger) then you have a SATA drive.

I doubt if you have a SCSI drive.

Hope this helps.

-Kim

[LPDad]

BTW...don't ever be afraid to ask computer questions. At one time or another we were ALL learning...Hell...we are all Still learning.

ALSO...I just reread your post and noticed you want to add a SECOND DRIVE....Look at your original hard drive to see what kind you have.
If you have a IDE drive you should be able to add a second drive. you need to look at the cable attached to the drive. there should be 2 black connectors near the end of the cable...one is attached to your hardrive...the other connector should be about 3 inches down the cable (between your harddrive and the motherboard). This is the "slave position". the connector on the very end of the cable is the "master position"
if your cable only has a connector to the motherboard and second on the end connect ed to your hardrive (you only have 2 wide black connectors one on each end) then you need to go and buy an IDE CABE with 3 connectors. these are very cheap, and in fact one will probably come with your new hard drive.
you will also need to make sure you have an unused white plug coming out of your power supply (PSU). This white plug supplies power and will plug easily into your new hard drive.

IF your computer uses SATA drives you need to look on your motherboard where the thin cable is connected (the cable from the hard drive to the motherboard). most always you will see 2 or more of the little plugs on the motherboards that the SATA cable connects to.
If you have a SATA drive you will NEED to BUY a correct length SATA Cable (they do NOT come with your new hardrives...at least not very often.) Thes cables will typically run you about$6.00 or so. You will ALSO need to make sure your PSU has a special small black plug that will supply power to your new harddrive. If you do not see one the the easiest thing to do is to get a Power Supply to SATA plug or a SPLITTER which supplies 2 plugs for power of the SATA type. One end plugs into an unused WHITE power plug and changes that to a smaller SATA Plug....or 2 SATA plugs if you bought the Splitter.

Hope this helps. If not email me. (I cleaned out my message box so the message should get through now)

or email me


Good luck

-Kim

[LPDad]

One last question.. How the hell did you hear about me???
LOL.... I have been "away" for quite some time..for a number of reason..basically trying to raise a family. When you tried to message me I got an email notice.

It was sure nice to know someone remembered me.
Guess I had better get involved again.

[sam112]

hahaha I actually Googled 'dead hard disk?' and this forum came up... You seemed to be the most willing to help from the people I could see so thought you would be the best contact..

Thank you so much for putting this stuff in terms that I could understand.. Greatly appreciated

[sam112]

Oh. the hard disk that died was a 2nd one in the PC (which I am currently using) that we used to store photo's, music and so on. The other one has the operating system and is fine (thank god!) My only concern is getting the files off the dead drive.. Is it ok to have both drives running as master drives? Apparently thats how its been set up.. I'l open her up and have a look tonight at what type of drives they are.

I'l email you soon.

Once again, thank you so much for your time! Who would have thought the best help I could get was from another country.. Computer fix it guys here dont seem to do a very good job... :/

[LPDad]

Glad to help Sam. Wish I could actually guarantee a fix for your problem.
As for "help from another Country"....you will notice that pretty everyone here is from different countries...we all have a common interest (ok that does sound pretty corny...lets just say we are all trying to figure out how to keep our computers working and improving with the least hassle possiple...Ok we are Geeks.

The best place to get help is online in forums...just have to find the right forum.
This website used to be one of the hottest and most active help sites around. I have not been active here for several years (for family/job reasons.. but your need for help dragged me back...I have been in your position before and so I know your frustration, better than you think.

We only ask, as you learn, that you to help someone (anyone) else when they have a problem and you can help out. That is how we all learn. keep it up and pretty soon you will be the "expert"....Especially if you are ultimately able to recover your data. If/when that happens please post here how you solved your problem for others to lean from.

With regard to your current problem....you cannot have 2 drives set as "master" ON THE SAME CABLE. The drive on the end of the cable is always designated as Master and the one attached to the middle of the cable is designated "slave". On pretty much all computers that are less than 4 years old you can set the "jumper switch" (on the harddrive iteself) to the CSL or CS (CSL = cable Select) and the computer will automatically assign the drives correctly.

Some info we need: What brand is your computer? How old is it?? How long have you had it?? What operating System are you using?? Are you single?? (LOL...just kidding), What Model Number is your computer?

Your next step will to be to go into the BIOS and check to see if your motherboard can "see" the afflicted harddrive. Once I get the above info I can tell you how to do that.

In the worse case scenario you drive is totally dead. Your only option in that case is to send the drive to a datarecovery center, where they will dissemble the drive in a special sterile room and do a special scan of the spindle itself and they should be able to recover your data....unfortunately this can be very expensive (google "Disk Data Recovery" or something similar and you might be able to get an idea of the prices they charge).

You have to determine if your data is worth the expense... The music is pretty much not worth it (it might take you a while but you should be able to replace it)...unless it has the latest Symphony that you Wrote and have yet to publish...OR if it has Pavarotti's Last Aria which is the only copy in existence...Which WOULD BE PRICELESS then you would need to recover it. (you could always Share it with me and we could sell it and probably not have to work another day in our lives !!!)..Hahaha.
Your pictures are another story. Those are probably priceless to you and not replaceable.

HOPEFULLY... if we can get your BIOS to "see" the harddrive then we might be able to try a bunch of special programs and attempt to recover your data...your pictures at the very least.

Provided we are able to scan your harddrive with several of these programs (I have found that usually multiple tries with different programs give better results that trying with a single program) we might be able to save some of your data

Also...Do you know how to use Bittorrent?? (it might make things easier..I will explain later. ) If you do not know what that is don't worry about it.

I will check in later.

-kim