Combining SATA and Ultra ATA-133

[sleeepr]

I have a Maxtor Ultra ATA-133 200gb drive on my present system and am looking to add a second drive. My IDE channels are completely filled - can I throw in a SATA drive and leave the IDE drive there as a second (backup, video files) drive?

Thanks for any input.

TA

[not important]

Are you saying you want to make the SATA your primary drive, with your OS on it?

[minsonngo]

Yes, if you have a SATA port open on the motherboard.

Otherwise you can add a SATA controller card.

[sleeepr]

My thought was to rig the SATA drive as my primary with OS, and the old drive to serve as a secondary.

I haven't checked the mb manual, but I think I've got the SATA slot available. If not, I could either add the controller card, or grab the 250mb IDE drive with external case and USB/Firewire connection.

As long as we're here - I currently have all my IDE connections occupied (hard drive, Zip, CDRW and DVDRW). Two IDE ports with dual connection cables on each. Is there any way to eke out additional IDE connections if I want to add a second DVDRW?

TA

[glc]

Nope. However, you can buy an IDE controller card. Personally, if you want 2 DVDRW's, I'd pull the CDRW. Do you really still need the Zip drive?

External housings are a good option for drives that will just be used for storage. They aren't as fast as internals, but it isn't that bad. Firewire seems faster and more consistent than USB 2.0.

[sleeepr]

Yeah, Zips are a little archaic. I used it as a backup for important files - but with thumb drives, it's time to shelve it.

Thanks to all for the help. Looks like I'll check out the documentation on the mobo, slap in either a SATA or another IDE drive, and trash the CDRW (I think it has bugs, anyway). Maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to crack open the case and mess around with the technology!

Love this stuff.

TA