Old DVD drive - usable?

[Studio2LH]

I have an old DVD drive on my old computer and i want to use it in my new build. It is old, I think made in 2005.

What things change over time in the realm of DVD/CD drives that i should watch out for?

Is it worth $35 to get a new one?

Thanks

[Detonate]

I would suggest you get a new drive and install both. It's handy having a second drive if you want to copy a DVD or CD.

[pam123]

Sure you can since motherboards still have one IDE connector.
I don't know what you're getting but you'll have to set the bios to IDE mode if you use that drive. It won't, for now, make much of a performance difference.

I have two IDE drives in my build, carried over from my older computer, and they're fine but if you've only got the the one drive to replace get an SATA optical drive call it money well spent and enable AHCI.

Get Vista with SP1 which will install the drivers automatically.
If you're going to use XP you'll need to have the drivers either on a floppy ( and a floppy drive installed) or, if your motherboard permits., a usb key.

More information on AHCI is here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance...ller_Interface

[Force Flow]

If it still works and you have an IDE controller, sure.

I've only had one DVD drive fail on me so far. It started burning faulty DVDs. But, it was used frequently, so I'm not surprised.

The only time I've had a CD drive go was due to mechanical failure.