bought wrong type of hard drive now what

i did a stupid thing. i bought a new sata hard drive. thought i was getting the pata. didnt figure it out until i opened the static bag. what can i do with the drive? i dont know much about sata drives.

 

The controller would be the best bet as most places won't take hardware back unless it's faulty but that really depends on were you got it.

 

if i get a controller card and put it in would it show up like a reg drive?

 

Uhmmm, what is a "PATA" drive?

Now if it is a "non-existent" acronym. Let's move on.

If your motherboard does not have SATA connections and support, then you will have to buy a plug in controller card to get it operational. The downside is that you have to spend more money. The upside is that you have a few more IDE connections. SATA if that is the case.

Keep in mind that when you do get the drive installed & recognized in the BIOS, you will have to format it. Windows might only do the formatting for the "C" drive when starting up a new system with the disk in the boot drive.

TC

 

PATA = Parallel ATA
SATA = Serial ATA
I'm not sure if it's paralell or parallel. Anyway you get the idea.

Dave

 

i think its parallel nehow i rekon if ur mobo is old enough maybe its time to upgrad nehow and u could pick one up for like $60 u coould pick one up cheap and then u can hook it up that way (pprobs cheaper than getting a controller card nehow

 

its pretty simple...buy cheap hardware, and don't get suprised when it craps out right after the warranty expires. at least get a decent mobo, one for $60 are going to be very crappy brands.

 

my comp is 2 years old. i have upgraded stuff to keep it semi current. i have two hard drives right now. i am taking the 250gb out and putting it in another comp. i bought the new hard drive to replace the 250gb. but it was the wrong type. i saw pci cards at outpost.com that i think would work. the 320gb wont be my main drive but like a slave. would it work like any other drive i add? start windows and formate it. the money for the card doesnt bother me. it is still less then selling it and buying another drive. plus the speed gain from the sata drive i think is worth it.

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3864957?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

thanks for all your help

 

yeah good point (i was in a rush when i wrote that so thats for the "untidyness" of it) yeah ur right about it being a cheap brand but he needs a solution and i just saying that maybe thats the cheapest solution and do you really want a controller card taking up space?

 

well considering most computers have several free PCI slots its a pretty good option as opposed to buying a new mobo. His current setup is only 2 years old, so as long as its upgraded its easily got a few more years on it. I could understand if the computer was like 5 years old and way out dated, but a $40 or however much they're going for SATA card seems like the best option

 

only?

 

The one in the link he supplied was $22.00.

Dave

 

i wasnt 100% sure how a controller card work. it sounds like it works like i thought it would.
space to put a controller card in. i think ill just go with it. my comp isnt the best but its fine for what i do.

thanks for all your help.

p4 2.4
1gb ddr ram
with new hard drive 520gb
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
my graphics card went out on me 2 weeks ago so ill also be picking up a new graphics card.