[boober916]

Hi,

I'm looking for some direction. I just installed a WD1600JD serial ATA and I'm looking to use my old WD1200JD IDE as a second HD for storgae/backup. My motherboard is a ASUS A7N8X Deluxe.

Is it possible to use an ATA HD with an IDE HD on the same computer? If so, what do I need to do to get it to work?

Thanks for any help.

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Hi there-
is the SATA drive currently being recognized by your machine?

I want to be sure I understand whre you currently are, so we can get to where you want to be.
so, is this a new build, or an upgrade? if its an upgrade, are you currently booting using the IDE? want to boot to the sata, correct?

you can use the mixed drives no problem, so nothing to worry about there.

[audioboy]

Hi there-
is the SATA drive currently being recognized by your machine?

I want to be sure I understand whre you currently are, so we can get to where you want to be.
so, is this a new build, or an upgrade? if its an upgrade, are you currently booting using the IDE? want to boot to the sata, correct?

you can use the mixed drives no problem, so nothing to worry about there.

[boober916]

This is an upgrade. BIOS does not detect the ATA HD, but the machine will boot up and run Windows XP without any problems.

I want to install the IDE HD, it's not hooked up at the moment, and use it as storgae/back up. Also there is data on the IDE that I would like to get onto the new ATA HD.


Thanks

[audioboy]

OK , so are you planning a fresh install of windows to the sata?
if so, I would reccomend removing the IDE drive for now, so there is no chance of doing anything to it by accident.
also go into BIOS, and set the boot order. depending on the version of BIOS you have on that board, you will have to set it to boot to SATA, or boot other device.

your gonna need to install the sata drivers for it to be seen. these drivers should have come on a floppy with the mobo, or you can download them.

[boober916]

I already did that. The PC is running fine. Now I want to retreive the data from IDE HD, then use it as a back up and storage.

[audioboy]

sorry, I guess I didnt understand you before. so its up and running with the sata drive?

you should be able to just add the IDE drive, and have it show up in windows. copy files, everything else like normal.

only thing to watch for is if your boot order is trying to boot to the IDE drive before the sata. remove the IDE from the boot order if that happens.

[boober916]

Ok, I'll try that. thx

But why wouldn't the BIOS detect the SATA HD?

[audioboy]

sata is newer than most BIOS, and windows hasnt implemented full support for it yet. windows considers sata as a SCSI device, hence the need to add drivers during the install.

many BIOS will boot to sata, or scsi, or whatever else, just by setting them to boot to other device.
I had a look at the updates for your mobo, and there is a bios update that allows you to specify booting to scsi or sata.
so they are catching up, which is good to see!

[boober916]

Really? Do you have a link so I can update my BIOS?

Thanks for your help!

[audioboy]

Here you go. I had kept it open, jsut in case we needed to get anything from there

make sure you grab the right one for your boards revision number, etc.

got the IDE going happily?

[boober916]

I tried to hook up the IDE HD, but the computer is trying to boot from it and not my SATA HD. Any thoughts on that?

Here is what I did:

I set the boot order to 1) Floppy 2) CD 3) enabled boot to other device.
I exited BIOS and saved changes.
I powered down.
I hooked up the IDE HD, then powered up.

I must be missing something!

[audioboy]

make sure the hdd is completely not an option in the boot order. might have to leave one blank.

have a look at the manual too, they might have something about it. Ill go digging for it if you dont have it...

[boober916]

Audioboy, you are the mann!

I got them to work. I checked the BIOS boot order and I was missing something.
I switched it to:

1st - Floppy
2nd - CD
3rd - SCSI (was diabled)
boot to other - disabled.

It works. Thank you so much for your help, you saved me a lot of time and money.

[audioboy]

your welcome!

[boober916]

Hey Audioboy!

I got eveything working with your help. Thanks again!

There appears to be some corrupt portions on the old IDE HD. I was able to get all the data I needed.

I want to clear out the old IDE HD and use it for backup and added storage. I'm going to use Windows XP Home on the ATA HD. What would be the best way to go about this?

Reminder:

New HD - WD1600JD serial ATA
Old HD - WD1200JD IDE
Mobo - ASUS A7N8X Deluxe
AMD Athlon™ XP 2800+

Thanks for any help.