Old HDD in new system?

**0beron** · Nov 25, 2005, 06:23pm

I'm looking around to buy a new PC to replace my current setup. I've got a lot of reading to do since everything has taken a step onward since I last looked.

Hard drives nowadays seem to be the Serial ATA type. I believe the drives in my current system are bog standard UDMA type drives, one about three years old, the other about 1 year old, both 80GB in size. I intend to buy a complete new system and pass on the old one to my parents for office work and email.

My question is, is it possible to put one of the old UDMA drives into a brand new system, so I can buy a smaller SATA drive? Will the two drives live happily together (no fancy RAID or anything)?

Would this work or am I better off shelling out for bigger SATA drive(s)? I would guess a SATA drive is higher performance but I'm not that fussed about them being blazingly fast.

**Christopher** · Nov 26, 2005, 12:29am

(For those reading who may not know: UDMA == (P)ATA == IDE == ATAPI etc).

Yes, they should co-exist nicely. I've got an 80gig IDE (Windows/Programs) and a 160gig SATA I use for storage and they work perfectly together.

**scottfree** · Nov 28, 2005, 12:51pm

Yeah, they should work fine together. If your drive is 80Gig, it can't be that old that it won't work in a new system.

Nov 26, 2005, 12:29am	#2 (permalink)
Christopher Iced Cap Posts: 655 Name: Christopher Karma:	(For those reading who may not know: UDMA == (P)ATA == IDE == ATAPI etc). Yes, they should co-exist nicely. I've got an 80gig IDE (Windows/Programs) and a 160gig SATA I use for storage and they work perfectly together. __________________ :: Devlog - New developer blog with useful PHP information :: *WeTalk.tv - TV Forums*

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Nov 25, 2005, 06:23pm	#1 (permalink) Old HDD in new system?
0beron Junior Member Posts: 9 Karma:	I'm looking around to buy a new PC to replace my current setup. I've got a lot of reading to do since everything has taken a step onward since I last looked. Hard drives nowadays seem to be the Serial ATA type. I believe the drives in my current system are bog standard UDMA type drives, one about three years old, the other about 1 year old, both 80GB in size. I intend to buy a complete new system and pass on the old one to my parents for office work and email. My question is, is it possible to put one of the old UDMA drives into a brand new system, so I can buy a smaller SATA drive? Will the two drives live happily together (no fancy RAID or anything)? Would this work or am I better off shelling out for bigger SATA drive(s)? I would guess a SATA drive is higher performance but I'm not that fussed about them being blazingly fast.

Nov 28, 2005, 12:51pm	#3 (permalink)
scottfree Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma:	Yeah, they should work fine together. If your drive is 80Gig, it can't be that old that it won't work in a new system.