Hard drives - PATA or SATA...?

[PurdueRy]

Basically, I currently have a 120 gig hard drive. Not full at all...but I want to format my computer sometime and have no means to backup all the files I want to(at least not in a time consuming way). So I figure, buy a hard drive, transfer the files, format first disk. Install OS onto whatever hard drive ends up being better.

My only questions, is it still not worthwhile to get SATA if you are already using PATA on a computer? Is it easy to have both used together? Would it be better to trash the old drive and go solely SATA with a Seagate 7200.8 200 gig?

 

[Thorny]

Just partition your existing drive and backup your files to the new partition. Don't waste your money on a SATA at this point, there's no need. It is easy to use both together, but if all your wanting is a backup space you don't need another drive.

 

[PurdueRy]

to partition doesn't the drive need to be formatted??

 

[Thorny]

Originally posted by: rleemhui
to partition doesn't the drive need to be formatted??

Not if you use 3rd party software. I always used Partition Magic, but thats been awhile and I'm not sure if its supported by XP still.

 

[tropic]

Partition Mangler is a great program. It works flawlessly until the one time you don't backup to another drive, and then you don't have to worry about HDD space anymore. Odds are in your favor, but if you're that unlucky ONE in however many, you're it 100%.

I won't buy more PATA drives, but I have a mixture of SATA and PATA drives in my machine. If your computer has both SATA and IDE ports, you can use both types will no ill effects.