Will an ATA 5 drive work in a system with an ATA 4 drive?

[jyp201]

I am trying to upgrade the hard disk in my laptop, which is currently a Fujutsu ATA 4 drive. The replacement I have found is an ATA 5 drive, and I am wondering whether it will work in the computer (I assume the computer supports only ATA 4). Will there be any performance degradation issues, or will i just not work at all?

Any advice would be very appreciated.

 

[CollinsCollector]

Chances are real good that the new ATA5 drive will simply revert to ATA4 automatically and you will never know the difference. And, to be certain, check out the details on the ATA5 drive at the manufacturer's web site.

Most ATA5/4 drives are backward compatible, although some may require the use of a provided software program to set them at the desired ATA transfer level.

 

[NeoMadHatter]

it should work just fine. i put a ATA5 HD in my brother's ATA4 computer last month.