Member Avatar for Veritas24

So I am trying to put an IDE Hard drive in to my new computer that has a SATA hard drive already installed. But the geniuses at Dell only put one ide port on my motherboard and the eide cable that runs off that one controls my cd rom and dvd rom drives. So.. How do I Install my IDE hard drive without an open port to connect to? Is dell really this stupid or am i missing something? They gave me like 3 extra SATA ports.. but i need an IDE !!!! HELP PLEASE!!!!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by goldeagle2005

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This situation is common on OEM boxes. explained the problem clearly and / pointed to adding ports — below are practical options, what to watch for, and a short troubleshooting checklist so the drive gets connected reliably.

Option A — add-on controller: buy a PCI card that provides ATA/SATA ports. Important details: check the card’s chipset and driver support for your OS (some use Promise, Silicon Image, JMicron, etc.). If the drive must be bootable, pick a card that advertises a BIOS or ensure you can load its driver during OS setup (Windows XP often needs F6 during install for third‑party storage drivers). For data-only use you can usually install drivers after Windows boots.

Option B — PATA (IDE) -> SATA adapter: a small adapter plugs into the IDE drive and lets you use a free SATA header. Pros: cheap and uses existing motherboard SATA ports. Caveats: some BIOSes won’t boot from drives behind these adapters, optical drives can be flaky, and jumper/power requirements still apply (3.5" drives need Molex 12V+5V). Check “legacy”/compatibility SATA settings in BIOS if the drive isn’t detected.

Option C — external USB adapter/enclosure or swap one optical for a SATA optical: USB adapters are fastest for data transfer but generally not for booting (3.5" requires external power). Replacing an optical with SATA works if the bezel/caddy fits.

Quick checklist: verify the HDD works in another machine first; confirm Molex power is present; inspect motherboard connectors or the system manual before buying hardware; after installation check BIOS detection and boot order; install vendor drivers. For background on the interfaces see Parallel ATA and Serial ATA.

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Member Avatar for goldeagle2005

Since you have one port with two devices connected, you need to get a PCI-IDE expansion card. This is nothing but a regular PCI card with 2-4 IDE ports. You can connect your new hard drive to this board.

Member Avatar for chrisbliss18

Live and learn Veritas. It's exactly because of situations like your's that causes me to build each machine I use.

I doubt that you only have one IDE channel though, most boards have two IDE channels minimum. What is the model of your system? You can also use Everest to find out what model motherboard you have. Let me know the model number of your system and the motherboard if possible.

If you end up not having any additional IDE channels and are set on using an IDE drive, I'd recommend getting a PCI IDE controller board, moving one of your optical drives to it, and adding your IDE harddrive to built-in IDE channel.

Member Avatar for goldeagle2005

I doubt that you only have one IDE channel though, most boards have two IDE channels minimum. What is the model of your system? You can also use

I've seen many motherboards with one IDE port. I hate those mobos

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