Member Avatar for Paul Flores

I have a Seagate 80gb Hard Drive that is a IDE. I just bought a new DELL Dimension E310. It has a 80gb SATA 2 Hard Drive. The mother board does not have anyplace where I can connect my older IDE Hard Drive . Is there anyway that the older IDE Hard Drive can be connected to my new computer as a secondary Hard Drive?
Someone told me that I can use one of the CD ROM connections to connect to my Hard Drive, will that work?
If not what can I do?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by inthebox

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Many Dell systems of that era moved the main disk to SATA and left only a single PATA/IDE header for optical drives. That explains why had to share the PATA channel with the CD-ROM and why several replies here propose external enclosures, cards or adapters. Below is a compact, practical summary of reliable choices and the key gotchas that are not fully spelled out in the thread.

Practical options (ranked by simplicity and reliability)

  • Powered USB-to-PATA adapter or a 3.5" external enclosure — easiest for one-off access or file copy. Important: desktop (3.5") drives require a Molex power source or a USB-adapter with its own power brick; passive USB-only cables will not power a 3.5" drive.
  • PCI / PCIe IDE (PATA) controller card — best internal, long-term solution when the case has expansion slots. Pick a card whose BIOS/firmware supports booting if the drive must be bootable; install vendor drivers in the OS.
  • Active SATA<>PATA bridge (adapter with translation chip) — can let a PATA drive attach to a SATA port, but choose an active bridge (not a passive wiring adapter). These can be finicky with jumpers and power, and some do not support booting.
  • Sharing the optical channel (what and used) — workable short-term, but limits optical-drive options and requires correct jumper/pin settings and cable usage.

Quick troubleshooting checklist (common causes when a drive is not seen)

  • Confirm the drive spins (power connection/Molex present).
  • Verify the drive's jumper pattern (use the label on the drive). Cable-Select, Master/Slave mistakes are frequent. ’s jumper issue in the thread is a typical example.
  • Try the drive in a powered USB enclosure to rule out a dead disk.
  • Check BIOS/UEFI: SATA mode and boot order; ensure the controller/slot used is enabled.
  • If Windows bluescreens after adding the disk, the BIOS may be trying to boot from the wrong device or the OS is seeing a conflicting disk signature — set the boot order back or import/bring disks online from Disk Management after boot.

For data safety, create an image or backup of critical data before experiments. For occasional data access, a powered USB adapter/enclosure is the least risky; for a permanent internal solution, a quality PCI/PCIe controller is the most robust.

Recommended Answers

All 13 Replies

Member Avatar for TheNSS

so your computer only has one EIDE channel? that's starnge. yes you can use the cd-rom's channel, just make sure you set up the cd-rom as slave and the hd as master, or the other way around, doesn't really matter

Member Avatar for Paul Flores

Thanks for the information. I tried what you said and it worked perfectly. Why did you think that it was strange that my new computer did not have an IDE for another hard-drive? Is there any downfall by hooking it up to the CD Rom's channel? Thank you again, Paul

Member Avatar for TheNSS

well, if you have a hard drive and cd-rom in one channel, then you can only have one cd-rom. I just think it's strange for a computer to come with one IDE channel, i don't think i've ever seen it.

Member Avatar for stupidfly

well, if you have a hard drive and cd-rom in one channel, then you can only have one cd-rom. I just think it's strange for a computer to come with one IDE channel, i don't think i've ever seen it.

I think all the new Dell desktops do. I had the same problem as Paul Flores, but I decided to get a usb 2.0 external hd case because I have a DVD ROM and CD-RW

Member Avatar for TheNSS

hey if you really wanted to have more cd-rom drives, you can get a SCSI adapter and with that you can have up to 14 devices hooked to your computer, including: cd-rom, hd, tape drive, pretty much whatever you want. how ever, a SCSI setup is complicated for newbies or people who just don't know much about computers.

Member Avatar for goldeagle2005

or, if you have a number of IDE devices, just go in for a PCI IDE add on card. The card provides you with 2-4 IDE channels.

Member Avatar for fry

also there are sata->ide adapters, so with thier help you can hook ide drive to sata controller.

Member Avatar for Gromm

I think all the new Dell desktops do. I had the same problem as Paul Flores, but I decided to get a usb 2.0 external hd case because I have a DVD ROM and CD-RW

I'm trying just that, but it still doesn't recognize it. Help!

Member Avatar for Gromm

I'm trying just that, but it still doesn't recognize it. Help!

Whoops, nevermind... silly me, I forgot to put the jumper into the harddrive.

Member Avatar for Budiba

hey guys i need help .... i have connected my ide cable hard drive to the cd drive and in turn to its port ... also i have connected its power supply ... but still in getting a blue screen sayin : a problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to ur computer ...

Member Avatar for boomerloc1

i installed a asus 845 motherboard on my desktop and it is not reading my hard drives it says no sata hard disk found do i have to configure it on the bios or whats wrong can any one help please thanks....

Member Avatar for skilly

it never hurts to look at bios

Member Avatar for inthebox

I have same problem. I have 40GB HDD IDE drive and I purchase a new motherboard. That motherboard don't have IDE slot. I want to use that 40GB HDD in that motherboard and I have lot many data in that motherboard. I tried many options but can't solve the problem. Please help me out...

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