I have purchased a Ide hard drive to fit into my computer using Window 7 ultimate. all connections are available. Can you see any problems. Any special procedures I should adapt? Golfjack

The main deal with IDE drives is the Master/Slave/Cable Select jumper on the back must be set to match the cable. You have two options. You can use Master/Slave (MA/SL) or you can use Cable Select (CS).

An IDE cable typically has 3 connectors. One end connects to the motherboard, the other end connects to the Master (Primary) drive, and the middle connector connects to the Slave (Secondary) drive. The center connector is always offset, closer to the Master connector.

Important things to remember:

• You cannot mix MA/SL and CS on the same cable.
• With two drives, if you use MA, use must use SL and the jumpers must match the cable position.
• With two drives, if you use CS on one, you must use CS on the other and Master/Slave assignments will be determined by the cable position via the IDE disk controller.
• With one drive, it must be in the master cable position with the jumper set to MA or CS.

With SATA, you don't have to worry about any of that as there is only one drive per cable.

Also, not all new drives are formatted at the factory. So you may need to format it before using it.

Thank you for your information. The problem I now have is that the fitted Hd Seems to have a sealed CS. The one to be fitted has the jumper, but with five positions and no indication of where to move the jumper to. Golfjack

first we need the make & model of the drive.

Originally Posted by don55

first we need the make & model of the drive.

I agree. Note that many drives have a picture of the jumper settings on the label. Note too that most IDE drives are set to CS at the factory, meaning you would not have to mess with it (as long as any other drive to be attached to that cable is also set to CS).

Hi
The installed drive is a Hitachi DESKSTAR IDE. The drive I'm fitting is Western Digital WD1600AVBB purchased from MAPLIN. Is this the right information you require?
Golfjack

You need to look at the jumper on the Hitachi and see what it is set at. If CS, then the WD needs to be at CS. If MA, then set the WD to SL. Here are the settings for the WD.

Alternatively, if your motherboard has two IDE connectors, you can use both with each drive set to MA or CS, and install the new WD on the MA connector of the 2nd cable.

Hi
I have checked the details of my motherboard (MSI K9VGM-V series) and find it does have 2 IDE connections for power & drive. Golfjack

Then it sounds like you are good to go.

Hi Digerati
Bcck to square 1 After opening my computer i find that another peripheral is using the slot. I've also had the HD out and find that it has 2 jumpers one as m the other cable select. the HD I'm putting has only one jumper. Problem?? Golfjack