Hard Drive Storage Question

[TCav]

There are still motherboards available that have both PATA and SATA ports, but those are the ones that middle school kids use when they build computers in their parent's garage. The current line of desktop computers from Dell and HP don't have PATA ports.

One of the ways that I've always used to transfer data from an old computer to a new one, is to take the HDD out of the old computer and install it as a slave in the new one. Since almost all computers have room for two HDDs, but only have one installed, this worked well for me and my customers. I haven't been able to do that for a while now. Newer computers don't have PATA ports for the older drives.

[slipe]

He's going to have to jump through hoops to connect it to something off-the-shelf today!

I'm still standing by for a link to a single motherboard that won't support PATA. I just went through Tom's latest MB reviews and didn't find a one without "Super ATA" listed as a port. Retail outlets are still peddling low end computers with only PATA.

Do you really think I won't be able to access a USB port for my external PATA drive in 5 years? Or even 10?

There are good reasons to not trust a HD you have stored for ten years, but being able to access the information on it because of obsolescence isn't one of them.

[Photo 5]

The drives are coming out of a netgear storage server that I plan to keep for as long as possible....... but I agree who knows what we will be using in 10 years. Anyway everything is also on CD-R and DVD-Rs.

dave

[rinniethehun]

" You had to go to a small town in Kansas to make your point about Vinyl making a comeback?"

I would have gone to Maryland, but I figured nobody would have heard of it...

http://yesterdayandtodayrecords.com/

http://www.undercurrents.com/data/Li...-maryland.html

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze7wrno/id15.html

http://www.thetruevinerecordshop.com/

the Hun

[TCav]

slipe wrote:

I'm still standing by for a link to a single motherboard that won't support PATA.

Dell™Dimension™E521 ServiceManual.

Dell™OptiPlex™745 User'sGuide.

Dell Precision™Workstation490 User's Guide.

HP Compaq dc7700. (Just in case there was any doubt, here's a quote from the manual: "The system does not support Parallel ATA (PATA) optical drives or PATA hard drives.")

HP Compaq dc5750 Microtower PC. (That same quote appears in this manual as well, btw.)

And since the Dell Dimensions use Intel Motherboards, I thought I'd check there as well, and sure enough,a number of Intel motherboards don't have PATA ports either.

[TCav]

rinniethehun wrote:

" You had to go to a small town in Kansas to make your point about Vinyl making a comeback?"

I would have gone to Maryland, but I figured nobody would have heard of it...

:lol:

[TCav]

Photo 5 wrote:

The drives are coming out of a netgear storage server that I plan to keep for as long as possible...

Why bust up the NETGEAR Storage Server? The safest place for those drives is inside that box. The drives are mirrored, so your data is as safe in that box as it might be anywhere else.

[Photo 5]

I am taking the drives out because they are filled up and I need more space to store new photos. The 2x 300GB hard drives contian all my digital photos from 2001 - March 1, 2007. I already started 2x 500GB new hard drives in the netgear storage server for the photos taken since then.

I am averaging about 20GB a month with a 5mp Fuji, so that should cover me for the next 4 years

I also have (3) heavy duty 3-ring binders with CD storage sheets in them that hold copies of all the photos on CD or DVD.

dave

[ac.smith]

I think I'd hedge my bets and get an enclosure (now) that converts the PATA to USB. I think USB will be around longer than PATA

[TCav]

Photo 5 wrote:

I also have (3) heavy duty 3-ring binders with CD storage sheets in them that hold copies of all the photos on CD or DVD.

BTW, keep the binders in a well ventilated area. Sometimes, extremes in temp. and humidity can cause those CD storage sheets to stick to the disks. If left unattended for too long, you might never get them off.