Can I put a different hard drive in my computer?

Question

I tried this a while back with no joy...said that the parameters are not correct. The old machine had a motherboard prob and the one I want to put the hard drive into is a compaq brand pc.

Answer 1

It depends on what interface you're using, what parameters your hard drive has and what the limits of your PC are.



So, no point trying to put an IDE disk into a computer with MFM interface... or a SATA drive into a PATA interface'd computer.



There is limited point in putting a 100Gb disk into a computer where the BIOS won't address more than 4Gb of disk drive... or where the drive mapping tables just won't match up.



Other than that... it should be fine. As long as the cables are the right way up (hahaha... I fell foul of that one on a disk with an unmarked connector) and fit then the mobo shoudl see the hard disk... it may not see all of it, but it should see it.



Brand of computer isn't really relevant to this... age and type of interface is far more relevant.

Answer 2

If your computer has USB ports, maybe the easiest way for you to put in a new hard drive, would be to use an external hard drive on your computer that can plug into a USB port. Without knowing the specifics on your computer it would be difficult to say. Do a little investigating online and check the requirements needed for different hard drives. Hope that helps.

Answer 3

From what i know,are you changing from the motherboard or additional hard drive?



From motherboard-actually now almost all type or hard drive are of the same size and can be used by any brand.unless your motherboard is an old one.if it really the case,too bad.i cannot help you any further unless you change a new motherboard



additional hard drive-it won't be a problem since all motherboard is useable.

Answer 4

Hmmm ... Depends on the PC's specs.



When you tried putting one in, Did you run the remapping software that came with it so your PC sould see the whole drive and not just part of it ?



Also, is the existing HD bad or you just need more space ? If you need more space ( and have USB ports or an add-in USB card ) , you *could* try using an external drive.

Answer 5

You will have to partition and format the drive before moving it to a new system.

Answer 6

Why dont you try USB hard drive.

Answer 7

sure can