Can i put this HD into my Dell XPS and HOW?

I have a 200GB 1394 HD in an external case thing that right now plugs into my Dell.

Can i take the HD out of the case thing and then plug it into my Dell in an open HD slot if there is one of those wide ribbons there for it to plug into?

And if i do that will it be seen by Vista when i start the computer up or will i have to do something special?

Is this not a good idea? Can a 1394 external HD work inside a computer box instead of the external case?

I really need someone to walk me through this

Where is Cathrine Omega when i need her most?

That should work. External hard drives are just standard hard disks put into a case with a bridge between the drive interface (either PATA or SATA) and the external interface (IEEE 1394/FireWire or USB). PATA uses the wide ribbon cables; SATA cables are much smaller.

One possible gotcha: your external drive could be either PATA or SATA on the inside. (Older ones are usually PATA; newer ones are SATA.) If you want to install the drive internally your computer needs an available matching interface, which it may not have. Old computers don't have SATA; new systems might have no PATA interface, or a single one that is already being used by the optical drive.

Most recent computers automatically detect hard drives, but there is a slight possibility that you will need to go into the BIOS setup and add the new drive.

Once you have installed the drive internally your OS should see it automatically. You will probably get a "new hardware detected" message at boot time, and might be forced to reboot afterward.

O.K. is there any chance that my plugging a PATA drive into a SATA computer will make my computer short circuit or break somehow?

And will i be able to put thet hard drive back into the extrenal case if it doesnt work inside my computer box?

Thank you for your reply!

Hi Briana,
PATA and SATA connectors are very different sizes. If you tried to plug a PATA cable into a SATA slot it simply wouldn't fit and vice versa. Here are a few pictures of the two http://dictionary.zdnet.com/definition/SATA.html
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5730

I expect the hard drive and your computer likely have SATA if they are newer than 2002. However, if they are both PATA, you may find a DVD drive is already connected to the computers PATA slot. In that case, look for a secondary PATA slot and plug the hard drive into that and keep the hard drive as 'master'. If there is only one PATA slot, the DVD and HD could chain together and share the same PATA cable, but you may need to change a jumper to make the hard drive a 'slave' instead of 'master'. SATA has no need for master or slave settings since they dont share cables like PATA does.

One other thing to look at is the size of the drive that is inside the 1394 case.
2.5 inch drives are usually for laptops and 3.5 inch for desktops. Is the Dell XPS a laptop or desktop?



If the hard drive doesn't work inside your computer, most likely it was the wrong size or connector type. So you wouldnt be able to plug it in to damage it. Simply taking the HD out, seeing it doesnt fit and then replacing it shouldn't cause an issue.

Hi, I know you! Thanks for the post.

My XPS is a desktop and the external drive is from 2005 and my Dell is from June 2008. So that means they are both SATA and i should not have a problem.

I am just tryin to get up the guts to do this. I am rather fearful after reading stuff about dust build up and all that too so i might have to get the vacum cleaner and kill the dust bunnies in there too. I do not like putting my hands into these boxes and am terrified of breaking something or frying myself.

nah they are pretty much tanks, i know hehe

some helpful hints

discharge your self of any static by touching the metal (back) of the computer while its still plugged in, dont go excessivly shuffling across the carpet

disconnect the power

open her up

get some air (do it outside) or your vacuum and clean it out, if you use a brush dont got nuts with it over the electronics, mainly use it to dislodge junk from the fans and heatsinks

be mindful about what your doing, dont want to go knocking something off ... altho thats going to be pretty hard

and last but not least, make sure it boots before you put the case back on, nothing is more annoying than noticing that you didnt plug a power plug in or yadda yadda yadda, having to drag it all back out, back apart , and back together again

also since no one mentioned it, if it is a (p)ata drive then theres a jumper you have to set but find out what you have first

If your computer is "toolless" like mine is you will find that you will need a special adapter that snaps onto the the HD so that it will slide into the slot and lock in place. I haven't seen them in any electronics stores but then I haven't really looked for them either. They have a special name but I don't remember it. Maybe someone here can tell you where to find one...........I can't imagine it would be expensive because it's just made of plastic.

Come to think of it I have an old SATA HD sitting in my old computer that I might stuff in this machine........but I need one of those adapters.

if its a XPS 700 you should have a total of 4 SATA spots and 2 PATA HD spots all up on top including all the connections and tool less access... although I think both PATA Ribbions goto the DVD drives (there may be one extra for a total of 3) to tired to pull it open and look

I have been meaning to add to mine.. but last case I did this to was old and all PATA and I had to do odd stuff like make one a slave with the jumper pins .. you don't have to do that anymore?
man I could have my case filed!

yea its called cardboard and wedge it in there, or in the case of my mac, just dont flip it over cause the extra drive is just sitting in the bay

sorta like old slots that has rails, meets mr dremel and ms slat of wood

DO NOT use a Vacuum Cleaner!!!! EVER!!!!

The tip of the hose still generates enough static charge to zap the circuitry.

Read #2: http://www.computerhope.com/cleaning.htm
Read also: http://www.wiscocomputing.com/articles/maintenance.htm

Also, what model of an XPS? AND- what kind of external drive? PATA or SATA??

Is it a Desktop or Laptop?

I ask cuz.... heh- I work with Dell's all day.

hard drives are no problem. Its when you replace the system board you have some things to work out (installing the Service Tag, etc).

Thanks for the tips everyone.

@ Tod - Thanks for the warning, i did not vacum out the case as it barely had any dust or hair in it so i cleaned it by hand.

I have a Dell XPS 420 - 3.0ghz dual core, 3gb ram

Also, i saw no place for the hard drive to go, at all. The hard drive has a ribbon, the 2" wide or so kind, inside the external case, but inside the Dell there are no ribbons or anything. So what i did was i fitted the enter external case into the Dell and ran the power case out of a fan hole in the back of the PC.

J/K. I did put the HD back into the external and it still works. I just wish i could have plugged it inside my Dell. Maybe it is not expandable. The HD i have inside it is 320gb, and this 200gb external is a freebie i was given.

the 420 is a pretty tight small tower, you may be better off not adding it and if I am right Tod you may know better .. 420 is 375 Watts no? I would think though on the front of that case you should have a spot still for a second HD even my old compaq crap PC has room for two with and as well a same size spot for a floppy and zip so a total of 4 3.5 inch bays..

from the new case...
i don't know what year yours is this is the new..
Drive Bays
Two 3.5" hard disk drive bays so there should be (2) at least.. http://www.dell.com/content/products/superview.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&pageoverride=features_view1&s=dhs&xdb=Z2xvYmFsOnByb2R1Y3RzOnhwc2R0OmZsYXNoOmRlc2t0b3AteHBzLTQzMCNyZWdpb24=

Two 5.25" bays for optical drives

the 2 3.5 bays should be right under the DVD/CD bays (2) AND there are (2) USER accessible on the very bottom of the case as in the link but the slots under the DVD should hold them as well (don't take my word on that.)of them you should see your HD and then another , my guess though is you have a SATA wire inside and not the PATA ribbon (did I get that right? )

thats a nice MOBO if its like the new ones !

Well mine looks like that on the outside but on the inside it is different and there is only 1 drove area on the very bottom for holding HDs, unlike that picture you linked which shows 2.

No worries.

Thank you for the help!