I already have two SATAs the main one I have is a nice WD 74GB raptor, both drives work great.
I just found a 300GB Ultra ATA Seagate Barracuda that my dad had around the house and would love to add it to my system. I noticed I have two IDE slots available on my motherboard for that.
I want to know if I can add the Barracuda (without formatting it) so I can access the current data, wich I believe are photos.
Again, all I want to do is make sure I can add it and that it won't cause any trouble with my other SATAs drives and most importantly, that I can do it without having to format the drive so I can access its contents.
Yeah it will work. You just have to connect it. Make sure the jumper is set to "MASTER" on the hard drive for it work (many come from the factory set to SLAVE, because they are hooking it up on the same channel as another ATA hard drive). The only safety concern is static electricity (not for you, but for the computer). Your body accumulates small amounts of static electricity constantly, and the hardware in the computer is extremely sensitive to this. All you have to do, however, to prevent problems is to ground yourself to the case of the computer (just touch the metal part of the computer case, do this every minute or so while your working).
and on another note, you won't have to format the drive.
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