Hello....first question, is the Vantec IDE to SATA compatible with windows 7 64-bit? Thank you Ted

try setting the bios for the hd to ide compatible
windows xp does not include sata drivers which is why you can't detect the hdd.
if you set it to ide compatible it should work

http://www.vantecusa.com/en/product/view_detail/295
download at link above

Hello,

if your motherboard does not have SATA, purchase a SATA - PCI card, they cost something to the direction of 10 to 20 $ and give you 2 to 4 or more SATA ports.

It attaches directly to the drive, whether it be IDE hard disk or CD/DVD, and is used in boxes that already have sata connectors on the MB. Connector attaches to drive, cable from connector attached to drive to sata connection on MB.

Note: Sometimes these may not work (for a variety of different reasons).

Here is a link to one seller of the converter, read through the reviews. While it works well for most, sometimes there are issues.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232004

u need change in the mother board settings by seeing IDE 0 / SATA 0 , 1 or change in device in jumper settings by seeing in the device cover.

Hello: I see no problem using a bigger harddrive in the unit,the only concern I think you might have is to purchase a hard drive caddy for the interface, Especially if the current hard drive is an IDE Interface, You can purchase a IDE to Sata Interface caddy, to support the drive Interface if it's an IDE format. You might want to check with Dell for compatibility first before purchasing the Sata Drive.

You require Xp Pro that supports SATA - standard Xp is IDE - you must aquire a copy of Xp that is SATA compatible.

- sata has no master
- i presume u want the OS on the ide drive, and not just that the ide drive to have "C" assigned to it! So : 1 - U can copy the data form the ide to the sata, and then reinstall the OS on the ide (note: the OS will start up a bit slower do to the slower ide drive !!!) and so it will become the C drive ! And u can assign to the sata what ever letter u wish...

2- if u don't want to reinstall the os u can do a copy of the os and put it on the ide drive(not just copy the files !! it will not work!!!). U cold use clonezilla for example... But probably the first method wold be safer ....

Check that your RAID controller and onboard SATA controller aren't in a compatibility mode. You can put them in this mode while you have no SATA driver installed in Windows.

This tricks Windows into seeing the SATA drives as regular IDE drives. Your BIOS then has a spasm when it see's another IDE controller there, and just uses the card instead.

Make sure the SATA drivers are installed first, otherwise anything SATA will stop showing up. (and your Windows just won't boot if it's on a SATA disk and you take compatibility mode off) =-]

Not complete product...need to buy additional adapter for IDE to SATA power source.
IDE drive will have to have the power source hooked up as well as the adaptor hooked up.
Installing the adaptor only will not work. Your computer should have the 4 pin plug for the power to the IDE drive, other wise you will have to buy another adaptor.