noob questions im so sorry..... hardrives

[darkwave109]

im so sorry for this question i did have a look on google but i couldnt find wat i was looking for.
oki Im getting a second hand pc from y mum since shes upgrading to windows 7.....theres nothing really wrong with it from apart it runs vista and the dvd/rw lite scribe is having a few issues.
since the dvd drive is failing is it possible to replace it with a new hardrive if so wat would i need to buy
i also have alot of 2.5 sats drives lying about again could i use thoose and wat would i need to buy.
i need alot of space for music and bmx videos
i never ever use a dvd drive....the mother board can boot from a usb ad ill be running ubuntu 10.10

[frenulem - No.5417]

What is your question exactly?

[darkwave109]

1 can i replace the old dvd drive with a hard drive
2. or/can i also fit some 2.5 hard drives into the desktop

sorry if i wasnt clear in my post uning a naff phone till my broadband is re fitted

[frenulem - No.5417]

Not to Savvy with PC hardware, but i dont think so, if you wanna crack it open what i would do is put a USB external HDD in there

[jrfhoutx]

I don't see why you couldn't remove the DVD drive and put in an HDD, will it actually fit in the 5.25 dvd slot? probably not without a kit unless it's that size anyway. the only other thing to be concerned with is what kind of ports you have available. in order to add those sata drives you have you would need an open sata port (or two or more depending on how many you wanted to add) which most likely the DVD drive uses and would be free to use once the DVD drive is removed.

[ModernTek]

I would purchase a 5.25" to two 2.5" converter from newegg they are extremely cheap. I would also make sure the PC has open sata slots or an open PCI slot and buy a sata PCI card. Depending on how many hdds you want to put in the PC you may have to buy the PCI card anyways.

IF you can please post the make and model of the PC. If it is a custom build post the parts. We can help a lot more if you do so.

By the way don't call yourself a noob your a Newb.

[jrfhoutx]

By the way don't call yourself a noob your a Newb.

^this is so true, glad I'm not the only one who makes this distinction

and yeah I forgot to mention the sata PCI card...

[whitetop]

2.5 in desktop no you need a 3.5
plus you got a sata or ide ?

replace the old hdd and put in a new dvd drive you always need a dvd drive as how you gona install windows?

[ModernTek]

2.5 in desktop no you need a 3.5
plus you got a sata or ide ?

replace the old hdd and put in a new dvd drive you always need a dvd drive as how you gona install windows?

Yeah you can put a 2.5" in a desktop. Why would he go out and waste money on a 3.5" when he has a bunch of 2.5" hdds.

He doesn't need the DVD drive either I predicted DVD drive will be a thing of the past soon. You can install just about anything VIA usb now a days.

[jacobia jacob]

a computer running vista is probably using sata. while the dvd drive and the hdd both use a sata cable, the hdd won't fit in the dvd bracket without some kind of mounting kit. that being said, most computers have brackets for more than 1 hdd anyway, so no reason you couldn't just put the hdd in one of those slots.

tl;dr theres no reason to. you can have both.

[nEoVaLoR]

theres nothing really wrong with it from apart it runs vista

that's ur problem right there!!!!!!

[whitetop]

Yeah you can put a 2.5" in a desktop. Why would he go out and waste money on a 3.5" when he has a bunch of 2.5" hdds.

He doesn't need the DVD drive either I predicted DVD drive will be a thing of the past soon. You can install just about anything VIA usb now a days.

unless he wants to buy converters to run them if ide he can use them

dvd/blu ray will never be the past mate if it was they would not be making so many and selling so many

yes you can use usb but buy not many understanding him and him not knowing that easy stuff i think he will need the drive.

plus vista could be on ide or sata so without him replying to this noone will know.

plus if you want space for your music videos ect get a portable hdd 2tb or 3tb and sell your laptop hdd unless your gona be using them

[darkwave109]

Thanks for the info
Oki the pc im using is hp persario compact
vistsa home
180gb
512 ram ----been upgraded to 2 and a half gb
cd/dvd rw...with lightscribe.....faulty

iv checked the connections there all sata.....i only mentioned the 2.5 hardrives as i have a lot and thought i may as recyle them.......my dvd drive is faulty as one minute it will read disks the next it wont apperntly its a common fault

[crazy-modder]

You might as well go out and buy a cheap disc drive for around $20. And like others have said....buy a pci sata card and hook up a bunch of your 2.5" hard drives to it. Reformat each one, run linux on one, vista on one and xp on one Its always cool to have more than one os on a computer. No need to waste those hard drives by throwing them away, always put your spare parts to use.

[HiddenVenom]

Its always cool to have more than one os on a computer.

True, but don't get too crazy

[darkwave109]

cheers for the help 
but as for os im sticking with linux have no use for windows...i dont really game on a pc apart from emulation....jusr space i need and lost of it my music collection alone is about 140gb than theres mine and my girlfriends drawings and thats about 56gb (im a tattoist)
videos well again prob over the 100gb but each..subject will keep growing
id rather fit say 3x500gb hardrives (i can get all  cheaper than 1tb)
As for a external dvd drive iv got 1 lying about

[jrfhoutx]

not to thread-jack, but do you have a portfolio of your tat work i could look at? I'm looking for a tat artist to work with on coming up with some sleeve designs...

[PspKicks316]

I just want to point out that if you're using a spare drive that was laying around, it would be in your best interest to run a diagnostics test on it to make sure it doesn't have any problems. The last thing you'd want is for your videos and whatnot to end up destroyed with no chance of being recovered.

[cyberboy109]

if i use my Internal dvd drive as a external wat will i need i found out my dvd drive does work but wont read a specific brand...but since my pc only has 2 sets of sata cable id rather use them for my 2x1tb hard drives....




oki to the tattoing question i will have an online portfolie soon once i get my pc set up, iv been tattoing since i was 16 (im 25 this year)
freehand tattoist, ive came first in 3 uk comps
also work as a graphic designer for abit for a few retail shops
i started of with fantasy art,sci fi,horror and 90% of my work has been custome