incompatable HDD connector?

Question

I bought an old pc (HP, winxp, Intel 4, 2.8 GHz, 256MB ram) with a dead hdd (it booted up at the thrift shop, but it's giving me a smart error now). I have a spare drive that I was going to swap in, and install linux, but my drive, that I've been using as an external backup drive until now, is missing the four pin power connector that this old pc utilizes (I think it's called a molex?). Is there a way to use my hdd in this pc? preferably without buying anything? (I already sunk 75 bucks in this thing, and I think I paid too much, even with the lcd monitor, keyboard and optical mouse included).

Ps. I bought this thing so that I can introduce my grandmother to computers (my grandfather already has a laptop). Oh, and both hdds are 3.5

edit: after a second look, the other connection is also completely different. At the very least, I think I'll need a new set of cables or some adapters. Will that work?

The old HDD:

The intended replacement drive:

UPDATE: I did a system restore to manufacturer's settings (or whatever you call it) and managed to recover the hard drive. So it works now I guess. I also tried lubuntu on an external hard drive through usb. The result, this fossil doesn't have enough processing power to run a browser in lubuntu, and the original os updates through IE, which for some reason won't connect to the internet (I have another question open for that issue), and even if I can get it updated (I'm going to try, as an experiment), I doubt it can actually run the latest version of xp (which is still obsolete) or any semi-modern software.

The verdict: Unless you're trying to open a museum, don't buy 15 year old pcs. This thing is basically a doorstop. (according to a google search, I might be able to use it as a home server or a cctv system if I buy some cameras, but I have my doubts). Lesson learned.

Answer 1

It really depends on your motherboard. Older motherboards generally only have IDE/Molex connections, while newer motherboards are SATA-only.

It sounds like your computer only has 4-pin Molex for power, which would mean it only has support for IDE drives (IDE data cables are wide, flat, and usually gray):

You most likely will have to purchase an adapter cable for the power connection, something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Molex-Power-SATA-Female-Adapter/dp/B000YJMB5Y

You will also need an adapter for the data cables, like this: https://www.amazon.com/Generic-IDE-SATA-Adapter/dp/B000RK89M4

EDIT: My bad, the adapter above for the data cables is for the other direction (IDE drive to SATA motherboard) This product looks like it should work for you. It's an adapter for both data and power in one, so you will only need to purchase this (Disclaimer: never tried it): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002Y2NI4M

Answer 2

The four pin power connector

This probably is indeed was usually is called molex. If you add a pciture than we can verify that. As a help until then, red wire, yellow wire and two black wires in the middle?

And the ages of that PC (A pentium 4, that is 2004-ish?) it probably shipped with either a classic IDE/ATA drive. Which these days is called PATA. It used a molex for power and a 40 or 80 pins wire for data. (The 80 pins wire was 80 pins plus additional grounds for improved shielding).

Alternatively it might have had SCSI (also molex for non server models, but with a 50 or 68 pins cable. Server models often used SCA with integrated power).

Since then we have moved away from both SCSI and paralel ATA. SCSI moved to SAS, P ATA moved to SATA. The data connectors from these are quite different, and that will be your main problem.

Power remained more of less the same. It got a new for factor where the ground makes contact first. But it still is +5 and +12v volt and ground. A simple Molex to SATA power convertor should be easy to find.

(BTW, some early SATA disks used the old molex power and new data connector).

^{Source: Wikipedia}

Is there a way to use my hdd in this pc? preferably without buying anything?

If the old drive is IDE/ATA and the new one is SATA: No. You would need either a SATA connection (e.g. an add-in card) or a SATA to IDE active part. And you problably would have to buy that.

(I already sunk 75 bucks in this thing, and I think I paid too much,

Aye. These days I expect to pay people to dump a P4. P4's were horrible. They used a lot of power, they ran very hot, and yet they were not fast. Intel mobile chips from the same era ran at about half the clockspeed, used less than half the power and were nearly as fast. P4 was a disaster. What you really want is a core2 or better.

even with the lcd monitor, keyboard and optical mouse included).

If the LCD is not bad you could reuse that.

But as for the P4, your options are:

1. Find a working ATA disk. (getting rare, and 200MB PATA is relative large, so expect to find a small disk at a non-trivial price).
2. Find a PATA to SATA convertor. Those could be as cheap as EUR 10.
3. Find a SATA or SAS HBA, Might be hard to find a PCI card these days (assuming that a system this old has PCI and not yet PCI-e).
4. Buy a faster computer for a lower price. Seriously, Eur 5 for a P4 would be too much.

Answer 3

Your title is completely wrong, there is no missing hdd connector here. One hard drive is a PATA hard drive, the other is a SATA hard drive. That's all. Simple as that. Some older motherboards only support PATA, some less old motherboards support both. And modern motherboards only support SATA. And if the hard drive is in that sense "incompatible" and you want to plug it in then you can use an adaptor, they're often cheap.

Answer 4

I agree with barlop, the title is wrong. There is nothing missing.

As stated you have 2 different HDD from 2 different aras (IDE/PATA and SATA) One is Parallel and the other Serial. You need one of those devices shown, essentially a controller card to interface between the on-board PATA and the new HDD's SATA disk controller. In the photos that wysiwig and Hennes show I would stick with something like the one by Generic. Visually it looks much higher quality (not that looks are always a good determination) and it keeps the power and data separate. The power only requires an adapter cable. I have used both of these devices and cables.

Maybe you should keep this for yourself. It looks like a good learning experience. Does not sound like you have heard of online auction sites like eBay. Many use this very site for a good indication of what computers and computer parts are worth as you almost instantly see what others around your country are willing to pay for them. Sometimes they are not willing to pay much if anything. I have almost 20 old systems that people have given me and when I check online. For instance, I have several systems with higher specs than this one (2-2.5Ghz cpu, 2-4GB DDR2, with SATA)and they sell for $35-75. Just food for thought.

The processing power should be just fine for running a browser as browsing software does not require much cpu power in itself. You have be trying to open something that utilizes flashplayer and don't have the latest updates on that add-in or module. Windows XP is a lost cause unless you update the RAM even though I have gotten XP with service pack 1 and (I think even SP2) to run on 256MB of RAM but it takes an awefull lot of back-end tweaking and is not for the average person unless you want to go after the fulfilling accomplishment of solving huge pc puzzles.

If you udon't upgrade RAM 256Mb of RAM may run Puppy Linux just fine but you need an OS with a small footprint specifically designed to run on older hardware Like Puppy is designed to do.

Answer 5

Is there a way to use my hdd in this pc?

The old hard drive is IDE. The newer one you have is SATA.

If there is a company still making IDE drives, they are probably super expensive. SATA started taking over IDE around 2003-2004. All modern motherboards have SATA ports.

The good news is that if your system has these type of slots (called PCI slots):

you can add SATA ports by looking for a SATA PCI card. Most adapters of this type will let you boot off of attached drives like the motherboard ports. RAID SATA PCI cards are very common.

You need to make sure you get a PCI card and not a PCI-Express card. Your system is likely too old to have PCI-Express sockets and they are different and one will not work with the other.

You will also have to buy a newer power supply that has SATA power connectors. This is where you may run into trouble as many systems by OEMs such as HP, Dell, etc. from that era have proprietary power supplies - either the shape of the power supply is different or even might have special connectors to the motherboard.

You can look online for an "ATX Power Supply" and if it looks like it will fit in your case, you can upgrade it.

Standard power supplies typically plug into the motherboard with a 20-pin connector (now 24-pins) and there is also a separate power connector that plugs in near the CPU.

If the plugs on your current power supply do not look like this (minus the SATA power connector) ...

then you will need one of these, and the name of this adapter is "Molex to SATA Power Adapter":

Then you are really going to have to max out the RAM on that for it to be anything resembling useful. I would bet that motherboard maxes out at 2GB of RAM. The RAM on that system may be so old that new RAM of that type may be expensive.

I would scrap this system and chalk it up to a learning experience unless you can get your hands on some other old junk computers to get additional parts. Anything without SATA ports on the motherboard is definitely too old to be usable these days.