It is a custom built computer and has had a few things upgraded...
The motherboard is relatively new and we still had the box, but I don't
really know what the other individual components are.
I know that it (or the connection... something anyway) is IDE.. not
EIDE or ATA etc. From what I have gathered EDIE will work with IDE
because it is essentially the same thing. Is that right?
For the purposes of this discussion, you can use the terms IDE and EIDE, and
even ATA, interchangeably.
Are there any other compatibility issues I need to know about?
No, any modern IDE (aka PATA, or parallel ATA) HD will work with any modern
mobo, this is the least of your concerns. Virtually any PATA HD off the
shelf will be compatible w/ the IDE controllers on your mobo. The only
issue you typically see are these addressing limits, which manifest
themselves as limits on the maximum HD you can install and still address ALL
of it.
...and about external hard drives, I know my father would still like to
get one. If we replace one of the hard drives within the computer and
bring it up to its maximum capacity, will we be able to use an external
hard drive as well? ...and will *that* be limited to 137GB too?
An external HD will usually be sold w/ either a USB or Firewire interface
(sometimes both, for more flexibility). Internally, the HD is usually the
SAME EXACT type of HD that you install on your motherboard's IDE controller.
That's why some people, in order to reduce costs and choose their own
components, will buy their own IDE HD and separate external enclosure, and
construct their own unit. Incredibly simple to do, the enclosure is
typically nothing more than an aluminum case, perhaps a fan, and IDE
controller. You hook up the IDE HD to the IDE controller exactly as you do
on the motherboard. But for convenience, some ppl just buy an already
constructed external enclosure.
The 137GB limit you hear about is a motherboard BIOS limitation, that
involves limits on addressing larger HDs. When you move to an external
enclosure, esp. for a prebuilt unit, the issue is moot, since obviously the
manufacturer would not sell you an external HD enclosure + HD that did not
support the enclosed HD, right?
When you construct your own external HD enclosure, you do want to be sure it
can support the largest HD you intend to install. That's a given. Just
like the motherboard, the enclosure's IDE controller could have limits too,
but it would be VERY unusual to encounter a modern external HD enclosure
that didn't support even the largest HDs available today. Afterall, the
reason for the limitations on older motherboards was simply because vendors
didn't expect HD capacity to expand so quickly. Remember, the 80GB, 100GB,
200GB, and even larger HDs we see today were a pipe-dream only a few years
ago. Back then, they thought 137GB wouldn't be breached for a long time, if
ever. But that proved incorrect, and so when those larger HDs hit the
market, many older motherboards simply couldn't support them, the BIOS that
supports the on-board IDE controllers simply didn't have support for the
proper addressing. Some motherboard manufacturers addressed the problem w/
a BIOS update, if you were lucky. If not, well..., you typically had to
turn to a PCI controller card that had no such limits.
So the issue of an external HD enclosure is not really a major problem, esp.
for prebuilt units. The only real decision you need to make is whether to
go w/ USB, Firewire, or BOTH. Of course, that hinges on whether you have
these interfaces on your mobo. And if you don't, there's always the PCI
card option, you can simply purchase a USB or Firewire (or combo) PCI card
to add this capability. Once installed, you then power up the external
enclosure, insert the cabling (USB or Firewire), and Windows recognizes it
as external storage (you'll see a drive letter assigned dynamically). Very
very easy to do.
HTH
Jim
