install second hard drive

How do I install a second hard drive that's Ultra ATA and already has data on it, into a computer with a SATA hard drive with XP Pro OS on it?

 

Does your motherboard have a Ultra Ata port and connector ?

 

Well, let's assume that the motherboard has an IDE (aka ATA) connector; I've NEVER seen a motherboard that didn't have at least one. It's as simple as connecting the data cable; one end to the drive, the other end to the motherboard; then connect the 4pin molex power connector and make sure the drive is set as master (unless it's sharing the cable, then the drive that is on the end of the data cable would be set for master, and the hard drive would be on the middle connector on the data cable and would be set to slave). Then power up, immediately go into the BIOS and make sure the PC recognizes the new IDE/ATA hard drive. Then check the boot order to make sure that your original SATA drive is set to boot BEFORE the newly-added IDE/ATA drive. It's probably a good idea to remove the IDE/ATA drive from the boot sequence completely. Then be sure to save your settings, exit the BIOS to reboot, let Windows load up, and XP should automatically recognize the drive, install it, and assign a drive letter to it. So just wait 30 seconds or a minute after your XP desktop loads up, then go into My Computer and it should be there, as drive E: or F: or G: (or whatever).
:-D

I hope this clears it up a bit!

[dlb]
:major

NOTE- Be sure that the power cable is unplugged from the PC while you're in the case installing the IDE hard drive. Many PCs stay 'hot' and still draw some power even when turned off, so it's best to completely unplug the power cord when performing any upgrades or component addition or removal.