Web Hosting Talk : Other Forums : Web Hosting Lounge : How can I tell whether my hard drive is SATA/UATA without opening up the tower?

[Acsiak - Andrew]

Ok, here it goes...

Some may remember this story.

Basically I bought a brand new computer in December, which apparently had a SATA hard drive, however Windows stated it was Ultra ATA. I then phoned Carrefour, the shop I purchased the computer at, and they said that it is a SATA hard drive however Windows does not recognise it for some reason and I should not worry - So I didn't worry, and it seemed from the topic linked about that I'd only need to worry if I ever needed to add a second hard drive, and I never thought that I'd need to... except now I plan to add another hard drive (Western Digital 120GB). Now where does this lead me?

Here someone posted a link to a 250GB hard drive they bought which is... low and behold, Ultra ATA which is exactly what Windows say my hard drive is.

The only information Windows will give me is: WDC WD2500JD-00HBB0
I searched the Western Digital website for WD2500JD which gave me this.

So, really I've two questions:
Is my hard drive a SATA hard drive?
And if you cannot tell from the information I've given, does anyone know how to find out without opening up the tower?

Thanks.

[Vortex-Steve]

Opening up a PC case is one of the simplest things you will ever do. Would it not of saved you over a months worth of wondering to just open it up and take a look? Plus you said you were going to add another hard disk, would you not have to open it up then anyway?

[Sheps]

If linux reports it as "SCSI" then let me garentee you right now that it is SATA.

You can check the cable inside the computer. It is generally a rounded cable, from what I remember, and unless you have one of those tricked out computers(Off Topic, people who do that are morons) then a rounded cable generally means it is SATA.

On a side note. This is referring to the other topic. While you do lose some space in a format, it isn't going to be 20 Gigs. What happens is when they label the drives, they use the "metric" system, which you all know is "1000" for Kilo, "1000000" for Mega, and so on... The actual drive is reported in the operating system using the standard system. Which is "1024" for Kilo, "1048576" for Mega, and "1073741824" for Giga

Which, suprise, suprise, gives you: 232.83064365386962890625 when you do the conversions... Isn't math fun!

[Sheps]

Oh, and the link you posted. Difference product numbers(slightly). Plus, Best Buy wouldn't know SATA from SCSI, much less ATA or Ultra-ATA.

[Teh_Winnar]

checking the cable is the easiest way.

IDE - 40-80 wires

SATA - 7 wires

just look at the size of the connector. about 1/3 to a 1/4 smaller then an IDE

[Pheaton]

Originally posted by Sheps
You can check the cable inside the computer. It is generally a rounded cable, from what I remember, and unless you have one of those tricked out computers(Off Topic, people who do that are morons) then a rounded cable generally means it is SATA.

Actually, a SATA cable is flat. Neither ATA or SATA cables are round. There are ATA cables that you can buy that are round, but they are only round because the individual ribbons are cut up instead of being stacked in a row.

[Sheps]

Heh... Well, still. If linux reports it as SCSI, and it is a ATA drive, it is SATA. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

[Hosemeyer]

Originally posted by Sheps
You can check the cable inside the computer. It is generally a rounded cable, from what I remember, and unless you have one of those tricked out computers(Off Topic, people who do that are morons) then a rounded cable generally means it is SATA.

There are other reasons for round uata cables other than to "trick your computer out"

Such as.... more effective cooling in small cases... IE: More air flow.