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I noticed this question was asked quite a few times already in varying forms; however, I saw nothing that really answers my question...

So here goes; I have an older Dell laptop that needs a new hard drive (the current one has screamed it's last :) ). My hope is to replace it with a 128 GB PATA/IDE SSD (I have found these on Amazon); what I have been unable to find is how to figure out whether this drive will work with my computer. I tried checking owner's manuals; but they had no information whatever what to replace the drive with. Is it simply a matter of counting the pins and measuring the old one and comparing the measurements? Or is it more complex?

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    Not an answer but is it worth buying an SSD for this machine??? If it's IDE only then you'll never get the benefits of an SSD... It's like putting Lewis Hamilton in a model T Ford.
    – Kinnectus
    Dec 27, 2014 at 10:16
  • To be compatible, the drive have to be sata o pata like your old drive and phisically fit in the computer, nothing more. Most laptops have ad additional slide mounted on the drive to connect to the internal controller, so you have to mount this slide to the new hdd. Btw, as Big Chris said, you'll never get the max by this ssd but it can effectively increase global performance.
    – maudam
    Dec 27, 2014 at 12:00
  • It will almost surely fit, but I don't think an ssd would be worth it with a old computer like yours
    – Fabiusp98
    Dec 27, 2014 at 23:17
  • @maudam If you post that as an answer I will most likely mark it as an answer :)
    – L.B.
    Dec 28, 2014 at 2:43

2 Answers 2

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To be compatible; the drive will need to be a SATA or PATA like your old drive was and physically fit into the computer, nothing more. Most laptops have an additional slide mounted on the drive to connect to the internal controller, so you have to mount this slide to the new HDD. (Btw, as Big Chris said, you'll never get the max by this SSD but it can effectively increase global performance).

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Pata came in two flavours - laptop - which had 44 pins, and desktop which came with 40 pins. Some systems tended to fit a 'adaptor' over a 44 pin HDD to convert it to a different pinout, but in general, it should work. Its unlikely you will find anything other than a 44 pin 2.5 inch drive. If it looks non standard, see if there's something fitted over the normal pins, it should come out with some gentle persuasion.

Dell uses a unit similar to this for reference

enter image description here

While modern 2.5 inch drives come in 2 thicknesses, you're likely to be fine with any 9.5 mm 44 pin pata drive on a laptop (There's 7mm drives but they've only been common since 2012).

Considering pata drives have been out of common usage on new systems for the better part of a decade, the SSD upgrade might actually not be a bad option here, if you're looking at keeping the system running a little longer.

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  • erm.. yeah ;p Corrected, and added a mention of the 7mm varient.
    – Journeyman Geek
    Dec 28, 2014 at 14:13
  • I'll mention that some 7 mm thick drives come with a spacer to take them up to 9.5 mm for cases where that's needed. Dec 28, 2014 at 14:41
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    Yup. My initial answer mentioned that, but I realised I misread it, and OP had a pata drive. 7mm pata drives don't exist.
    – Journeyman Geek
    Dec 28, 2014 at 14:53
  • Oh, gosh, I saw this answer after I already marked the other one. Thanks for the information! :)
    – L.B.
    Dec 28, 2014 at 16:46

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