Can I replace an optical drive with a hard drive?

[wilmath]

Can I replace an optical drive with a hard drive? I need to add a second hard drive and I don't need the optical drive because I have an external one.

I am more concerned about electronic issues than the physical ones. Can I go into the bios to sort things out or does there need to be an optical drive on the optical drive cable?

Thanks
Rick

 

[elbert]

The only issue is on the old PATA cable ribbons but that would just slow the bandwidth a bit. It should work without a porblem.

 

[aquielisunari]

Can I replace an optical drive with a hard drive? I need to add a second hard drive and I don't need the optical drive because I have an external one.

I am more concerned about electronic issues than the physical ones. Can I go into the bios to sort things out or does there need to be an optical drive on the optical drive cable?

Thanks
Rick

In short yes, as long as the cables are identical.

Sata cables in the PC aren't device specific. You can connect a regular drive, SSD drive or an optical drive to them.

It's most likely a sata power and data cable that is connecting the optical drive to the motherboard. Simply unplug the optical drive and install your HDD in the correct bay/slot. Connect the cables and turn on your computer.

 

[ccampy]

If its anything remotely recent with sata drives sure you will probably nees a 5-1/2 to 3.5" adapter to put your hdd in thou