So, I'm gonna ask a noobish question, and if you're gonna flame, please don't post... I know there's probably no way to do it, but some people maybe even do know a way how to do it...

So I'm looking for a way to connect an old HDD from and old AGP motherboard (it's called IDE, right?) to an PCI-E motherboard... Is there any IDE->SATA II or IDE->USB adapters? Or any other way to do it?

The motherboard I want to connect it to is: GIGABYTE GA-M61PME-S2

HDDs have nothing to do with AGP and PCI-E interfaces... Those are use by e.g. graphic card.

Your old HDD probably uses IDE interface. There's IDE interface in your mother board, so you can hook up the HDD straight without any problems.

E: Just to clarify... IDE is an older connection type used for hard disks and CD/DVD drives. SATA is new type of connection for HDDs, which doesn't need that annoying wide flat cable anymore. New motherboards should still have IDE interfaces along with some for SATA drives.

Quote from Mauni :

HDDs have nothing to do with AGP and PCI-E interfaces... Those are use by e.g. graphic card.

I know that. Just wanted for you guys to know what am I exactly trying to do...

Quote from Mauni :

New motherboards should still have IDE interfaces along with some for SATA drives.

That's what I was looking for... Is IDE also used by Floppy (spelling?) discs reader?

Different Pin positioning however for floppy. You'd need a actual floppy drive cable.

IDE->USB adapters exist IIRC. Another way would be getting a PCI IDE controller which is a better option if you want to use that HDD regularly.

EDIT: And no, you cannot connect a HDD to the floppy drive connector

Quote from MadCatX :

PCI IDE controller

So, it's connected to a regular PCI slot, and you can connect an IDE HDD to it? Perfect!

I have yet to see a Motherboard without a standard IDE port, it would be completely crazy as most DVD drives still use IDE. Just plug the old HD in, you can even have it on the same cable as the DVD drive if its allready in use.

here is your motherboard, circled in red is where it will plug in.

I have this, and it works quite well.

Quote from DeKo :

I have yet to see a Motherboard without a standard IDE port, it would be completely crazy as most DVD drives still use IDE. Just plug the old HD in, you can even have it on the same cable as the DVD drive if its allready in use.

Thats exactly how i transferred all the stuff from my old IDE HDD from my old PC, as my new one has a SATA HDD but an IDE DVD drive, but as i only have 1 cable with one socket and 1 DVD drive (small form factor case, tiny tiny ) i simply unplugged my DVD drive, plugged old HDD in, turned it on, copied files over, shut it down, re plugged the DVD drive in again and job done!

Okay, that IDE port is taken, but I'll just pull the DVD drive out, I've got a SATA II one too...
And what is the speed if I use USB adapter? And how do you boot from it then? Like from a flash drive?

booting from usb is dependant on the bios... the only way to know would be to look at the boot options... it might also be printed in the motherboard manual, but i can't be arsed to look because gigabyte's website blows chunks.

It might work for you or it might not, it depends on how badly you need that drive. If want to use it as an ordinary disk, then additional PCI IDE controller sounds like a better option to me both speed and reliability wise.

Quote from MadCatX :

It might work for you or it might not, it depends on how badly you need that drive. If want to use it as an ordinary disk, then additional PCI IDE controller sounds like a better option to me both speed and reliability wise.

Yeah, my dad will get my PC and I'll get a "new" one. So I wanted to put two HDD's in the "new" one and the old one to mine (his new one ), because I need lots of space and he needs only like 2GBs...

I can get an extra ATA controller like this one for about 20€, I reckon it's your best shot...

Quote from MadCatX :

20€

Well... That isn't small amount here... I gotta check can I found some smaller prices and get things done with my dad, blah, blah, blah... Then I'll see... But thanks for your effort and help, I really appreciate it.

Quote from matijapkc :

Okay, that IDE port is taken, but I'll just pull the DVD drive out, I've got a SATA II one too...
And what is the speed if I use USB adapter? And how do you boot from it then? Like from a flash drive?

The IDE cable going to your DVD drive will almost certainly have 2 connectors on it, HD as master, DVD drive as slave. Sorted.

Quote from DeKo :

The IDE cable going to your DVD drive will almost certainly have 2 connectors on it, HD as master, DVD drive as slave. Sorted.

lol... Looks like you're right... There's one in my DVD drive and another in my ooooooold CD drive...

I believe you simply need to get a ATA(IDE) to SATA adapter. nothing more. this will give you the possibility to use an older ATA(IDE) drive with a current SATA connection.

I still have one that i received with my Abit NF7-s like 8 years ago.
I attached a picture so you see what to look for.
this adapter is plugged in the back of your ATA(IDE) drive.
Hope this helped you out.

So, I finally connected the IDE drive to the PCI-E MB and the PC can't even boot... :/

It needs around 1 minute to find the IDE device and then it just says it can't find Windows and that I need to insert system disc... It was connected good, I even tried 3 different cables on both IDE connectors, so 6 tries, 0 working. PC - Me = 6:0
Also, same thing happens when I connect it to the old AGP MB where it was working before, so I'm pretty up fued here.
I also tried connecting it to other PC as a slave drive, but it also can't boot with that drive plugged in...
HELP?!

Quote from matijapkc :

it just says it can't find Windows and that I need to insert system disc...

Sounds like you need to change the boot device priority in the BIOS.

Quote from amp88 :

Sounds like you need to change the boot device priority in the BIOS.

I did that too, switched IDE drive to be on the first place... Result was, 1:0 for the PC.

Quote from matijapkc :

I did that too, switched IDE drive to be on the first place... Result was, 1:0 for the PC.

Are you trying to use the HDD as a secondary drive (as a data drive) or as the primary drive (system drive)?

Quote from amp88 :

Are you trying to use the HDD as a secondary drive (as a data drive) or as the primary drive (system drive)?

System drive.

Quote from matijapkc :

System drive.

So, you're expecting an old Windows installation (i.e. from the last machine the drive was in) to work in the new system? I'm not sure if that's actually gonna work. You probably have to reinstall Windows on the new drive.

Well, acutally it isn't working, but the HDD seems to be totally broken... It didn't work in the system I switched it in, after that, it didn't even work in the PC which it was in since it was bought, and it didn't work in the third PC, as a slave drive (I tried that because I wanted to save some data from the HDD when I saw that this doesn't work...).