IDE to SATA converter?

demonikal

demonikal

New Member
I'm putting in a hard drive (IDE) for a guy. I told him he had two choices. He could either get an IDE to SATA converter...or...get a SATA hard drive since he had no more IDE ports on his motherboard, yet he had 3 available SATA ports on his motherboard. So, he took the cheaper option and decided to buy the IDE to SATA converter.

He asked me if he should have his Operating System on the IDE hard drive, since it's larger, or if he should keep the OS on his one SATA hard drive. I told him I'd look into it.

I don't know if the IDE to SATA converter makes speeds equivalent to IDE speeds since I have the converter and I'm using a SATA cable to the motherboard. If the speeds are equivalent to SATA with the converter, I'll obviously clone his original drive to the bigger one. If not, then I'll tell him that his read/write speeds are still faster on the SATA hard drive where his Operating System is now.

Thanks for any info, cuz the converter says nothing about what it does or doesn't do with speeds. :)
 
demonikal

demonikal

New Member
Wow, you're right. But I guess it's not a big wow, since I've never used one of these things before. I don't front the money for fixing people's computers, if and when I can, cuz it's not something I could afford. So I gave this guy, not knowing him, his options, and he took the cheapest route (unfortunately).

I did a lot of searching for converters on Newegg. That's where I told him to get it. Of course, he didn't follow my advice. He said he found a similar one on Ebay. The guy doesn't like taking my advice, but whatever - I'm getting paid for labor - I don't charge people for acquiring parts like automobile mechanics do, since 1. I'm not getting the parts and fronting the money, and 2. This is the first time I've worked on someone's computer (and 2 laptops) that I've never met before.

And you're totally, right. I hooked it up two days ago, just turned it on minutes ago and it doesn't recognize it in My Computer. Wth. I wish I had known that these things are not a good option first. Maybe, since it was my mistake, I'll front the money for what the Newegg PCI card link you sent me and then tell him when all is said and done.

My next problem is figuring out what I'm gonna charge him. I have no clue what to ask for. He gave me two laptops that he said he was pretty sure the motherboards were "fried" on, and all they needed was a good cleaning (dust) - just don't tell him that :D He actually gave me 5 IDE hard drives when he dropped off his desktop computer. He wanted me to put all of them in. I told him his Compaq only had one slot available, unless he wanted to take out his media card reader or his second optical drive. But since he had 3 available SATA ports and only one spot available for a hard drive, that's why I thought him getting a converter or new SATA drive were the only options.

I hate pre-built computers sooo much, now more than ever :mad:

(And thx for replying to my other post about the Russian adapter too)
 
Okedokey

Okedokey

Well-Known Member
I would be super honest. Trust is everything in a service industry. Tell him that they only needed a clean, and recommend some 'value adds' like ssds or something. He'll probably be happy to hand over more money and work with you more in the future. Remember a customer kept, is cheaper than getting new ones ;)
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
I've had the same sort of experience as Bigfella with these converters/adapters, I've never really gotten them to work properly. I'd be careful when buying those PCI SATA/IDE cards too, get one from a trusted brand. I got some cheap one on eBay which had come from Hong Kong or somewhere probably and I installed it, plugged a hard drive into it, and Windows just would not boot with it installed. So it was useless basically.

I'm sure those cards from better brands work fine though, I just got a really rubbish one.
 
MMM

MMM

New Member
I have used the Ide to Sata/Sata to Ide converters with no issues at all but some are bi-derectional & others are not so that might explain why some people have trouble to get them to work.
 
demonikal

demonikal

New Member
bigfellla said:
I would be super honest. Trust is everything in a service industry. Tell him that they only needed a clean, and recommend some 'value adds' like ssds or something. He'll probably be happy to hand over more money and work with you more in the future. Remember a customer kept, is cheaper than getting new ones ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I had the same thought. Obviously, I was just kidding about not telling him about all it really needed was a can of compressed air. It kept over-heating, the one laptop, and shutting itself down, so that's why he thought it was a mobo problem I guess. As for the other one, he simply said that his friend didn't want it and took all the basic hardware out that was easily removable, like RAM and hard drive, so he just assumed his friend didn't want it cuz it was a dead soldier. I plan on telling him. I just don't want to give him the "run-down" until everything is finished.

Per what I would like to get paid versus what he would like to or can afford to pay me are really not big differences, because no one has ever paid me to fix anything for me - it's always been pro-bono cuz I enjoy doing it so much, and it's always been friends and family. As far as keeping customers, yeah, I also thought of that. I figured, if he says, "I'll give you $xx for fixing my two laptops, desktop computer, and audio receiver" and if I say, "I was hoping for something higher", then I'll probably never hear from him again. But the fact that about two weeks ago, he sent me an email and asked what I would charge per hour for his mom, makes me think that he trusts me well-enough. Unfortunately, I guess I would never make it in the "Geek-Squad" business since I always try to explain ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING to people in lamen's terms of course, but I truly explain everything to them so they know how to fix their own stuff. It's not because I'm annoyed by fixing their stuff - it's simply because I enjoy telling them what I know without-a-doubt and how some of this information is really not as hard as it seems to understand. And then of course there's some people out there that explain nothing, because they want their clients to keep coming back with minor problems.

Regarding his mom wanting to know what I charge per hour, that's a real tough one. I told him to tell his mom that since I would be going to her house, it would probably be more fair for me to charge her a flat fee based on what she thought was fair and also that if I couldn't do the fix on whatever the problem was - that she would owe me nothing. But strangely, he told me she wasn't satisfied with this proposal. She wanted to know exactly what I would charge per hour. Last time I was working full-time, I was working as a bookkeeper for an accountant doing database work. I think I was making $10.00/hour. As far as Illinois, I think the minimum wage in our state, is $8.25 or $8.50 per hour. So, do you think mentioning the minimum wage to her as "my per hour charge" would be a good idea?

Thanks for all your replies so far.
 
demonikal

demonikal

New Member
MMM said:
I have used the Ide to Sata/Sata to Ide converters with no issues at all but some are bi-derectional & others are not so that might explain why some people have trouble to get them to work.
Click to expand...

I'm wondering if the problem MIGHT have to do with the power connector on the adapter. It's a 4 pin, literal pins, connector on the actual adapter. I can't think of anything that I have that would connect his Molex power connector coming off his PSU to another adapter that would run cord to a plug that would fit this 4-pin connector on the adapter. So, I simply plugged the Molex power connector coming off the PSU directly into the actual IDE hard drive itself. I don't know why this would be a problem, but perhaps this is the issue. I really don't know.:confused:
 
S.T.A.R.S.

S.T.A.R.S.

banned
Converters are so damn easy to get them work perfectly.Here is a good one I use.It can convert IDE to SATA and SATA to IDE:
ide40sataconv.jpg

molex%20cable.jpg

sata-cable.jpg

All it needs to work is:

1. Power from power supply.Molex connector.If your power supply does not have molex connector then just use SATA to MOLEX power converter.

2. Power wire (included with the converter already).

3. Data SATA wire (included with the converter already).

NOTE (motherboard): When using this converter to convert IDE to SATA,you need to connect it directly to the motherboard HDD pins.When using this converter to convert SATA to IDE,you need to connect it directly to the HDD pins.




Cheers!
 
Last edited:
Okedokey

Okedokey

Well-Known Member
Way to state the obvious STARS, thats the exact converter I have tried with various HDD, they never work, or fail, or are intermittent. Not worth the hassle.
 
C

cjmarsh81

Member
demonikal said:
I don't charge people for acquiring parts like automobile mechanics do, since 1. I'm not getting the parts and fronting the money, and 2. This is the first time I've worked on someone's computer (and 2 laptops) that I've never met before.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a very painful way to perform your repairs. If you don't want to purchase the required parts and include in the one invoice with your labour I would be telling them the cost of the part and get them to pay you in advance to source it. People are invariably going to order the incorrect part and then blame you when you can't get it to work.

Just an observation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top