How do you know if a hard drive is compatible?

Is there an online tutorial with all the info i need to know about replacing a hard drive?

it's IDE, is that all i need to know?

For larger HDs, your system BIOS and operating system need to support the largeer size.

References:
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/capacity/index.html
http://www.48bitlba.com

Well, how do I know?

Read the description of the hard drive. Read its specifications.

Alot of them don't specify

The specifications for the HD on the retail box or online will tell you enough information. If you are looking at your old hard drive, the model number on the drive is enough to do a search online. You can also get the name and model number from Windows utilities like Belarc Advisor, Everest Home Edition, and the built-in System Information utility in Windows XP.

Do you have a link to an example? Can you provide the model number of the current HD?

There are tutorials everywhere. Hard drive mfgs. and system makers usually have nice tutorials with pictures. New HD's in retail packages also have quick installation guide. Check first with on the computer mfg's website to see how to change the drive for your particular computer model.

What is the mfg and model number of the computer?

I meant one that had all of the info about compatibility

What's an MFG?

My Computer:
IBM
XP
Model E4N

Hard drives (HD) have been around for decades, and there is a long history of development and compatibility. Therefore, you aren't going to find a concise tutorial on all the different HD technologies. You would be reading a good sized technical manual. Circusjojo gave you a good start on the 3 main technologies of the past decade--SCSI, IDE, and SATA.

SCSI historically has been the HD for servers and Macintosh computers. Macs switched over to IDE drives on many of their machines in the mid 1990's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scsi

IDE drives historically have been in MS Windows machines. The term ''IDE'' is often misused because it encompases a large area of technology (not just one type of hard drive and not just hard drives). Many use the term ''IDE'' to mean any Parallel ATA (PATA) HD and not SATA and not SCSI.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Technology_Attachment

SATA or Serial ATA is a newer technology that would not be found in a computer as old as yours.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sata

A good way to approach it is to find out what type of HD is currently in the computer and then get one of those. Your computer seems to be a Windows machine from 1999. AMD processor 350MHz? Anyway, it would have a PATA HD. Maybe it is an early EIDE drive or possibly an ATA/33 or ATA/66 drive at the fastest.

TO GET ANSWERS HERE, YOU NEED TO PROVIDE MORE INFO:
Download and run Belarc Advisor and tell us what the full name of your IBM E4N is. Tell us the motherboard (system board) model mumber. Tell us the make and model of your current HD.

I have IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers
and the hard drive I have now is a Maxtor 90840D5

I am also considering building a computer from scratch, but I need a way to know if everything is compatible. Are there some guides where it tells you what kind of video cards work on what kind of motherboard, what kind of ram works, etc..

Quick search on the internet for Maxtor 90840D5:
8.4GB
33.3MB/s = ATA/33 (Ultra ATA 33MB/s)
Buffer (cache) Size: 256KB
Rotational Speed: 5400rpm

This means that it is extremely likely that you will have a BIOS problem with upgrading the current machine with a larger HD. You will be limited to an 8.4GB or 32GB maximum HD with the motherboard.
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/capacity/index.html

Today's mainstream PC drives are:
Much larger (typically 80GB to 400GB)
ATA/100, ATA/133, SATA 150, SATA 300/II
8MB cache or larger
7200rpm or faster

I think you are wise not to upgrade, but start anew. Either buy new or build. Everyone I know who builds one finds it to be quite rewarding (myself included). For the most part, they don't want to buy a prebuilt machine ever again, unless it is a fantastic deal.

google:
''build your own pc''

Search CNet forums:
''build your own''


The first thing you need to ask yourself is how you will use the computer. Gaming, high-end gaming, video editing, graphic design, programming, word processing browsing and email, general use, accounting, CAD, etc. That will lead you to a CPU choice. Everything will start to fall into place when you search for a motherboard that is compatible with your CPU.

If you have never even upgraded a PC before, you need to do a little reading. You can do this online or get a book like this one:
http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesTitle/productCd-0471767727.html
(No insult intended with the ''Dummies'' book. They are fantastic resources.)

If you want recommendations for websites that have good step-by-step instructions on what to do, I strongly suggest creating a new discussion (the green button), rather than burying that request in this discussion about hard drives. You will get a lot of suggestions. Make sure you post what you want to be able to do with your new computer.

Hope this helps.

I ahve googled and searched cnet, but Google gives me a bunch of sites from 98 and they don't talk about compatibility. Cnet's build your own computer didn't talk about a motherboard.

Found this discussion interesting, and may someday soon be faced with the same situation. My Dell is on its last year renewable warranty and about to expire, and my HD is going to be 4 yrs old. I would like to also put in a bigger and faster HD before the oem drive starts to act up. I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with a 40gb drive and a little interest adding another drive and also maybe building my own system some day. You recommended to "monkeysateme" to start a new discussion, if they did that, where would one find that discussion?

Go to the CNet Forums home page:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-7600_7-5565323-1.html

Click the forum in which you wish to start a new discussion. Click the Create New Discussion button at the top of the forum. Your discussion topic will appear at the top of that particular forum. Everytime a new reply is posted to your discussion, the entire discussion gets bumped to the top of the list for that particular forum.

You can see all of your forum posts and discussions by looking at your profile

More info from the CNet forum FAQ:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-7600_7-5565360-1.html?tag=dir.forum

I may of not have been clear so I will try again. What I was asking was, if "monkeysateme" decided to start a new discussion as you recommended to him, to inquire about building a new system how could this new discussion be discovered or followed? Could a new discussion or all discussions by a particular member be tracked by anyone other than themselves? I would like to follow his situation and questions because they would be similar to my mine.
thanks

I have made some new ones click on my name and you will get my profile and from there go to "my posts" It will show all the posts I have made.

Sup! my name is Waqas. I was wondering what kind of hard drive would need because I want to upgrade my hard drive. I download the Belarc Advisor it telling this HDS728080PLA380 [Hard drive] (66.63 GB) -- drive 0, s/n PF2H27SWUTLVWY, rev PF2OA69A, SMART Status: Healthy