[PCBuilder]

I put together my PC over a year ago and am using an external ZDisc SATA Drive enclosure housing a 500GByte drive connected through a USB 2.0 port. I would like to use the SATA capabilities of the drive rather than the USB for speed purposes.

On my ANTEC Sonata III case (an excellent product) I have eSATA connections but on the drive I only have SATA. What is the best way for me to interconnect these? Is there such a thing as a eSATA to SATA cable? The external drive does not need power over the interface cable since it has a separate power plug-in which is fine for me.

BTW, Tech Support Guy is a great site, I have received great help from you guys!

Thanks for your help.
Rich

[By_Rock]

You need to buy a eSata to Sata connector.
CLICK HERE to buy one.

[Noyb]

I see some cheaper ... pick a length ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...le&name=Cables

[PCBuilder]

Thanks guys; I thought I would have to get one of those babies!

R

[PCBuilder]

I'm not out of the woods yet guys!

Being in Canada (on the West Coast), I ordered the eSata - SATA cable from a supplier in Vancouver BC. I ordered it on Dec 30 - it arrived by Purolator this morning (Jan 2) geat service - I recommend them (DirectCanada)! There price was also good $7.79. Shipping was just a little more.

I disconnected the USB, conected the eSATA from the PC to the SATA on the extenal drive and toggled the drive from USB to SATA.

I switched it on and even when the green light showed on the drive, the PC did not recognoze it - it did not appear in my 'Devices with Removable Storage' section in 'My Computer.'

Could anyone help my PC in recogniozing this existing drive that is now conected via SATA instead of USB? Is there a BIOS setting I need to change to recognize it?

Should it appear in the 'Devices with Removable Storage' section or simply as another Hard Disk Drive? BTW, it isn't there either.

Maybe I need to reboot - it is Windows after all! I'll try that while I await any replies.

Thanks for all your help...

Richard.

[Noyb]

Is there anything on the HDD that you want to save ????
Any way you can connect the HDD directly to a SATA port on your MOBO ??

You may have to reboot with the external HDD power on - before it will be detected in "Windows" when connected via eSATA.

[PCBuilder]

Your right Noyb - I have to boot up with the X drive switched on! Bit of a drag - I don't usually have it switched on all the time. Also, when I startup, Norton AV does a drive scan and it will likely scan that drive which I do not need. Anyhow, I'll have to live with that for the sake of faster backups! There's always a price to pay!

Thanks again for everything...

Rich

[Noyb]

It's been my experience that eSATA isn't really that much faster than USB...
and Not worth the hassle of rebooting.
I'm running USB unless I want to boot from the External via eSATA.

Norton has not caused me any problems since I sent it to the local land fill.

[Noyb]

I've been tinkering with a new computer...
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/p...roduct=3652944
and I'm wondering if I added a PCIE <> eSATA card .. If I could hot swap eSATA ??

You using the Mobo SATA ports ??
What software are you backing up with ??? .. I use Acronis True Image for system backups only.

[PCBuilder]

I used to be a big fan of HP but since a printer I bought several years ago turned out to be a bit of a lemon, I've steared clear of them. I assembled my own PC in 2007 - that way I could get just what I wanted and at a reasonable price (if I didn't count the time I spent putting it together - but that was fun).

Not sure if you can hot-swap aSATA. If it is connected & available on bootup, you can switch it off, then on (or disconnect & re-connect) at a leter time and it is usable.

I am using the eSATA port on my MOBO but I would imagine it would be the same if I used the port on the front panel of my PC.

I'm backing up with Genie - seems to be a great product. It has a few of the usual MS / Windows issues of assuming it knows better than you what you are doing - which is most often incorrect.

I do not do image backups. The reason being that if I have a catastrophic failure, I would most likely need to replace an important component and following a restore (if it even worked) the image B/U may not recognize it. Also, I can restore what I need to another system while I am fixing this one.

To date, I have used my B/Us to recover files that I (or the O/S) have messed up or lost.

Other opinions would be welcome here...

Richard

[Noyb]

I have a hunch your ASUS mobo will let you enter a boot loader if you tap the esc key at bootup.
If so .. This will simplify Dual booting.

I have my system split so that the system is in one partition ...
and ALL my Data is in another Partition.
And an internal Backup HDD ... basically a twin.

All my Data is backed up internally .. and to my external(s) ..
using Copy n Paste - as I collect or create it.

The only thing I "Image" .. Is my system D - which is a fresh restore, mostly updated, Fully loaded, configured and ready to run.

I can boot to D ... work on it .. back it up .. and get out.
Takes me about 15 minutes to recover my working system C from my fresh image backups.
A few more minutes to complete some minor updates .. and I have a brand new computer.
My Data remains unaffected.

Nothing beats a fresh install of windows for fixing and tuning up a computer.

Just a different opinion (procedure) for backing up...