upgrade - How to plug-in this hard drive?

06
2014-04
  • Roberts

    I need to install this hard drive "WD800JD-60JRC0". It is Serial ATA. But what really confuses me is that it has molex connector. I think I can plug what I want: SATA power cable or Molex. But which one is better?

    • Answers
  • Journeyman Geek

    Older drives, especially during the transition between SATA and PATA had both connectors - that meant you could use a non sata PSU with a sata motherboard (or a non sata motherboard with a sata card). Use either one - the 3.5 v connector in sata is the only major difference electrically, and this isn't used in that drive.

  • Dwayne Hinterlang

    Either cable will work. It will simply depend what you have available.

    Both Molex and SATA power cables will work. The basic difference between the two is the Connector Type - Molex is more generic and found on lower end PSU's, it is also a bulkier connector type.

    Molex vs SATA connectors

  • Aaron McIver

    They both supply the power the drive needs; neither will do anything more than the other.


    • Related Question

    linux - How to check the health of a hard drive
  • tony_sid

    My SATA drive started clicking and I was unable to access the data. It was not clicking loudly though, like a drive that has already gone bad. After tightening the connections to the hard drive, it stopped clicking and I was able to access the data again. I have started to move files off of the drive, but I think this drive might still be in good health. I didn't find any data corruption and I haven't had any trouble accessing any files. I have never had an SATA drive fail before so I'm thinking that it could have just been the loose connections that was causing the problem. What tests can I run on this drive to find out how healthy it is?

    This is the hard drive in question: HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 HDT722525DLA380 (0A31636) 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive


    • Related Answers
  • Slartibartfast 
    sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda | less

    This will give you an abundance of information about your hard drive's health. The tool also permits you to start and monitor self tests of the drive.

    If you want to do benchmarks / check all of the sectors to find one that is bad, you can find other tools for that, but smartctl is the first place to go for drive health status.

  • Shiki

    HDDScan is a very handy/useful utility for scanning HDDs. It'll show any error most likely. However, you should also try vendor specific tools. (If you tell me your HDD's manufacturers (and model) I can link them here.)

  • Qwerty

    HDTune, the free version can check for HDD health.

  • Dennis Williamson

    Try using SpinRite (It isn't free) but I have used many, many tools. Most tools make more damage than help, when I say damage, I mean "not taking good care of your information". This tool will check your drive and fix the bad sectors, while moving your information to secure sectors. It also is a preventing method for hard disk catastrophes

    I strongly suggest risking on buying a fully tested product with a good background, than losing your so valuable information.

  • Nitrodist

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

    S.M.A.R.T. is a set standard for what you're describing. There are various applications out there to get the information from the HDD.

    My favorite (and free) choice is SpeedFan.

  • Alexander

    Besides the already mentioned SMART status it might be important to mention that modern HDDs tend not to fail gracefully. Often from one day to the next you only hear a clicking sound or can't access the disk at all. So while your problem could also be caused by a loose cable be always prepared by having regular backups on a different disk.

  • Community

    If a HD starts to give you physical hints about an upcoming failure, no software will help. Yes, SMART exists and things like smartctl can read its results for you, but you shouldn't bet on it. SMART can be useful for detecting things like high temperatures or bad sectors, but if your HD starts to click or does not start up during the first try, it's time to

    • make sure you have backups
    • rush to nearest computer dealer, buy a new HD and copy everything there

    When HD decides to fail, it will do it without a previous warning and Murphy's law says that the failure will happen during the most unwanted moment. So be prepared and backup & replace the disk NOW rather than waiting for the catastrophe.

  • slhck

    You are on Linux but you can attach your HDD to a friend's computer running Windows.

    You don't need any complicated software to check HDD health. Use Crystal Disk Info for Windows to check if your HDD is in good condition or if there is any damage.

    It will also show the S.M.A.R.T data with an indicator beside each value so if you find a red indicator then there is a problem with your hard drive.