Question 1

Can i use this to replace a IDE Ultra ATA100/ATA-6 hard drive in a laptop?It's 2.5  inch.

Accepted Answer

Yes, it took me some research, but Ultra ATA is the same as PATA (parallel ATA) as opposed to the more popular SATA (serial ATA)....some laptops still use PATA drives.  The Transcend 2.5 inch SSD was truly a direct drop-in replacement that worked GREAT.  It was my first time trying an SSD, but I was so impressed that I will never buy another conventional drive.  Can't help you about importing data from another drive to it because mine was a fresh install of Ubuntu LINUX 12.04LTS, so the OS and software was free!  Anyway, this Transcend SSD is MUCH faster than the old drive, more heat-resistant, less power consumption, and not shock-sensitive (in case u drop the computer).  You will be amazed how fast defragmenting goes, its done in a few minutes!  Have fun.

Question 2

We have a piece of equipment that runs Windows 2000. Will this drive work with this version of Windows?

Accepted Answer

it worked on Windows XP so I don't see why it would not work on Windows 2000. My issue was trying to get the drive to initialize in order to clone my current drive. I was unable to read the drive from an external reader and it appeared invisible to the BIOS while on the external reader until I attached directly to the motherboard and tried a fresh install of an operating system. After that I was able to detach it from the motherboard and hook it into my external reader to where I could clone my current drive.. I think there's something in the drives firmware that will not allow it to be seen until this happens..

Question 3

will this work in my laptop? HP nc6220

Accepted Answer

Search results seem to indicate the HP is a Pentium M notebook with an IDE or PATA 40Gb drive, so this SSD should be the right spec. You won't get a huge boost in speed like a new SATA SSD on a modern machine, but it performs well enough on a Thinkpad T41, which is similar to the HP. What's nice is that the laptop now runs almost silently, and anyway,  it's hard to find new spinning IDE drives  at reasonable prices. Secure Erase is not supported to my knowledge, and possibly not trim as well--  I'm not running Windows but instead Linux Lite,  a very functional XP replacement based on Ubuntu.

Question 4

I heard that one could acquire AHCI and SATA III compatibility for a SSD residing on an non AHCI Intel H61 chipset SATA II motherboard, simply by buying a controller card such as the SYBA SY-PEX40039 PCI-Express 2.0 SATA III (6.0Gb/s) Controller Card (available on Newegg) and by connecting the SSD to this PCI card. Does that seem correct? Also does true ACHI functionality require a reinstall of the OS?

Accepted Answer

Hi,  Be aware that this is a PATA (aka ide, with a 44 pin connector) drive, it does not work in SATA mode, nor does it interface with a SATA connector. I suggest that you get the specifications document from Transcend, to get all the interface details. In general, changing the disk controller mode to ACHI in the BIOS, does not require an OS re-install.

Question 5

Trim/ garbage collection, how does it do?

Accepted Answer

Dustbin.  Trashcan.  Neither of the refurbished ones I purchased lasted a month.

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