harddrive compatibility

you need to check what you have open, if you have 1 disk drive you can guarentee you have an open pata, and if you only have 1 sata device its most likely you will have another.
look inside your case and check weather you have sata (most likely a inch-half inch wide flat red wire) if you see 1 trace it back and see if there is an open plug.
also check for a wide ide cable, (80 thin strips in a 2 inch wide flat cable) if there is an open plug (1 of the 2 on a line) or an open plug on your motherboard then you can fit a Pata (ide) hard drive in your computer.

for the best deals on hds, for anything. get the WD mail in rebate discounts from best buy, i saw $40 the other day for a 160gb eide drive.

i could be wrong but most of the motherboards come with at least a couple of SATA connection and two ide connections. you should be able to add a PATA drive on your computer without a problem.

do you only have one hdd right now?

Yes. I only have 1 HD right now. The computer is a Dell Dimension 4700. Please explainagain about what to look for when I open the case. Should I find the existing HD and trace the cable from it to the motherboard then determine if the motherboard has more of the same connectors? Will I find the 2" wide cable if my computer doesn't have that type of HD?