Hi all; 1 - On the weekend I go garaging (as in garage sales). I was able to pick up a 20 GB ATA HDD (we won't even get into the fact that the box was sealed and said it was a 40 GB IDE HDD). Stupid question, can I put this in my IDE system? 2 - My dad used to use an e-Machine with DIMM RAM. He has now purchased a newer refurbished PC with SDRAM. Stupid question - Any chance the DIMM RAM can be used in the SDRAM machine? Harry

1. ATA = IDE, so yes, you can use it. 2. Almost all RAM is SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory). PC100, PC133, DDR400, DDR2-800, etc are all forms of SDRAM. If you're asking about whether older EDO-DIMMs (168-pin) can be used in a newer PC100/133 (168-pin) system, the answer is *probably* no. Although the modules are "slot compatible", most EDO-DIMMS run at 5v while newer 168-pin SDRAM run at 3.3v. Your best bet would be to try a site such as Crucial.com to see which RAM type is recommended.

"...most EDO-DIMMS run at 5v while newer 168-pin SDRAM run at 3.3v..." I disagree - it will probably work. While it is true all early FPM and EDO DIMM modules use 5v, it wasn't used for long before they used only 3.3v, as all of the original SDram does, so there is far more 3.3v FPM and EDO used DIMM ram out there than there is 5v. Personally I don't think I've encountered any 5v ones. If the refurbished computer can use PC100 or PC100/PC133 SDram, and doesn't require the newer DDR SDram types, go ahead and try the FPM or EDO ram in the refurbished computer - chances are very good it will work. Just make sure you remove the AC to the case/PS when installing or removing the ram, the ram is inserted in the right direction, and the two notches in the contact edge line up with both the bumps in the bottom of the slots (one won't line up if the DIMM is 5v). However, because the ram is arranged in 2 or 4 banks on each SDRam module, SDram effectively runs at up to 4X as fast as FPM ram does, and you're much better off to use SDram.