Old PC recognizez 80 gig external...

ok I have an old ass dell PC from like 1996 running win 2k and it will recognize an 80 gig external HDD so would that mean it will recognize an 80 gig internal?

If so would I be able to take the external HDD out of its external case and make it internal as long as it hsa the ribbon wire connection?

 

How odo I jumper it as a slave drive?

I want it to be a master drive instead as my internal drive is only 1.5 gigs small.

The PC is from 96 so your susre that it can go?

 

I want the drive as a master so that I can install a newer os on it uninstall 2k from the current 1.5 gig hd and use the current for a few programs ect.

 

I believe this old computer may 'see' only 8.55 gb of the 80 gb available due to BIOS limitations.
A drive overlay installed on the drive will take care of that. The computer's BIOS will 'see' 8.55, but an installed OS will 'see' the entire drive.

 

So if I got an OS installed on this HDD it would be able to see the whole drive?

What is a drive overlay?

 

Without an overlay, Windows will see what the BIOS sees. With an overlay, Windows will see what the overlay tells it.
A drive overlay is software installed on the drive that runs when the Master Boot Record of the drive is accessed, or during bootup. It allows the system BIOS to access the entire drive. However, the BIOS will only show the size at whatever it's limits are, this will not affect what the overlay software shows Windows.
This overlay is not a part of the Windows operating system, it is independently loaded into memory before windows begins loading. I have used one before with Win98, and didn't have any problems because of it.

If your hard drive is new, it may have come with a CD. This CD should install the overlay, partition and format the drive for you. Simply boot the computer with the CD, and let it prepare it for you.
There is twist to installing windows because of the overlay. Instead of first booting the computer with a floppy or CD to install windows, you need let the hard drive boot first.
There is a prompt, asking to boot from a floppy, the drive or CD. You would make your choice here. After windows is installed, you will need to do nothing at the prompt, just let it go on.
If your drive did not come with a CD, who is the manufacturer of it?

 

western digita is the manufacturer but it is external and looks internal out of the case.

Can you make me a small tut on how to get it in and working properly?
A basic one would be nice as I am good with computers but still have room to learn.

 

http://www.pcmech.com/show/harddrive/43/
The link above is a good read.
There is a jumper on the drive, the position of this jumper determines if Master or Slave drive. There is a diagram on the drive giving you the locations of the settings, it should be set as a Master.
http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=999&swid=1
At the above link, get "Data Lifeguard Tools 11.2 for DOS ", do not worry about which drive type to choose there as these tools are universal for their drives. There are instructions on how to create the setup floppy for your drive. This floppy should install the overlay, and partition and format it for you.
I have the CD version of these tools for I have WD drives, and need to give you a warning about this. It is a better idea when using this program to exit it properly for the way it goes through your BIOS to access the drive. It can reset all values in there, do not be surprised to see the Time/Date reset to the earliest Time/Date known to the system even after a proper exit. It won't damage the BIOS, just an inconvenience.
After the overlay is installed, set the hard drive as the first boot device (this is regardless if windows is installed or not). As the drive boots, you'll see a small blue rectangle appear on the screen, this is the overlay software loading up. It is like a Boot Manager in this respect, as this is when you choose to have the system boot from a floppy, or CD, or do nothing and let the hard drive continue, I believe you have 3 seconds to make your decision.
You would press C to get the floppy as the boot drive, the Spacebar will get the CD as the boot drive. After the first reboot during Windows installation, you should need to do nothing at this point.