Problem with HDD

YES. Install any and all drivers for your system. Any driver and update that you can possibly get a hold of should be installed. But based on your computer's specs, I have a feeling that your motherboard might be too old to support the newer SATA III. A BIOS update MIGHT fix that. The key word is might. And that is if an update even exists for your BIOS. You will most likely need to obtain the BIOS update from a working computer, copy it to a bootable CD or USB drive and flash it the old way.

**VERY IMPORTANT!** Changing the BIOS settings and flashing the BIOS are two very different things. Since you are saying you have no experience with BIOS settings at all, I would NOT recommend doing the update yourself (if there even is an update at all). It is an advanced process. If you do wish to try it, I would strongly suggest you find a friend or someone who has experience with making boot disks and flashing BIOS. If you don't know anyone like that, find a professional PC tech (but paying him might be cost more than your system is worth). Doing the wrong thing or making a mistake while flashing a BIOS can destroy your motherboard permanently. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Seeing that it is a Pentium III based CPU, it is most likely SATA I and one of the first computers to have SATA. If you aren't able to fix the problem by updating the BIOS, then you should probably return the hard drive for a refund and look for a SATA I drive, or if the motherboard has the old 40-pin IDE slots, look for a IDE (also called PATA or ATA/ 133) hard drive: IT WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE MUCH, MUCH EASIER.

Another option: keep the new hard drive and buy a new system. You can get a quad-core AMD system for around $300 or a decent i3 Intel system for around $400. Or, you can look for older, but still much much better than your current system PCs; basically anything with core 2, i3, i5 or i7 in it from Intel and any multi-core AMD system. You might even be able to find a Pentium 4 or Pentium D system for very cheap or even free. Last year a friend was clearing out his old office equipment and he gave me 3 Pentium 4 systems that were fully functional with 2 monitors for free. Look on ebay, you might find a great deal. Also, check Craigslist in the free section, someone near you might be giving away a PC that is faster than a Pentium III. Freecycle is another good place to find free stuff. I also heard of people getting very cheap PCs from thrift shops.