Is HDD to SSD possible on an old computer (1998)

Bbennchuu · Jul 17, 2015

My old (1998) computer HDD is dying in my old computer and I want to clone my data to a SSD; if not possible then to another HDD.

Here is the catch, although I want to upgrade the computer in general, the computer is used in for a packaging machine that controls the operation of it. THEREFORE it does not use a windows OS, but a custom machine OS.

I cannot upgrade the motherboard either, because the motherboard has other circuit boards on the slots that controls the machine, and I am mostly afraid of compatibility issues with new motherboard. To get the machine "serviced" by the machine manufacturer (pretty much to replace a new HDD/SSD) it will cost me $3000 dollars, which is ridiculous...

I am not very tech savvy but I know enough to get by with simple diagnostic. I can access the bios when the system boots up but once in the machine control OS, I cannot do anything other than run production. Currently the bios states that I have a 4GB (3249) HDD in the computer right now.

I read that older computers have a hard drive space limit, therefore I cannot simply just put in a 160gb SSD/HDD. And it's hard to find a 4GB HDD, especially when most RAM are 4GB now.

Is this job even possible? Or do I fork up $3000 dollars for the manufacturer to swap out my harddrive? Please advise.

kanewolf · Jul 17, 2015

What is the cost to the business if you mess up? Is it more than $3k? If so then pay the $3K....

jsmithepa · Jul 17, 2015

Vendors make custom stuff to precisely LOCK you into their services. We don't even know if this thing runs a standard file system (FAT and variants, NTFS etc). Assuming yes, BIOS of that era may have an 8G barrier, you can buy a larger drive and just create an 8G partition and use that, lots of space wasted but after all these years, maybe 8G will be good for another 10 years. Forget about SSD.

Darkbreeze · Jul 17, 2015

Any computer from 1998 that has not had a newer motherboard installed, is not going to support an SSD via the bios. There may be some third party add in PCI storage controllers that will allow it, but it's not going to happen natively as it's almost a certainty that the manufacturer stopped updating bios features long before SSD's became popular. In this case, with your particular specifics, it's even more of a certainty that it's not supported and your machine likely has some proprietary hardware involved as well which further complicates things.

Cloning to another drive may even be an issue as it's probably going to be difficult to track down an IDE drive that's compatible with your machine. Most machines since about 2003 have used SATA controllers instead of legacy IDE versions.

We would need to know the exact model number of your current hard drive, and probably your motherboard model number as well, to even try to make upgrade recommendations. That storage drive might also not be IDE, but SCSI instead, so knowing WHAT you already have will be mandatory.

USAFRet · Jul 17, 2015

Here we have a 17 year old computer, running a critical(?) business process.
The hard drive is dying.
It runs a custom OS and application stack.
There is no apparent fix, other than letting the manufacturer fix it for $3,000.

What if it was something other than the old HDD that was dying?
It is long past time to upgrade that box. And to create some sort of fallback routine. Just in case Joe the new guy spills his coffee into it.

Not just upgrade/swap the hard drive...a whole new system. And soon.

Darkbreeze · Jul 17, 2015

And you could probably build an entire system, WAY better than what you currently have, that runs exactly what you have on there now, for about 25% of what they want to replace the drive.

Bbennchuu · Jul 18, 2015

Thank you everybody for your inputs!

Luckily for us, we have 5 machine total (3 of them newer models), so if the hard drive does fail on this current computer, we still have backup for production. So either way I would still pay the same $3000 whether my HDD dies or if I somehow fk up, so might as well try to troubleshoot.

Like I mentioned earlier, I can't really change the system, because there are custom hardware on the motherboard that directly correspond with the function and the response of the machine. If I mess up on that... I have to ship a 1200lb machine back to the manufacturer to re-calibrate the system, which can easily cost up to 20 grand+ and significant lead time. OR bring their technician here and pay for all of his flight ticket, accommodations, labor, and parts. If in case the hardware fails, we are willing to retire the machine and salvage parts for the other machines.

HOWEVER, since it is just an old failing HDD, I figured we can try to clone it and squeeze more life out of it. If you guys think that swapping out the HDD is greater risk of somehow damaging the motherboard or other hardware, I will forfeit and just fly out the technician.

If you guys need pictures of the hardware or video, please let me know of what, and I will post it on Monday during work. Thanks again guys, your inputs are very helpful!

Darkbreeze · Jul 18, 2015

If you can provide the model number of the hard drive, or a picture of the label on the hard drive listing it's model and specifications, it would certainly be helpful.

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Is HDD to SSD possible on an old computer (1998)

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