BIOS UPGRADES NOT ALWAYS REQUIRED

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.packardbell (More info?)

Of course a new BIOS is the best option, but can be risky if the exact
BIOS cannot be found from a reputable site. It is often worth a few
bucks to buy a BIOS from a company like unicore rather than ruin a
motherboard with a bad flash.

The option to install a PCI controller card is a good one, easy too
and I have done this years ago. But, this will have a performance hit
as the HDD will now communicate over the PCI bus. That is the theory
anyway. Actual tests on YOUR machine could produce different results.

People who have taken the time to do actual tests (HDD ) have observed
transfer rates that do not agree with theory, on certain systems.

The easiest & cheapest route is to install disk overlay software
freely available from the manufacturer. Check with the manufacturer's
web site before buying a drive. I believe that Maxtor, Seagate and
WesterDigital all offer this freely. It might take a while to follow
the instuctions and set the drive up, but it will function easily and
transparently wonce install. Of course there is a small performance
hit from an additional layer of translation.