Using a CF flash card as a PC internal IDE hard drive

[alegator]

I just read it can be done for notebooks using this adaptor:
http://www.addonics.com/products/flash_memory_reader/ad44midecf.asp

Has anyone tried it? Is it stable? Is there something similar for PC's? Thanks

[aedipuss]

ssd hard drives have been around for a while now. no need for a flash converter.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150636&bop=And&ActiveS...ue&Order=PRICE

[redwudz]

CF cards are rather expensive in large capacity sizes. There are plenty of SSDs (Solid State Drives) on the market that can be used in a laptop or a PC as a boot drive replacement. Most PC versions have a SATA connector so they are compatible with a regular PC. Your Addonics adapter would also work with a mini 44 to full size 44 pin PATA (IDE) adapter.

SSD drives are fast, but you have to use them differently. No defragging, ever, or you can damage the SSD. A SSD has internal programs to move data around to avoid burnout of individual cells and this replaces defragging. They can also get corrupted, so there are programs that can restore the efficiency when it declines. I use one in my Intel PC, but not as a boot drive any longer. It's a 60GB OCZ SSD.

I found it too small for Vista or W7 to use as a boot unless you move temp files, page files, and other files that eat up space to other drives. I also installed my software programs on a secondary SATA drive. It was a constant battle to keep enough free space on the SSD to allow it to function optimally. In the end, it would load Windows very quickly, but my programs loaded the same speed as a SATA drive because they were on a SATA drive.

I finally gave up the battle and went to a 10K RPM WD Raptor 150GB SATA drive and though it's not as fast, much easier to work with. I still use the SSD for a scratch drive for some of my programs. For a SSD drive, I would recommend a 100GB or larger version for use with Vista or W7. But they are still very expensive. If you use a less resource hungry OS, then a smaller drive may work well enough.

[alegator]

Thanks for the replies. Would a CF card have the same limitations/annoyances of an SSD drive that redwudz describes? I mean, is the technology behind an SSD the same as that of a CF card?

[MOVIEGEEK]

Isn't CF FAT32?
If so it's limited to 4GB files.