They are faster, the newer EIDE drives are 133MBPS while SATA drives are 150MBPS. The earlier EIDE drives just about matched SATA in performance, but faster BUS speeds are enabling the SATA drive's performance to become visible. It also depends on the RPM of the drive and MB's of onboard cache. SATA also allows Native Command Queuing[^] and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tagged_Command_Queuing[^]. I hope this helps :)

Reformatting doesn't necessarily remove all information. Even if there was a reformat, it may be recoverable. They should check out DriveSavers[^]

So, a pirate walks into a bar and the bartender goes 'Hey, you know you have a steering wheel attached to your crotch?' The pirate replies, 'Arrrh, It's drivin' me nuts' :)