Old hard drive access

December 5, 2005 8:41 AM

Is there a cable I can purchase that will connect an old hard drive (i.e. the one I just removed from my old computer before donating it) and my new computer, preferably with a USB interface? I'm mainly interested in making sure there are no useful files on it before I destroy it. I run WinXP, if it matters.
posted by docpops to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

Any enclosure should do this easily, as long as it's an IDE drive. Take the old drive and put it into the enclosure (about $25-$30, or borrow a friend's), then hook it up to your computer via USB. The new machine will automatically recognize the drive and you can move files back and forth easily. You can use the old drive for backup storage, if you want.

If it's a desktop, I assume it's a 3.5" drive, but make sure of that before you get an enclosure. Notebooks harddrives are usually 2.5", and there are separate enclosures for them.
posted by arco at 8:48 AM on December 5, 2005

Response by poster: What, exactly, is an 'enclosure'? Thanks.
posted by docpops at 8:50 AM on December 5, 2005

Response by poster: OK, nevermind - Google to the rescue.
posted by docpops at 8:51 AM on December 5, 2005

It's a case that has IDE on the inside and USB or firewire on the outside. Usually they're the size of a paperback book and have a power adapter to plug them into the wall.

If this a full size (3.5") drive from a desktop machine you could just plug it in with the cables that currently connect your cdrom drive (with the power off of course). Reboot and it should appear and you can peruse / copy the files to your heart's content. Power down and plug the CDrom back in when you're done and the drive is ready for the nail-gun treatment.
posted by roue at 8:54 AM on December 5, 2005

There are also such things as IDE to USB adapters. Basically an enclosure without the enclosing part. They can work with either size drive and they are cheaper than a full enclosure.
posted by Turd Ferguson at 8:56 AM on December 5, 2005

A quick Google search of "usb ide cable" should give you plenty to go with.
posted by bering at 8:56 AM on December 5, 2005

I you give up on the USB requirement, there's a good chance you could just open up your computer and pop the disk on, just dangling it until you transferred the data.

If this is your first time opening up a PC you should have someone with you who has done it before.

But at $25, having a USB enclosure may come in handy testing other drives in the future.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:49 AM on December 5, 2005

Word of warning - the cheap-ass no-name enclosure I got from CompUSA fried my drive's circuit board upon powering up. Next time I'll spend a few more bucks for a recognizable manufacturer.
posted by Tubes at 10:16 AM on December 5, 2005

I've bought four or five of the "USB to IDE" cables from geeks.com and they work great for doing exactly what you're talking about.
posted by mrbill at 1:42 PM on December 5, 2005