USB to ide/eide cable

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:00 am

I am wondering if they make a USB to ide/eide cable?

My desktop has just died, but I have a new one coming in the next few days. My old computer is eide and the new one is sata and so I wondered if they make a usb lead that I can plug into my hard drive from my old computer to enable me to remove the data to the new computer?

Not sure if they make one of these leads or not

tim'll fix it · Post by **tim'll fix it** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:54 am

i think you used to be able to buy cases to mount IDE drives externally

was a while ago though

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:58 am

tim'll fix it wrote:i think you used to be able to buy cases to mount IDE drives externally

was a while ago though

I think they still connected to the motherboard by a eide cable, rather then a usb cable.

I'm off to dentists now and then computer shop

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:32 am

tim'll fix it wrote:i think you used to be able to buy cases to mount IDE drives externally

was a while ago though

You are right Tim, just got one now and it is usb

GTV16v · Post by **GTV16v** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:06 pm

Why not just connect the old drive to one of the IDE connectors of the system board ( probably still present for backwards compatibility ) temporarily whilst you copy the data? No need to fix the drive. Just connect power & data and leave it carefully placed at the bottom of the case.

Just ensure that the new system's drive is the default boot device.

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:42 pm

GTV16v wrote:Why not just connect the old drive to one of the IDE connectors of the system board ( probably still present for backwards compatibility ) temporarily whilst you copy the data? No need to fix the drive. Just connect power & data and leave it carefully placed at the bottom of the case.

Just ensure that the new system's drive is the default boot device.

That might be a good idea, surprisingly the dell pc has just arrived and I am typing this message from it

I have just looked in the case and there seems to be an eide connector on the motherboard

wonder if I can change the boot device in the bios and boot from the old drive, then I can get the data from it the easy way

skiking · Post by **skiking** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:05 pm

I'm after a new 'family' (or kids) PC - what Dell did you get ?

GTV16v · Post by **GTV16v** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:31 pm

ultimatehandyman wrote:
wonder if I can change the boot device in the bios and boot from the old drive, then I can get the data from it the easy way

Not recommended if your old OS was an NT derivative ( NT, 2000, XP ) as it will almost certainly crash on boot as the system drivers & HAL* will almost certainly be wrong for your new board.

* Hardware Abstraction Layer

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:15 pm

skiking wrote:I'm after a new 'family' (or kids) PC - what Dell did you get ?

dell dimension 9200

Can't remember the full spec as the details are on the old pc, but it is something like core 2 duo, can't remember the speed, but think it is 2ghz. 4 gig of ram. 2* 250 gig hard drives with raid configuration, 22 inch wide screen LCD. I am very impressed with it as it is very very fast

I wanted a fast reliable computer and this seems to fit the bill perfectly

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:16 pm

GTV16v wrote:
ultimatehandyman wrote:
wonder if I can change the boot device in the bios and boot from the old drive, then I can get the data from it the easy way
Not recommended if your old OS was an NT derivative ( NT, 2000, XP ) as it will almost certainly crash on boot as the system drivers & HAL* will almost certainly be wrong for your new board.

* Hardware Abstraction Layer

Both computers are on XP Pro and so it should not be a problem, I could have had vista, but wanted my existing stuff to work!

I tried vista in a laptop and it was really slow!

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:38 pm

I have just configured outlook and it has retreived messages from the server from April

This is the spec of the new pc-

210-17961 Dimension 9200 Core 2 Duo Processor E6420 (2.13ghz, 1066mhz FSB, 4MB cache) 1 200-47761 List D07921a Dimension 9200 1
237-10190 Free Upgrade - 320GB SATA Stripe Raid 0- 500GB(2*250GB) SATA Stripe Raid 0 1

skiking · Post by **skiking** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:39 pm

ultimatehandyman wrote:
skiking wrote:I'm after a new 'family' (or kids) PC - what Dell did you get ?
dell dimension 9200

Can't remember the full spec as the details are on the old pc, but it is something like core 2 duo, can't remember the speed, but think it is 2ghz. 4 gig of ram. 2* 250 gig hard drives with raid configuration, 22 inch wide screen LCD. I am very impressed with it as it is very very fast

I wanted a fast reliable computer and this seems to fit the bill perfectly

Sounds very powerful. I wasn't thinking of going that powerful even to edit video/photo's. Let me know how you get on with it. Was hoping to get one in the next couple of months but something has just cropped up

RichieP · Post by **RichieP** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:14 pm

It won't boot properly. The old hard drive is set up to run the hardware installed on your old PC. Careful opening up your new computer, as you may void the warranty. An external enclosure is the best way to go, as you can pull off all the data you want, then format it and use it as a removable hard drive.

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 5:11 am

skiking wrote:
ultimatehandyman wrote:
skiking wrote:I'm after a new 'family' (or kids) PC - what Dell did you get ?
dell dimension 9200

Can't remember the full spec as the details are on the old pc, but it is something like core 2 duo, can't remember the speed, but think it is 2ghz. 4 gig of ram. 2* 250 gig hard drives with raid configuration, 22 inch wide screen LCD. I am very impressed with it as it is very very fast

I wanted a fast reliable computer and this seems to fit the bill perfectly
Sounds very powerful. I wasn't thinking of going that powerful even to edit video/photo's. Let me know how you get on with it. Was hoping to get one in the next couple of months but something has just cropped up

It is amazing

It is very fast and a pleasure to use. Normally when you get a new computer you hardly notice if you get a faster one, but this is much faster than my old one!

Post by **ultimatehandyman** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 5:14 am

RichieP wrote:It won't boot properly. The old hard drive is set up to run the hardware installed on your old PC. Careful opening up your new computer, as you may void the warranty. An external enclosure is the best way to go, as you can pull off all the data you want, then format it and use it as a removable hard drive.

I managed to get the data off the old pc by fixing it and then burning it to a dvd

This dell case is really easy to open, it does not have screws at the back like most cases, instead there is a black handle on top of the case and when you pull it the right hand side of the case is ejected and can be pulled clear, it is really clever

I'm very impressed with the dell quality, the fan is also very quiet- unlike my last two computers!