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Message started by Dirk B on Apr 8th, 2009 at 9:12pm

Title: IDE to SATA converter
Post by Dirk B on Apr 8th, 2009 at 9:12pm
Does anyone have any advice/experience with the following?  I have several 3.5" IDE drives.  I would like to be able to use them to run my laptop.  There is such a converter device but I would like to know if they would work on a boot drive.  Would the motherboard be able to recognize the device on booting up, even (obviously) before the OS has been loaded?  The drive would be powered from an older power supply as I don't think the laptop would power a 3.5" drive.

Title: Re: IDE to SATA converter
Post by MrMagoo on Apr 8th, 2009 at 11:29pm

Dirk B wrote on Apr 8th, 2009 at 9:12pm:
Would the motherboard be able to recognize the device on booting up, even (obviously) before the OS has been loaded?

Yes I think it should work, but I don't know anyone who has tried it.


Dirk B wrote on Apr 8th, 2009 at 9:12pm:
The drive would be powered from an older power supply as I don't think the laptop would power a 3.5" drive.

The 3.5" drive will probably also generate more heat, so keep that in mind if you are trying to stuff it inside the case.


Title: Re: IDE to SATA converter
Post by TheShadow on Apr 10th, 2009 at 9:08am
I have used adapters to play a laptop drive (2.5") on a desktop PC, but they wind up hanging out the side of the PC, not mounted internally.

Of course you absolutely cannot mount a 3.5" IDE drive inside a laptop so any adapter you would use would have to have an IDE cable long enough to extend outside the laptop and of course you'd have to have the 5v+12v power supply to drive the larger drive.
There may be such an adapter available somewhere, but in all my travels, I've not seen one.

It does sound like an awful lot of work though.
I'd probably just put the IDE drive in an external enclosure and plug it into the USB jack on the laptop.
That I've done, and it works great.

Good Luck on your quest!

8-)

Title: Re: IDE to SATA converter
Post by Dirk B on Apr 11th, 2009 at 12:14am
I realize it's going to be a 'Frankenstein' type setup.  The 3.5" drive will be setup outside, obviously, with a SATA data cable connecting it to the laptop and powered by an old power supply.  I'm just not sure if the IDE to SATA adapter ( http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3481275&CatId=84 ) would be recognized in order for the laptop to boot from the IDE drive.  I'm just working with different configurations/combinations and have several IDE drives that I would rather not let go unused.  I do have adapters/enclosures to use them externally via USB but cannot boot from them in that configuration.

Title: Re: IDE to SATA converter
Post by Dirk B on May 4th, 2009 at 11:28am
Update:  It works!  The computer occasionally hangs up during booting, but turning off and then on has always resulted in a succesfull boot.

Title: Re: IDE to SATA converter
Post by richkl on May 15th, 2009 at 4:05pm
I have something kind of similar.  All external.  Also about $20.

This is it:  http:http://tekgems.com/Products/tg-usb-sata-ide-25-35.htm

It is similar to the Vantec model  http://techgage.com/article/vantec_sataide_to_usb_adapter/

It connects to the computer USB port.  It has sockets to accommodate IDE or SATA cables.

It plugs directly into the socket on the back of the hard drive and has a power supply for the HD.  It is seen as a removable drive by the computer.

It allows you to access the information on an old hard drive. I don't know if you can boot from it. 

So far I haven't been able to make it work.  The HD spins up but Windows Explorer won't see the HD.  Maybe I am doing something wrong.  The guy that told me about it thinks it is wonderful.

Richard

Title: Re: IDE to SATA converter
Post by Lurker on May 24th, 2009 at 1:07pm
DO, check the jumper on the HD and make sure it's in the Master position. (and NOT the cable select position, that so many PC manufacturers use in their PC's.)

Every one of those little adapters that I've ever seen or used demand that the IDE drive be set to Master.

Good Luck,


Title: Re: IDE to SATA converter
Post by unclebobee on Jun 8th, 2009 at 10:12pm
I have been using adapters for quite a while....some come with the power supply.  Your laptop has to be able to boot from the USB.  Set that in your BIOS as FIRST BOOT, if available.  You can find adapters on EBay for $10.00 and less.  Good luck !!

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