Confused about connecting old peripherals with new

[opeeum69]

I have my new computer up and running vista x64 on a SATA hdd, but I want to access another IDE harddrive's files, the IDE harddrive also has vista installed on it, but that vista was installed with totally different components, is this possible at all? is there a tutorial? Thanks very much

 

[Boobs McGee]

Plug it in. Make sure your bios is set to boot up to your newer SATA drive. Once you are in Windows navigate to the drive and get your files. You may have to take ownership first in order to get to them, but it should be that easy.

 

[corkyg]

Sometimes Vista has problems with multiple OS installations seen at one time. An alternative would be to put that old drive in an external case (eSATA or USB) and DELTREE the /Windows folder and use it for a data drive or backup data drive.

 

[opeeum69]

New question though (related) : So now I installed Vista 64 bit on my new SATA HDD, but I have only 1 IDE socket on my mobo, but both my DVD and old HDD (on which are my old vista 32 bit OS and other files I'd like to get) are IDE and I'd like to connect them both to my comp, do I need a special IDE cable? the one I have have two sockets at each end, with an additional socket in the middle, any directions is appreciated (the entire cable seems way too short to place two device on), thank you! and how should I set the master/slave stuff on the DVD rom and the IDE HDD?

thanks Boobs McGee, I'll try your way first, hopefully it will work out easy, which right now is simply disconnecting my DVD rom and use the cable for my IDE HDD

and thanks corkyg, but sucks I'm on older case (it has a mobo tray tho, to my surprise, the case is ~ 6 years old) so no eSATA for me =(

 

[Boobs McGee]

For IDE/PATA you can have 2 devices per port. The cable you have sounds standard but I think you meant there are a total of 3 connectors. It may be easier for you to just plug in one of your ide devices at a time because of component location/cable length. If that is the case for you, just unplug your optical drive, plug in the hard drive and get your files. Once you are done swap them back.

Also corkyg meant that you could go with either esata or usb. It does make things easy so you aren't getting into your case over and over.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: Boobs McGee
Also corkyg meant that you could go with either esata or usb. It does make things easy so you aren't getting into your case over and over.

Exactly! I have a pair of Vantec NexStar 3 externals from Newegg, and they have BOTH eSATA and USB - I can connect them to any PC.
I use these now for digital imagery archiving. Both have the same data, i.e., planned redundancy. I only connect them when I need access - otherwise they are not even plugged in.

 

[Kevinthewiseone]

well if you want to you could always but an IDE HD Docking station that offers Newegg.com

 

[opeeum69]

cool, thanks alot Boobs McGee, corkyg, and Kevinthewiseone, didn't even know about these options b4 =)