October 22, 2008
My desktop (XP) has a removable (D:) HD cassette but whenever I swap HD cassettes, I have to reboot. Is there any way to make this HD USB so it will plug and play?
Thanks
August 11, 2011
HD....Hard drive?
if you're using this solely for data storage and not for booting, there are enclosures that can make an IDE drive into a USB drive.
However, they are hit or miss. I had to go through three or four before I found one that worked consistently, then my son decided it would make a great tinker toy (it didn't).
Here's a link to tigerdirect.com with what you are looking for:
[url:plyoz82q]http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/search.asp?keywords=hd+enclosures&searchbtn.x=0&searchbtn.y=0[/url:plyoz82q]
Best of luck. because of my spotty luck with them, I do not have a specific brand that I would recommend. Hopefully someone else here will have had better luck than I have had.
October 22, 2008
Thanks Ziggie
I too found several USB external enclosures for a hard drive. I was hoping to find some way to do this internally. I did find a unit that computer techs use to test hard drives externally that I could install internally but I have been told they do not hold up very well.
Guess I'll just load that drive bay with a large GB drive and leave it for storage and back ups.
Thanks for your help.
Kestrel
August 11, 2011
ah, i see what you're trying to do, and I don't think it will work unless you want to move to SATA.
I don't think IDE and hot swappable go together...
August 7, 2011
Unfortunately you won't be able to do this without USB or SATA, and USB would be a pain to implement in an internal fashion. SATA cards are cheap, unfortunately you would need new drives, cages, and a backplane.
