July 11, 2014
I want to retrieve the data from the hard drive of my old on working computer that was running Windows XP.
I salvaged the hard drive but do not know what kind / size of external enclosure to buy.
Would appreciate any suggestions.
The label says it was made by Seagate. Barracuda 7200.7 40 Gbytes
Model ST 340014A
August 9, 2011
If the drive came from a desktop PC, which I'm assuming it did, you'll need a 3.5" enclosure Myles. Also, an old drive like that will be IDE so you'll need an external enclosure which supports IDE.
Something like this:
Or an external enclosure which supports both IDE and SATA, like this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3883498&CatId=2778
Brand of hard drive does not matter, they are all a universal size with universal connections.
If all you want to do is retrieve the data from the old drive, you could connect it inside a working computer and copy the data to flash drive. If the PC you are connecting to is SATA only, you'll need an IDE to SATA adapter like this:
July 11, 2014
Jim Hillier said
If the drive came from a desktop PC, which I'm assuming it did, you'll need a 3.5" enclosure Myles. Also, an old drive like that will be IDE so you'll need an external enclosure which supports IDE.
Something like this:
Or an external enclosure which supports both IDE and SATA, like this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3883498&CatId=2778
Thank you Jim.
Brand of hard drive does not matter, they are all a universal size with universal connections.
If all you want to do is retrieve the data from the old drive, you could connect it inside a working computer and copy the data to flash drive. If the PC you are connecting to is SATA only, you'll need an IDE to SATA adapter like this:
August 7, 2011
I prefer adapters like this because they have connections for IDE/SATA/3.5"/2.5" drives and don't require you to disassemble the enclosure to connect the drive - just plugin, get your data off (if the drive is readable), and you're done. A great tool.
Of course this isn't for a permanent setup, but that drive is pretty old and I don't know if I would trust it other than to move the data somewhere else.
Moderators
April 29, 2013
Both Jim and Dave are right on this one.
I have pulled data from several drives but I just usually pop the cover and do a temporary hook up to my PC but some mobo do not support IDE drives so I keep an old PC around for that task. I am pretty sure this an Seagate IDE drive because I have one just like it that still barely works but it doesn't have any data on it. Daniel.
