Question IDE HardDrive Reader ?

[BKW1976]

I have 3 older IDE hard drives that I wish to view & save files. The drive has 40 pins.
What kind of reader do I need ?

 

[Eximo]

SATA/IDE to USB adapters are pretty common.

https://www.amazon.com/Certified-Su...=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&th=1

For larger drives, you will need a PC power supply for external power.

 

[punkncat]

Keep in mind that according to just how old and what format a modern PC may not be able to see them.

 

[evermorex76]

For larger drives, you will need a PC power supply for external power.

No they won't. The MOLEX connector is there to provide power to an IDE 3.5 inch drive. The adapter has its own external power brick with an on/off switch. It's not clear if that adapter can work WITHOUT having that switch plugged in and turned on; all the pictures show it using the plug always. Since OP's intent is to power OLD 3.5 inch drives it definitely will need a lot of power and have to use the included brick. It may or may not work with low-power drives without the brick, like most do.

Note that it is only USB 2.0, so 60MBps and in reality 50MBps or less, which is probably plenty for a very old IDE or small drive but would be quite slow if you wanted to use it on later IDE or SATA drive. Using it to transfer data between drives connected to the same adapter will be extremely slow since it has to split the bandwidth. The USB3 version is only a few dollars more and would be much faster; don't know why they even bother with the 2.0.

https://www.amazon.com/Certified-Supplier-Cinolink-Adapter-Universal/dp/B014PEP3E4

 

[TerryLaze]

The adapter has its own external power brick with an on/off switch. It's not clear if that adapter can work WITHOUT having that switch plugged in and turned on;

Their own brick might not be enough to power an old big drive and could overheat and even break. A PC PSU is a safe bet for no worries.

Keep in mind that according to just how old and what format a modern PC may not be able to see them.

Anything that can be written on an IDE standard drive can be read by a modern system, as long as they are pc drives.

 

[punkncat]

Anything that can be written on an IDE standard drive can be read by a modern system, as long as they are pc drives.

I cannot recall what it is I am trying to think of in regard to that. I thought it was something about FAT/NTFS but don't think that is what I am trying to remember here. I recall having issues trying to recover data from some old XP systems. I guess I am imagining things, which is not unheard of.

 

[evermorex76]

Their own brick might not be enough to power an old big drive and could overheat and even break. A PC PSU is a safe bet for no worries.

Sure, depending on exact usage, but they DO show two mechanical drives plugged in at once. Easy enough to look at the drive requirements, which are maximum during spinup. The brick shown is 12V 2A so 24W, and the USB adapter clearly does stepdown to 5V. Even that old Maxtor in the picture is a total of less than 17W leaving plenty for the adapter itself, but no, I can't see how it could run two mechanical drives at once, unless it spins them up sequentially and then it would likely have enough power for ongoing operations. For OP's needs there's probably no issue at all.

I actually will probably buy one of the USB3 versions to have on hand to replace my old one or have as a spare. I have no IDE drives to test with, though. I'd like to get one with a USB-C connector on the device though. Old 3B connectors aren't common cables laying around and integrated cables are worse.

https://www.amazon.com/ULXUUUN-External-Recovery-Converter-Universal/dp/B0CRD7XVH2

 

[evermorex76]

I cannot recall what it is I am trying to think of in regard to that. I thought it was something about FAT/NTFS but don't think that is what I am trying to remember here. I recall having issues trying to recover data from some old XP systems. I guess I am imagining things, which is not unheard of.

Perhaps you were thinking of 512-byte sectors versus 4K sectors? But a modern PC can still read older drives (most drives still present as 512-byte emulated anyway), and there were never any IDE 4Kn drives. Old OSes may not be able to read or install/boot on a newer 4K-native or even a 512e drive, though, depending on version/patches and the BIOS also needs to support them. I can't think of anything compatibility-wise to prevent a new system from reading a drive from an old one though except for controller drivers. Windows 11 can still read floppy disks from the 80s (with drivers installed to let it use the physical drive).

<Insert disk 1723 to continue installation of Microsoft Windows 11>

 

[TerryLaze]

I cannot recall what it is I am trying to think of in regard to that. I thought it was something about FAT/NTFS but don't think that is what I am trying to remember here. I recall having issues trying to recover data from some old XP systems. I guess I am imagining things, which is not unheard of.

Maybe drivespace, where the whole disk was real time compressed.
That could proof difficult to read.
But the drive would still be readable it would just only have one big file on it, basically a compressed disk image.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DriveSpace

 

[TerryLaze]

Sure, depending on exact usage, but they DO show two mechanical drives plugged in at once.

Whoa there, that's just to show what you can connect, not that you can connect all of them at once.

 

[Eximo]

Every one of these I have used in the past has not properly powered a 3.5" drive without the molex connector being populated. 2.5" and SATA drives worked without supplemental power.

But they are all a little different, and if they put the right DC-DC converters on there it could run off a sufficiently sized power brick.

 

[evermorex76]

Whoa there, that's just to show what you can connect, not that you can connect all of them at once.

It literally says you can use multiple drives simultaneously, even on all 3 ports. It would be false advertising to say that and then show an image with multiple drives that are NOT capable of being used at the same time. (Even without the text, showing multiple drives connected at the same time would be sufficient to count as an advertised claim.)

 

[evermorex76]

Every one of these I have used in the past has not properly powered a 3.5" drive without the molex connector being populated. 2.5" and SATA drives worked without supplemental power.

But they are all a little different, and if they put the right DC-DC converters on there it could run off a sufficiently sized power brick.

But the Molex connector is part of these devices, and 3.5 inch IDE drives just plain have no power if there isn't one connected. 2.5 inch IDE drives had the power pins included in the connector block (44 pins), while the SATA block on these devices also has the power pins included, just like on a laptop. And whether IDE or SATA, HDD or SSD, a laptop drive's power requirements are usually low enough to be run on USB power alone (although some of biggest multi-platter 7200RPM drives might not get enough with a single per-spec USB2.0 port because it's hard to spin that much mass up, which is why some of them come with a cable with an additional USB-A connector).

Several years ago I did have an adapter like this one. https://www.target.com/p/sanoxy-usb...rive-adapter-converter-cable-set/-/A-90476712

Massive separate power brick that just connects directly to the drive, separate cables for the SATA data and power. SUCH a hassle to keep track of all the pieces and put them back in the box to carry around (as a field tech). The power brick could probably manage 45W despite really only needing maybe 15W (not even listed as capable of multiple drives at once).