Laptop is not recognizing old IDE HDD connected via USB adapter.

[jkod14]

Hi y'all, I tried connecting a IDE WD200 from an old desktop computer (which ran Windows XP) with a Sabrent 2.0 USB to IDE adapter with power supply (found here) to my laptop (Dell 7559) but the drive is not showing up in the Devices and Drives list in This PC. I made sure to set the drive to master, along with ensuring the IDE drive was being powered by the supply adapter (which it was, disk in HDD was spinning) and connected to the laptop via the USB cable and I still get nothing. I do not have access to the old computer this drive came from. I do not want to reformat the drive, I want to move old files off it unto my laptop. Can someone please help?

 

[MeepsterNotchy]

Hi y'all, I tried connecting a IDE WD200 from an old desktop computer (which ran Windows XP) with a Sabrent 2.0 USB to IDE adapter with power supply (found here) to my laptop (Dell 7559) but the drive is not showing up in the Devices and Drives list in This PC. I made sure to set the drive to master, along with ensuring the IDE drive was being powered by the supply adapter (which it was, disk in HDD was spinning) and connected to the laptop via the USB cable and I still get nothing. I do not have access to the old computer this drive came from. I do not want to reformat the drive, I want to move old files off it unto my laptop. Can someone please help?

Any possibility it could be dead?

 

[jkod14]

Any possibility it could be dead?

Hard to say. I can definitely hear the HDD spinning when connected to the power adapter. I went into disk management and noticed the following: Disk 2 Unknown Not Initialized.

I really do not want to reformat the hard drive, since I have a ton of valuable data on it. Is there anything I can do?

 

[MeepsterNotchy]

Any possibility it could be dead?

Hard to say. I can definitely hear the HDD spinning when connected to the power adapter. I went into disk management and noticed the following: Disk 2 Unknown Not Initialized.

I really do not want to reformat the hard drive, since I have a ton of valuable data on it. Is there anything I can do?

Are there any clicking or clunking sounds coming from the drive?

 

[Paperdoc]

You appear to have made connections correctly. And you are also right - DO NOT FORMAT OR INITIALIZE that unit!! To do so would definitely destroy all data on it.

Did the adapter also come with any device drivers that must be installed on your laptop to use it?

 

[jkod14]

Are there any clicking or clunking sounds coming from the drive?

No, no clicking or clunking sounds. The drive makes a sound similar to a soft buzz saw when spinning. The bottom also tends to get hot after some time while connected to the adapter.

You appear to have made connections correctly. And you are also right - DO NOT FORMAT OR INITIALIZE that unit!! To do so would definitely destroy all data on it.

Did the adapter also come with any device drivers that must be installed on your laptop to use it?

No, the adapter is a plug and play.

I checked out the reviews for the Sabrent adapter on amazon and apparently WD drives need to be set as single and not master. So I did just that and.... still no luck. This is becoming increasingly frustrating.

If all else fails, how much would a PC repair shop typically charge for extracting data from an old drive like the one I have?

 

[MeepsterNotchy]

Search for "run" in the start menu and open it. Type diskmgmt.msc. The disk may se shown up there. ALso, make sure you have the adapter plugged into the drive and computer BEFORE powering it on.

 

[jsmithepa]

In my experience those USB-IDE adapters are hit&miss. I dunno what the prob may be.