external hard disk cases

[rookie1010]

Hello,

i have got a couple of internal hard drives (IDE/PATA), i want to copy their contents to my new imac , my old pc is busted, and i think one way to get to the contents is to get an external enclosure to convert the IDE drive to an external storage drive, and hence woud be able to use the hard drives for longer.

can you guys suggest a hard drive enclosure which would convert my internal IDE/PATA drives to USB external drives?

 

[Gillbot]

You can get a cable that does the same.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...cription=USB+IDE+Cable

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the suggestion,

what do you guys think of this one
http://www.storagedepot.co.uk/...d-Cases/sc884/p86.aspx

i think the advantage the case has on a cable is that the case is more robust, correct?

 

[Gillbot]

Depends, if you want something permanent then go for the case. If it's just a one time transfer save the $ and get a cheap cable.

I keep a cable around so I can plug in and swap between drives. That's easier than pulling a drive from a case and mounting a new one.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: Gillbot
Depends, if you want something permanent then go for the case. If it's just a one time transfer save the $ and get a cheap cable.

I keep a cable around so I can plug in and swap between drives. That's easier than pulling a drive from a case and mounting a new one.

You have a point there. This has been an ongoing issue for me over the last couple years.

I've had some really good external-drive boxes. For instance, I favor this model, which is now hard to find:

ThermalTake Silver River A2173

These have been extremely reliable. But a later-model ThermalTake box and a cheap knockoff I bought a couple years ago did not last.

For one of my machines, I chose the "hot-swap" route:

StarTech IDE hot-swap drawer (extra drive trays cost almost the same)

Ultimately, if you have five or ten used IDE drives like me, each tray is going to cost another $40+. You may find it convenient to have two or three trays for this sort of setup, but the cable product, mentioned earlier by Gilbot is probably the least expensive investment for storage devices that will only be useful for a few more years.

 

[WoodButcher]

+1 for the cable, I have an old IDE- usb I have used for backup and repair that I couldn't live without, (slight exaggeration!) but I need to update w/ a sata compatible as well. When I got this I was thinking backup but I use it more for repair and salvage, drives w/ virus or corrupt OS can be accessed without risk to your system. As for backup even the old small drives most of us have laying around will hold an image from software like norton ghost.

 

[Gillbot]

Originally posted by: WoodButcher
+1 for the cable, I have an old IDE- usb I have used for backup and repair that I couldn't live without, (slight exaggeration!) but I need to update w/ a sata compatible as well. When I got this I was thinking backup but I use it more for repair and salvage, drives w/ virus or corrupt OS can be accessed without risk to your system. As for backup even the old small drives most of us have laying around will hold an image from software like norton ghost.

Yeah, I've been migrating everything over to SATA so I need an updated one with SATA also. Sadly, I still have some backup drives that are IDE so I can't give up my IDE cable just yet.