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Hot!! IDE TO USB 2.0 DRIVE 2.5"/3.5"/5.25" ADAPTER PC/MAC $15 shipped

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Thank you DefDC. I did look in there earlier and in Services also.
Ok, Murphy got me now 🙂

Fiddling around.. two major changes - moved to a different USB port , Windows reports 'unable to start device" So, disconnect at the USB port, 1,2,3,4,5sec, reconnect. Voila! Reading fine.

HDD was powered the entire time. Go figure - plug 'n pray devices, love 'em.
 
Originally posted by: Decaf
Got mine today and spent a good deal of time working with it. The good news is I got it to work with my drives (which are all NTFS) under WinXP.
The bad news is it is quite finnicky about working at all. Sometimes WinXP reports an unknown device. Sometimes it sees a USB device, but it doesn't show up in explorer. These problems caused me to reboot several times.
On my system, it takes quite a long time for the system to recognize and report the device, long enough that it's easy to give up and disconnect it too soon.
Anyway, for the money it's a good buy.
I was able to back up my C drive using Ghost, while I surfed the net. That process took a little more than twice as long as it takes when the backup drive is connected to the motherboard.
Click to expand...

I've tried and tried to no avail--does anyone know whether the 160 gig WD on sale at Best Buy comes as NTFS or FAT?

 
You can format any drive to FAT or NTFS. Use Quick Format to get it done fast. With FAT, you will need to use smaller partitions, or you will be squandering space with large cluster sizes.
 
Got mine a couple days ago. Tried several laptop drives, no issues yet. 6MB/sec write from my desktop so not that bad. Was using a dedicated USB controller (nothing in the paired port) under WinXP. Lack of power switch slightly annoying, but portability makes up for it.
 
You can format any drive to FAT or NTFS. Use Quick Format to get it done fast. With FAT, you will need to use smaller partitions, or you will be squandering space with large cluster sizes.

Yeah, but I can't access the drive through the USB. It keeps saying "unknown device," no matter what I try. I fiddled with the drivers on the mini-CD that came with it, but no luck.

This looks like the company that made the adapter. If I can't format it after installing it via IDE on my desktop, I may try callnig them Monday:
http://byterunner.com/byterunner/category=USB+2.0+to+IDE+Adapter
 
Originally posted by: kmcherryYeah, but I can't access the drive through the USB. It keeps saying "unknown device," no matter what I try.
Click to expand...
I get that message sometimes too. When that happens, I try another USB port (I have 2 sets), or I reboot.

The one drive that hasn't worked comes up with a Removable Device symbol, but the system doesn't see it as a hard drive. So far I've had success with a WD an IBM and a Maxtor.

This device can definitely be frustrating. I spent a lot of time fooling around with it.
The alternative is to spend about $40 at Newegg for an adapter that will work painlessly.

 
This thing is a piece of crap. Tried hooking it to a 2.5" drive on both of my USB2 ports on my T42 and both times it tried to install and all I got was, "a problem occured with installation blah, blah, blah". Drive doesn't show in Device Manager or Disk Management. Sorry but this thing is worthless. I'll get my $15 back or reverse the charge on my Visa.

EDIT: Hey, guess who's an idiot? That's right - ME! I just did as others suggested and set my lappy drive to cable select and sure enough this thing worked just as advertised. Thanks to the OP and those who pointed out my PICNIC error. 😛 😀
 
I ordered this one

Alternate IDE/USB posted earlier

because it looked more "together". What came was nicer looking with a molded black IDE connector with a black USB pigtail about 2 feet long. I plugged in the 12v power supply (also nicely molded black) and hooked up a 160GB Maxtor drive that had been zero'ed out.

Was recognized in WinXP Pro immediately and I setup, formatted and am loading data to it as I type. It comes with a mini-disk with Win9x drivers. I setup as NTFS and the flimsy little page "user manual" states that FAT, FAT32 and NTFS are all supported.

Cost was a little more at $18 shipped.
 
Got it couple of days ago, I've tried it on a 120s, 200s, and a DVD burner and haven't had any problems with it.
Make sure you connect the IDE part to the drive, plug the power to the drive, then connect it to the usb.

I've had a couple of enclosures that didn't work with my Seagate drive... it would alwys make these wierd skips because poorly made power supplies, with this one i had no problems.

Oh, all the HDs were NTFS
 
we shall see what we shall see-bought one of the seagate 160's from crapusa on the 40.00 AR last week, and bought a 20.00 enclosure from TD. on a pc and a lappy all it would do was cause the machines to continuously reboot, so back the enclosure went. ordered this thingie, and we'll see if it works or goes back. of course if push comes to shove, can always spend a few extra $$ and get an actually decent, known enclosure.
 
Tried on three different systems with Windows XP pro, with three different hard drives (Seagate, Maxtor, and WD). On all of them, the best I would get is "unknown device" and that's when it was recognized at all.

Oh well. I am glad some people got it to work!
 
Originally posted by: Lark888
I ordered this one

Alternate IDE/USB posted earlier

because it looked more "together". What came was nicer looking with a molded black IDE connector with a black USB pigtail about 2 feet long. I plugged in the 12v power supply (also nicely molded black) and hooked up a 160GB Maxtor drive that had been zero'ed out.

Was recognized in WinXP Pro immediately and I setup, formatted and am loading data to it as I type. It comes with a mini-disk with Win9x drivers. I setup as NTFS and the flimsy little page "user manual" states that FAT, FAT32 and NTFS are all supported.

Cost was a little more at $18 shipped.
Click to expand...

Cool - just ordered one of these since it sounds a bit more reliable than the one from the OP - thanks!
 
If it helps anyone,... I couldn't get mind working at first. All I got was "A problem occured during installation" and stuff. But then I changed the jumper on the drive from Master to Cable Select and now it detects it right away and works perfectly.

Hope that helps.
 
heh, just got an email with a tracking number. These guys are fast! I ordered it the same time I made that last post.
🙂
 
Oh YEH!!!! CABLE SELECT fixed all the problems I was having too. Yipee!
Thanks Trevelyan.

Wish I would have thought of that before I exchanged my last adapter and then finally cancelled the order.
 
I've been really happy with the one I purchased. Just finished downloading 160GB of Farscape Episodes from my ReplayTV using the device. Worked flawlessly and is much easier to use for setting up bare drives for archive/backup. Thanks to OP and follow-ups.
 
got mine, the term POS comes to mind - either that or none of my usb ports are worth a damn (and since they handle many other things, I don't think that's the trouble). Can anyone reccomend a good external case, preferably firewire? I now have this 160 gig seagate and nowhere to put it
 
Originally posted by: soflawill
got mine, the term POS comes to mind - either that or none of my usb ports are worth a damn (and since they handle many other things, I don't think that's the trouble). Can anyone reccomend a good external case, preferably firewire? I now have this 160 gig seagate and nowhere to put it
Click to expand...

Mind works perfectly fine under Windows XP (no additional drivers required)...

I would suspect user error before I would blame the hardware....

-LS
 
Originally posted by: Jaxidian
Originally posted by: Lark888
I ordered this one

Alternate IDE/USB posted earlier

because it looked more "together". What came was nicer looking with a molded black IDE connector with a black USB pigtail about 2 feet long. I plugged in the 12v power supply (also nicely molded black) and hooked up a 160GB Maxtor drive that had been zero'ed out.

Was recognized in WinXP Pro immediately and I setup, formatted and am loading data to it as I type. It comes with a mini-disk with Win9x drivers. I setup as NTFS and the flimsy little page "user manual" states that FAT, FAT32 and NTFS are all supported.

Cost was a little more at $18 shipped.
Click to expand...

Cool - just ordered one of these since it sounds a bit more reliable than the one from the OP - thanks!
Click to expand...

Just wanted to comment that I purchased this and tried it and it worked great! Didn't have to install drivers, no jumper issues, just plugged it in and it immediately worked (well, after 20ish seconds it worked)! Highly recommend the product and was very happy with the vendor! 🙂
 
Just a heads up to people:
I bought a very similar one a few months back. I've been carrying it with me for the past week or so and I pulled it out to use it last night. Something in the power brick got knocked loose, I have to shake it & jimmy the cord until the power light comes on and then DONT move or it'll go out again. Just a heads up 🙂
 
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