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IDE Cable

J

JeffBruce

Member
New here...
I would like to connect to other computers hard drives, because there machines are slow, I was thinking of getting a long IDE cable, and go from my Pc to the other Pc hard drive. My machine would recognize it and I could do a really fast backup.
Again...I would like to use my IDE contoller off my motherboard, bring the cable over to the other computer and plug it in there hard drive. Then my machine would see it and i can run my backup software...

Is there an easy way to do this??

thks ahead of time
jeff
 
Never heard of doing that. Don't know if there could be an issue having 2 different psus powering drives on the same controler. Why not just temporarily move one drive at a time to the faster machine or set a quicky network?
 
You have to change jumpers in that other drive. The EIDE cable cannot be longer than 30 inches for reliable transfers. It is a heck of a lot easier to move that drive over to your machine as a slave, and safer for the data you are moving. If you leave it in the other drive, I would use an 80 conductor, 40 connector ATA 100 cable and be certain both power supplies are reliable.
 
if your compression of the backups is causing the slow pc's to bog down and take forever, your best bet is to back them up using 100mbit ethernet, what ever host to the backup is set it up to map to the other drives, and run a backup like that. It's easier too in that you can automate the backup and have them all go to one media set in one location.
 
I've done this before, although only in an emergency. It will work if the drives if the "remote" drive is reset to be the slave (guess it could work the other way around).

It is too much of a pain to do on a continual basis. I'd choose another option if these backups are going to be done on a regular basis, though. Internal surgery on a regular basis is asking for trouble.
 
thks,
Right now I take the HD out of slower computer and put it on my fast computer and use the secondary off the CD cable.
But sometimes the friend/cutomer does not like you taking the HD out of there computer, where if I could just plug a cable and make it work , its faster and customer or friend likes it better.,..

thks for all the replys!!!..
jeff
 
thought about using a hard drive cage? just power off the machine you want to backup take out the HD and take it to your system put in the cage and boot up
 
Why would they not like you to take out the HDD????? You're going to do that anyway if you're putting it in an external closure......
 
Ya network is more better. If you want something faster than SMB (network shares) set up a small ftp server (Filezilla Server or SlimFTPd).
 
I will be walking into this persons house, with him/her looking on, If I only open his /her computer - grap the hard drive then put it into my "Hard drive case" he /she won;t have to see the internals of my computer and will look nicer....I plug it in boot my computer on, and back the computer up on my fast computer ..plug and play

No network..sry

thks for all ther replys...you allhave me thinking..
jeff
 
Why not just buy an external hd for backups? Are you sure you're ready to work on others' computers? Any cable over 18" on an ATA100/133 has the potential for data corruption. (I do run a 24" in my full tower, but only for optical drives.)
 
His Pc is slow,
If I use his computer
1. I could to external connect but I would be using his slow computer..., I believe it would be faster to pop out the hard drive and install as a secondary in mine....but rather just plug in cable ...
2. I have to install the software on his slow computer tooo
3. I know of the limitations of the IDE cable....drat

If I can just connect an IDE cable form my computer to his, use his Hard drive as lets say "E" drive
then I can use my software to back his up and save lotsa of time...

thks
jeff
 
When I have to spend a lot of time working on someone else's computer, I insist on taking it with me. I can put it on the bench and do other things while it does something slow.
 
Yes...Thats is a great idea.....Actually that is my #1 option...I was wondering if that wasn't possible...what were my options..

thks
jeff
 
Yup, I try to always grab the customers tower and take it with me. No sense downloading updates especially with them watching you and questioning every move you make. It's a waste of time and my cable is lighting fast with updates at home.
 
Originally posted by: JeffBruce
thks,
Right now I take the HD out of slower computer and put it on my fast computer and use the secondary off the CD cable.
But sometimes the friend/cutomer does not like you taking the HD out of there computer, where if I could just plug a cable and make it work , its faster and customer or friend likes it better.,..

thks for all the replys!!!..
jeff
Click to expand...

They probably like a non-functioning computer even less. If you've got to gut a PC to make it work, it's got to be done. It's like having to remove a tumor I guess - you might not like getting cut open, but if it's the only way to save you, it's got to be done.

Something else to do - if you've got USB 2.0 or Firewire ports on your testbed PC/laptop, get an external enclosure, (like this) or maybe this, and work on it that way. I was working on a PC recently - slow ah heck, Celeron 400, 64MB RAM, Win98FE - and it wouldn't boot to either normal or Safe Mode. Scandisk showed no file errors; I replaced the kernel file, which was mentioned in an error. Then I noticed that the antivirus software hadn't been updated in 67 months.:Q
Took it out, hooked it to my laptop via the enclosure, and did an antivirus scan on it. It found and removed 10 files, infected with 7 different viruses. Trojans - and he uses AOL. Hmm.....
Anyway, I put the now-uninfected drive back in, and it booted fine. Then came Spybot. It had a lot of work to do too. I uninstalled the ancient McAfee AV software, and left the guy with instructions for Windowsupdate and AVG.
So in this case, the external enclosure was very handy, though I could have used that other $35 thingy, but I had left it at home. Oops. The thing is just like an enclosure - minus the enclosure part. It's just an adapter really - IDE to USB 2.0.
 
How much trouble is it to carry a small switch and a couple of patch cables along? Maybe a $5 NIC in case your buddy doesn't have one?
 
JeffBruce

I would suggest using a network to do backups with, if you "must" not remove the HD from the clients computer, or prefer not to open it. Arguably, they may not have an internal NIC installed either.

So I suggest using a USB NIC. I've actually had good results using a "Datel USB PS2 broadband adapter". It's actually made for the PS2 (game console), but is in fact a generic ADMTek "Pegasus II" USB 10/100 NIC chipset, and you can download OEM drivers onto a floppy and use those. Even more surprisingly, connected via 100Mbit, over USB 1.1 (only 12Mbit/s), I get better transfer rates than using my on-board VIA Rhine II NIC, which is theoretically bridged to the PCI bus.

Those are on clearance at many game stores, check out GameStop or Electronics Boutique.

Another alternative is a USB 2.0 model, that I found on NewEgg just the other day browsing around.
link

They also make USB "network" cables, for doing host-to-host transfers, and the drivers make it look like a network connection. Seems like kind of a hack to me though, I would rather use a real USB NIC.

You should also be able to use them with Norton Ghost in DOS, as long as the driver disk includes the proper NDIS 2 drivers (most do).
 
Back to original issue..I need to use my computer but attach to his hard drive directly...to use the speed of my computer....He has a slow computer...
thks for all the inputs..really
jeff
 
Originally posted by: JeffBruce
thks,
Right now I take the HD out of slower computer and put it on my fast computer and use the secondary off the CD cable.
But sometimes the friend/cutomer does not like you taking the HD out of there computer, where if I could just plug a cable and make it work , its faster and customer or friend likes it better.,..

thks for all the replys!!!..
jeff
Click to expand...
Originally posted by: JeffBruce
Back to original issue..I need to use my computer but attach to his hard drive directly...to use the speed of my computer....He has a slow computer...
thks for all the inputs..really
jeff
Click to expand...

These two things can't really happen - keep the drive in the slow computer, while connecting it directly to your PC. The closest you can do then is get a long IDE cable (bad idea though, risk of data corruption), and set your PC right next to the client's.
You don't want to be bogged down by their slow PC, so it needs to be bypassed completely. Taking the drive out may be the only option. I still recommend this thing. Pop the drive out, plug it into this adapter, turn the power brick on, and plug it into your PC's USB 2.0 port. WinXP sees it right away, and you can access it at speeds faster than the old PC could ever muster. It won't be quite as fast as a direct IDE connection, but it's still pretty quick.
 
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