Is parallel ATA the same between notebook HDDs and desktop HDDs?

[Stu L Tissimus]

A while back, I bought a cheapo USB 2.0 enclosure for a laptop ATA drive (I currently have a 30GB 2.5" in there). About a month ago, my desktop's motherboard blew, so I've been primarily using my laptop. Now, I've sorta been running out of space on both my laptop HDD and my enclosure HDD, so I've been wondering if I could stick my desktop's HDD into the enclosure (don't worry about size, I can just use the connector without the enclosure).

I'd normally do something like this without another thought, but here's the thing: I realized that laptop drives get their power straight from the ATA cable. So I've been worried about plugging my desktop HDD into there because it might, say, short circuit or something. Would such a thing happen? Or can I jsut plug the ATA-to-USB connector ain and keep the HDD running with my desktop's power supply?

Also, should it be set to auto-select, master or slave? I don't think laptop drives have those pins....

 

[Bobthelost]

No, the connectors are different sizes.

 

[Stu L Tissimus]

Darn. I'm guessing the laptop ATA connectors have extra pins for power, then?

 

[Zepper]

Look inside your enclosure. It might have a standare 3.5" interface in there adapted for laptop drive use. So it might be easy to connect up to a dtandard drive. And there are kits out there for hooking up a 3.5" PATA drive w/o the enclosure (called a USB to IDE adapter cable) and it usually comes with a wall-wart to power the drive. Often under $20. at geeks.com et al.

.bh.

 

[Stu L Tissimus]

Well, there are 4 pins that aren't used in the adapter, and they're a bit farther away from the rest of the pins on the HDD. Seems like I may be in luck, thanks!

 

[Stu L Tissimus]

Woops, even the pins are a different size, haha. Oh well.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, If I read you correctly you are going to need a 2.5" drive to 3.5" adapter. It will convert the small 2.5" connector to the 40 pin standard IDE connector and the 4 pin molex for power. Power will only be 2 wires for +5. Adaptors come in two flavors. With and without the mounting bracket to mount the small drive into a standard 3.5" bay. External 2.5" enclosure will not need an adaptor. 3 1/2" or 5 1/4" will need it. Usually around $10.00. Google it.
Good luck, Jim