Data Recovery - Old HDD to newer PC

True_Reality · Nov 18, 2014

So I have a collection of about 6 old HDDs from my past builds that have gone to crap or been renovated or..etc. Either way, I have all these hard drives, with years and years of pictures and files and music and other data floating around.

Here's the catch: Current system is Win7/64, SATA... all these old drives are (im assuming) FAT and definitely IDE.

Is there a way to run these old drives on my computer and pull data so I can finally get rid of them?

rgd1101 · Nov 18, 2014

usb external enclosure
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&Description=USB%20external%20drive%20enclosure&bop=And&Order=RATING&PageSize=30

geofelt · Nov 18, 2014

Buy a external usb enclosure that can handle IDE drives.
I think this or similar will do it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817801061

True_Reality · Nov 18, 2014

My concern is that the newer system (win7) won't be able to access the data due to different file systems. Will this be an issue, or is Win7 retro-compatible to allow access to older file systems such as FAT?

geofelt · Nov 18, 2014

I think you are ok.
FAT is still used for usb and other smaller capacity devices.

tsnor · Nov 18, 2014

+1 for external enclosure and for 'yes it can read the data'

Note that older IDE drives took more power than you can get through a USB socket so you will need to get a USB thing with a power adapter.

photonboy · Nov 18, 2014

Hi,

If your motherboard has PATA support for drives then I recommend just running a ribbon cable to the drive with the side of the case off. It's likely to be a one-time transfer so why spend the cash?

The same goes for SATA unless you think you'd use the device later.

Alternatively, and this only supports 3.5" and 2.5" SATA (not PATA/IDE) I've used this for years:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153066&cm_re=blacx-_-17-153-066-_-Product

The above device can swap drives without turning off the PC like this:
a) Unmount the drive in System Tray (lower right of desktop)
b) Turn off power to BlacX device
c) Swap drives
d) Power on

Overall, I recommend you do something like THIS to keep it simple:
1) Attach first drive (ribbon cable or SATA + power)

2) bootup

3) Make a FOLDER on new hard drive called "HDD1 copy"

4) COPY all folders/files into the new folder

5) REPEAT for all drives

6) Store old drives in a box in anti-static bags.

7) Backup important files to DVD as well (if really important consider an M-Disc DVD/BD drive and M-Discs)

True_Reality · Nov 19, 2014

So it seems as though you all suggest the same thing. I shall purchase an external bay and give it a shot. Thank you all for your suggestions!
Photonboy, my original plan was to cable the drives to the mainboard, however upon dissection found my system does not have IDE support.

tsnor, thank you for suggesting an external power supply. A couple of these drives are indeed quite ancient.

geofelt · Nov 19, 2014

True_Reality :

You can probably buy a add in IDE card that fits in one of your motherboard slots
If you wanted to keep the drives installed.
For temporary usage a external device is more appropriate, and likely cheaper.

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