Need a case for a Seagate 44-pin AT hard drive

[rbdaves]

I have removed a 128 MB hard drive from a very old compaq computer. It is a Seagate ST9144a 2 1/2" drive and requires 44-pin AT interface. Is there any such thing that I can get that would allow me to plug this HD into a USB port?

 

[rbdaves]

Whoops! just measured the HD and it is just a little shy of 2 3/4 inches across.

 

[rbdaves]

No help here

 

[Paperdoc]

This is a laptop computer with a 44-pin IDE connection, so you need an adapter to connect it to a 40-pin IDE data cable AND a power supply. On laptop drives the power supply connections are in the 44-pin single connector; on 3½" desktop drives the power is done with a separate Molex 4-pin connector.

You can get adapters that will let you plug this drive into a desktop machine's "standard" IDE ribbon cable and Molex. Look at the first 3 here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000353&Description=laptop%20harddrive&name=Adapters%20%26%20Gender%20Changers

But you say you want it connected by a USB port. IF you mean that you want to fit it into an external drive case for use as a portable HDD unit, you need a case designed for this drive type, like these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000092%201053807124%201054107130&Description=laptop%20harddrive&name=IDE

NOTE that often you must plug into TWO USB ports to get enough power to run the HDD in the enclosure.

However, if you simply want a temporary cable hook-up from the drive to a USB2 port, here's your adapter:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156015&cm_re=laptop_harddrive-_-12-156-015-_-Product

With it you can connect any IDE drive type to a USB port.

 

[rbdaves]

Hello paperdoc
You are helping me on "http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/257510-32-read-hard-drive#t1802370"

How do I close this thread?

 

[Paperdoc]

Actually, I don't know how to "close a thread". I'm not sure a poster can do that - it's probably a Moderator function. But you should be able to mark a thread as "Solved", which will draw fewer new posts.

 

[rbdaves]

Best answer selected by rbdaves.