External Storage/Backup Options

So I dumped my desktop (which some of you may recall was giving me problems) and got myself a laptop (HP Pavilion). I kept my internal hard drives from my desktop and I'm now wondering if/how I can use them as backups/storage for my laptop. Is there such a thing as an IDE to eSATA cable? I've looked online for those cables but can't seem to find it. Do I need to get a "housing" for the internal hard drive? How does this work? This is my first laptop, so I'm a bit of a newb as far as laptops go...

Any suggestions? I'd like to avoid a usb connection (too slow for mass storage) and I have four large internal hard drives that are perfectly good to use (and still have my desktop computer files on them, so I'd like to get my hands on that without having to rebuild a desktop, although I wouldn't mind having a desktop and laptop).

Thanks everyone!

PS - I hope I posted this in the right place!

yes i agree with frozen
if your had drive has more than 20 golden pins from the back that's called IDE you need to buy a 3.5" IDE enclosure and that connects to your laptop via usb and you'll be able to use it like a usb pen

if your hard drive has 2 black connection. one small and one big that's called SATA
so? exactly you need a sata hard drive enclosure.