Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Roanoke on August 30, 2010, 08:40:15 am
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Is there a way to get my laptop to talk to the hard-drive from my old desktop ? I'm pretty much a dumb-ass toward PCs nowadays but both are XP if that means anything.....?
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By "talking", you mean installing it in your laptop ?
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I think he means just access the data on it. Well, as it was said, you can't install a desktop drive into the laptop but what you can do is get an empty external hard drive case that matches your drive (SATA or IDE, make sure you get the right one) and hook it up to your laptop, or any computer for that matter, via USB cable. XP is a designation of your operating system and doesn't really help in this matter. Like I said, you need to figure out what standard your HDD drive is using, SATA or IDE. The labels on the drive itself should say that. Also, SATA drives are newer so if your drive isn't ancient it's likely a SATA. IDE cables were also really wide, like 5cm wide and flat cables. SATA ones are much thinner.
AT any rate, once you've found out what type your drive is, you can go external case hunting.Such cases tend to be cheap, IDE ones are probably a bit harder to find these days but you could definitely get a second hand one easy if you can't find one in a store. SATA ones should be really easy to find in any computer store.
So, you get something like this:
(http://i35.tinypic.com/2eb8som.jpg)
Then you just pop your drive in, make sure all the connecting cables are in place, and hook it up to your laptop. Cheap and easy.
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That was I was thinking about. You can also create a network between these two computers too. Having the two computers running on XP will simplify that.
EDIT : Then, you could use your 2 computers. That's my system : having one connected, and eventually exposed to Internet's problems, and the other for personal work.
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Well looks like they're IDE. Well only one is labelled but they've all got the same pin ports. How does this look, for example ?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-5-IDE-SATA-Hard-Drive-Disk-HDD-External-Caddy-Case-/260656541491?pt=UK_Collectables_HardDriveEnclosures_RL
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How does this look, for example ?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-5-IDE-SATA-Hard-Drive-Disk-HDD-External-Caddy-Case-/260656541491?pt=UK_Collectables_HardDriveEnclosures_RL
Yea that's pretty much it. Just make sure it's IDE.
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This, on IDE :
http://www.materiel.net/ctl/Boitiers_externes/45696-BX_3802EB.html
Or here, also on IDE :
http://www.geeks.com/products_sc.asp?cat=1029
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okay I'll give it a bosh. If I can pull Max7 off of my old drive I can start modding again.............maybe. Probably get bored after a week or so.........meh....... :p
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That was I was thinking about. You can also create a network between these two computers too. Having the two computers running on XP will simplify that.
EDIT : Then, you could use your 2 computers. That's my system : having one connected, and eventually exposed to Internet's problems, and the other for personal work.
i find that a crossover cable is indespensible when all your computers have gigabit ethernet. its a pretty fast way to move data about, wifi is just too slow for big stuff sometimes.
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Guys, I was surprised I was the first one who thought of this. (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2583340&CatId=3770)
It does just about everything except those old blade type SCSI connectors they used waaaay back in the day.
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That's nice, but an external case is a bit more practical for someone who just wants to hook up his drive to his laptop. You get it nice and protected from dust and such, and you get portability, and the price range is pretty much close to what you linked. The USB to SATA gimmick is nice for folks who have a need to swap out a lot of hard drives on a daily basis. Besides, his drive is IDE so this wouldn't work.
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my drive enclosure has both esata and usb ports on the outside and ide and sata connections on the inside. either drive interface can use usb, and if the drive is sata you can run it directly through the esata port so it runs at the full speed. im not sure if it can convert ide to esata, ive never tried before.
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The USB to SATA gimmick is nice for folks who have a need to swap out a lot of hard drives on a daily basis. Besides, his drive is IDE so this wouldn't work.
Before USB to SATA there was USB to IDE........
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Before USB to SATA there was USB to IDE........
Sure about that? IDE is pretty old, I wouldn't be surprised if they never made one for the IDE standard. IDE's about 10 years older then USB.. Anyway, why pay 20$ to keep your hard drive out of a case, collecting dust, when you can have a nice external case for the same price? Like I said, this is useful if you swap drives a lot, and definitely not the best of solutions if you just want to be able to access the one drive whenever you want.
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Of course there are!
I've got several IDE-USB bridge adapters, and a load of WD and Seagate USB external drives which use IDE drives.
I even have 2 IDE hotswap bays :lol:
(They're silly; Take 3.5" drives into a 5.25" bay, the actual hotswap connectors are old 36-pin Centronics-style plugs!!! You don't get stuff built like that these days :lol: *grumble* Stupid lame ass pansy USB and SATA connectors *grumble*)
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The item I linked does all 3 major hard drive formats. SATA, 2.5 inch IDE and 3.5 IDE.
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That's nice but the more important part of my argument still stands. It's great for quick hot swapping on a regular basis, you're better off with a case if you just want to use that one drive with the laptop. It protects your drive from dust and all sorts of domestic wear and tear, and it makes it easily portable.
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I'd say just go for an enclosure too.
1. They're like super cheap. What's more to say, they get the job done, and they don't cost much.
2. You'll find it handy for any kind of desktop sized hard drive other than the one in your desktop.
3. You can buy a high capacity desktop sized hard drive and toss it in the enclosure and you have right there an easy way to backup your data and bring your data with you.
Sucks your messing around with desktop sized hard drives though.
I do all of the above except i use a laptop hard drive in a laptop hard drive enclosure (much smaller and uses less power).
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even if you dont use the case the conversion electronics are still there. mine just has a couple of screws to take out and a 3 pin connector for the indicator leds, you can connect a hard drive on the table if its just a one off kinda thing. but the enclosure is indispensable for situations where you will be without your computer for some time, but need to keep your hard drive. its better that it sits in a grounded enclosure than on an open desk with exposed circuitry. id only use the adapter only setup if i did computer repair and needed to change drives all the time (still id just buy the enclosure, i think theyre cheaper).
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Got an external case and it works great. Just a bit fiddily having a seperate power supply, cables and what not. Now I've just got to learn how to mod FS all over again.... :sigh: