: Anna wrote:
: >> Ron Sommer wrote:
: >>> : >>>> Anna wrote:
: >>>>>>> : >>>>>>>> I purchased a Sata/IDE to USB Adapter to work with 6 old IDE
: >>>>>>>> hard drives I accumulated from other PCs over the years. I
: >>>>>>>> connected the included external power adapter to the HD and the
USB
: >>>>>>>> adapter to
: >>>>>>>> the USB 2 ports on a PC running XP SP2.
: >>>>>>>>
: >>>>>>>> These PC USB ports work perfectly with other backup external
: >>>>>>>> HDs I own and with USB flash drives. But: I cannot get my old HDs
: >>>>>>>> to show up on the PCs using the
: >>>>>>>> adapter cable.
: >>>>>>>>
: >>>>>>>> I tried this with 2 different PCs, both running XP SP2 and had
: >>>>>>>> the same problem with ALL my old IDE hardrives (set with jumper
: >>>>>>>> as "MA") using the adapter, so I do not think it is a case of
: >>>>>>>> the HDs being bad or the PCs and their USB ports being
: >>>>>>>> bad.
: >>>>>>>>
: >>>>>>>> What happens in all cases is:
: >>>>>>>> 1) the lights light up on the adapter showing it to be
: >>>>>>>> connected. 2) the icon showing that a USB device is connected
: >>>>>>>> shows on the Windows taskbar, and when hovered on says there
: >>>>>>>> is a storage drive connected. BUT,
: >>>>>>>> a) no drive shows up in "My Computer", even on repeated
: >>>>>>>> refresh. b) Computer management / Disk Management / does not
reveal
: >>>>>>>> the
: >>>>>>>> presence of the USB adapter connected HD
: >>>>>>>> c) Device Manager shows (under USB controllers) that a storage
: >>>>>>>> device is present and enabled and working correctly.
: >>>>>>>>
: >>>>>>>> *Do I have to do anything in XP to make My computer show the
: >>>>>>>> HDs attached to the PC with the USB adapter?
: >>>>>>>>
: >>>>>>>> Thank you.
: >>>>>>>>
: >>>>>>>> Jeff
: >>>>>
: >>>>>
: >>>>>> Anna wrote:
: >>>>>>> Jeff:
: >>>>>>> I'm assuming you're working with one of these small,
: >>>>>>> "hold-in-the-palm" adapters.
: >>>>>>>
: >>>>>>> It could be the adapter itself. As a matter of fact it probably
: >>>>>>> *is* the adapter. Our experience with these type of devices has
: >>>>>>> been, by & large, quite negative. To the point where we rarely
: >>>>>>> recommend
: >>>>>>> them. In our experience, we've come across too many defective
: >>>>>>> adapters in
: >>>>>>> that they didn't work at all or worked fitfully. Hopefully, you
: >>>>>>> have return privileges for the device and if so, you may want to
: >>>>>>> exchange it for another one - trusting that that one will work
: >>>>>>> as advertised. Anna
: >>>>>
: >>>>>
: >>>>> : >>>>> Yes I am. Actually it is a Vantec SATA/IDE to USB Adapter I
: >>>>> picked up at
: >>>>>> MicroCenter for $29. There was another one also sold at
: >>>>>> MicroCenter for the same price made by a different manufacturer
: >>>>>> that I could try. I just have a sneaky feeling the problem is not
: >>>>>> with the
: >>>>>> adapter but with my jumper settings.
: >>>>>>
: >>>>>> I can easily return it but I am only using it to access these old
: >>>>>> HDs from long gone PCs that I want to be able to wipe clean so I
: >>>>>> can safely throw them out. Using an IDE-USB adapter seemed to be
: >>>>>> the
: >>>>>> only easy way I could get to wipe these old HDs.
: >>>>>>
: >>>>>> Jeff
: >>>>>
: >>>>>
: >>>>> Jeff:
: >>>>> As it happens...Vantec is one of the more reliable brands in our
: >>>>> experience so perhaps the problem is not with the device as I
: >>>>> suspected. The type of adapters I was referring to was primarily
: >>>>> the ubiquitous no-name generic "brands". But since you indicated
: >>>>> this non-recognition problem exists for all six (6) HDDs and with
: >>>>> two different PCs it was (is) hard to escape the conclusion that a
: >>>>> defective device is the culprit, inasmuch as you've indicated that
: >>>>> there's no problem with device-recognition affecting your other
: >>>>> USB devices.
: >>>>> We're assuming in all this, of course, that you've properly
: >>>>> connected the device to your HDD(s) both with respect to the gizmo
: >>>>> itself and
: >>>>> the auxiliary power supply connector.
: >>>>>
: >>>>> I really don't think HDD jumper configuration is at the root of
: >>>>> this problem as you suspect in another of your posts. And since
: >>>>> you also indicate that all you want to do is "wipe them clean"
: >>>>> before junking them, why don't you simply install each as an
: >>>>> internal HDD in one of your machines and use Disk Management to
: >>>>> perform that operation and be done with it? Anna
: >>>>
: >>>> Thanks Ana
: >>>>
: >>>> That is what I will end up doing. It just "seemed" seductively
: >>>> easier to just connect the USB adapter than open the case, remove
: >>>> an installed HD and add the old HD, etc. Had I gone that route, I
: >>>> probably would have been all finished by now <grin>.
: >>>>
: >>>> Ah well.
: >>>>
: >>>> Jeff
: >
: >
: > : >>> It is not necessary to physically mount the drive in the case.
: >>> The simplest is to use the DVD/CD cable.
: >>> This eliminates having to mess with the jumpers on the old drive.
: >>> Just support the drive so there is no chance of touching the
: >>> circuitboard on the drive to the computer case.
: >>> Formatting by its self will not clean the drive.
: >>> Format, then write zeroes to the drive.
: >>>
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/FileAndDisk/SDelete.mspx
: >
: >
: > : >> Yes I am aware that formating or just deleting are not sufficient. I
was
: >> planning to over write them with a wipe utility.
: >>
: >> By "DVD/CD cable" do you mean the cables that are presently
: >> connected to my CD and DVD drives? Will doing that permit me to use
: >> a wipe utility (sDelete or others) to overwrite them?
: >>
: >> Jeff
: >
: >
: > Jeff:
: > Ronald's suggestion is a good one. We do this all the time. But we're
: > a bit leery about recommending that approach to someone who has had
: > no experience fiddling around with the "innards" of a machine. We've
: > encountered too many situations where the user lost his or her HDD
: > because it wasn't propped up securely against the machine. A HDD that
: > falls to the floor is not a desirable thing. But if you're careful,
: > it's certainly an expedient way to go.
: >
: > Anyway, what Ronald is apparently referring to is the IDE
: > (signal/data) ribbon cable that's used to connect IDE devices such as
: > the ones connected to your other HDD and your optical drive(s). Use
: > whatever is available and is relatively easy to get to. If, for
: > example, you have only your boot HDD connected to a IDE cable and the
: > middle connector of that cable is free (no Slave connected), then you
: > could use that for a connection to the HDD you're planning to format.
: > Doesn't matter in this case whether the HDD is connected as Master or
: > Slave - just jumper it accordingly. Anna
:
: Thank you. That's what I will plan to do.
:
: You guys have been very helpful.
:
: Jeff
:
:
You could have a problem with the boot order of hard drives.
IDE drives usually are listed before SATA drives.
If you connect a bootable IDE drive, it will try to boot.
If the IDE drive tries to boot, check the boot order.
