What kind of HDD USB converter do I need (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by CoachDom@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/techsupport@lemmy.world

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Hi troops, I'm trying to get photos files from my dad's old HDDs. We no longer have access to any old PCs to acutally plug them in, so I was wondering if you could point me to some sort of USB converter that would allow me to grab files from them. My cousin has a PC but it's a newer model with more up to date connection to HDD/SSD. Disks in question:

1000002680

Many thanks! D

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[-] Vince@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

See if you can get photos of the connectors sent, 80GB is probably old enough to be ide and not sata

[-] CoachDom@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 10 months ago

Thats all of them 1000002686 1000002685 1000002684

[-] soggybread@lemmynsfw.com 3 points 10 months ago

The first one is IDE and the second 2 are sata. The adapter you havelikely wont work but they do make sata/ide to usb adapters that should come with the adapter you plug into the hard drive for data as well has a power brick to power the drive itself. You should be able to just look for a sata/ide to usb kit

[-] pakitometal@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Both seem to be SATA disks, so a SATA to USB adapter should do the trick.

[-] CoachDom@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 10 months ago

I just added a third disk - is this still the case? I know that one of them is a tad different. Unfortunately im not there to examine them myself and its my mom sending me the photos from home.

[-] EatYouWell@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Most adapters will do both SATA and IDE.

[-] CoachDom@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 10 months ago

I have one of these things that pops on top of my external HDD and a cable that came with it

1000002681

1000002683

Is this any good?

[-] soggybread@lemmynsfw.com 3 points 10 months ago

this is meant for 2.5 hard drives and while it might plug into the 2 3.5 inch sata drives you have, it likely wont be able to power it

[-] focusforte@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

From the pictures you posted in the comments, I can tell that you have two SATA drives and one IDE drive.

Here's a combo option that'll do both types of drives. I have no experience with this particular model, but it's what I would buy in your situation.

Hard Drive Docking Station, Tccmebius TCC-S868-US USB 3.0 to 2.5 3.5 Inch SATA IDE Dual Slots External HDD Enclosure, for 2.5" 3.5" IDE SATA I/II/III HDD SSD https://a.co/d/3tsrGon

IDE Drives can be slightly more complicated than SATA, So if you're having trouble with the IDE drive, Read the drive dock manual carefully because sometimes those docks will require a certain setting on the drive.

The SATA drives though are super simple. Plug in your dock, plug the drive into the dock, turn the dock on, and the drive should just show up on the computer.

IMPORTANT: IF YOU SEE SOMETHING THAT SAYS THE DRIVE MUST BE FORMATTED IN ORDER TO BE USED, DO NOT FORMAT IT

Formatting it will erase the data, if the computer is trying to prompt you to format the drive either the data has been corrupted and is already lost, or it's not being mounted correctly. Possibly because the drive is in a format that your computer does not recognize. There are things you can do if this happens to you, but I'm not going to go into the details of that now. You'll most likely not have to worry about that and if you do, you can come back and ask for additional help then.