Need to get a file off my old ide hard drive

[willythecat]

Windows XP SP3
A quick run down - My external drive which contained all my backup data and programs decided to die on me (motors gone), and nothing is recoverable.
My existing 30gb IDE drive was slowly running out of space, and as my mobo was IDE only l thought it time to get some new hardware.
The new system comprises of one sata drive split into C and D partitions, another sata drive labelled as F, my old IDE cd rom labelled as E, and my old IDE cd/dvd writer labelled as G.
I asked a shop here in France to sort it out, and sort it out they did. What a disaster! A long story but l'm finally back to how it was, just, and l've got the old formatted IDE C bootable drive in my hand as we speak.
There is just one file on there that l really need to get (will save me weeks of work in recreating it) but l didn't want to dive in and mess things up.
Do l just disconnect both my existing IDE drives and hook this old one up temporarily?
Do l need to do anything with the bios boot up drives?
Oh and also, the jumper is missing from the drive so l don't know if that effects anything.
Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

[Salmon Trout]

Do l just disconnect both my existing IDE drives and hook this old one up temporarily?
Do l need to do anything with the bios boot up drives?
Oh and also, the jumper is missing from the drive so l don't know if that effects anything.
Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

Yes; you can do it that way. Switch off the computer, open the case, disconnect the master internal IDE drive, connect the master connector of an IDE cable to the drive, insert the power Molex connector, put a jumper in the right place (temporarily borrow a jumper off another drive, first taking note of its position), if you are not mounting the old IDE drive in the computer's case, place it somehow so it doesn't short out to anything e.g. on a mouse mat. Power up the computer and when it gets into Windows you should see the drive showing as a drive letter. Copy your file(s). Shut down, switch off, reverse the procedure. Close the case.




You should leave the BIOS boot order alone. You may need to go into the BIOS and ensure that the drive is recognised.

The other (better, I think) way is to buy an external drive enclosure (case) which will come with a DC power supply "plug" and a USB cable. You mount the IDE drive inside the case and set the jumper according to the instructions and thereafter it will be an ordinary USB external hard drive. These cases cost about 20 - 30 quid in England, I would guess a similar amount in euros. You can buy little packets of jumpers from places like Maplin in the UK, I'm not sure what the equivalent would be in France, they are very cheap.

[willythecat]

Sorry about the delay.
A genius ST! All done and dusted via your first method, and l've recovered that data file which will save me lots of time.
Thanks very much for your advice, really appreciated.
Regards