Are the connectors for the 5.25 and the 3.5 drives the same?

I remember I used to need two sizes of connectors back in the IDE days.

Hard drives? Yes.

quote:

Originally posted by 83v45magna:
Hard drives? Yes.

Perfect. So I can take a drive out of a broken laptop and just stick it in my desktop to recover the files?

Yes, should be able to. Some manufacturers have a specialized sort of adapter that you might have to strip off there. My HP did.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:

quote:

Originally posted by 83v45magna:
Hard drives? Yes.

Perfect. So I can take a drive out of a broken laptop and just stick it in my desktop to recover the files?

Maybe, there are some laptop drives that have a smaller "slimline" power+data connector (AKA "mSATA"). I have seen these mostly on CD-ROM/DVD drives rather than HDDs or SSDs, but I have seen 2.5" drives with these connectors as well. There exist adapters like this that allow you to connect via standard SATA/SAS connectors as well as via USB. Once obtaining a proper connection, your OS should see the drive without doing anything "special."

It can't be too hard to just take it out and inspect it. Very likely just garden variety Sata and Sata Power plugs. Once hooked up, there should be some free utilities available out there that will let you see which SATA speed it is, and other drive specs if you care to find out. Most drive manufacturers have pretty decent free ones.

A couple of other free ones I have used:

1) Crystaldiskinfo - http://crystalmark.info/softwa...iskInfo/index-e.html
2) HD Tune - http://www.hdtune.com/

You could also buy a cheap USB adapter and plug it into a USB port like a flash drive. I've converted a few laptop drives to external storage for pictures, videos, etc. Their power needs are so small they require no more voltage than the port provides. Newegg or Tigerdirect have them for less than $10

There is no 5.25 hard drive ~ only 3.5 and 2.5 (not counting the other SSD sizes).
5.25 is the size of the larger bay (optical drives, etc).
But YES the Sata I II and III connectors are the same and all compatible.

It's been a long while since I've seen a drive designed to go in any type of computer that had a proprietary connector on it, several years actually.
Now I have seen drives somewhat recently that had custom adapters, usually laptops with a "drive caddy", for the power and data interface which could be removed and had standard SATA connections behind them.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
I can take a drive out of a broken laptop and just stick it in my desktop to recover the files?

No need to open the desktop and install the drive. There are inexpensive external drive docks that you can use to transfer the files.

I'd offer to lend you one, but the round trip shipping would cost about as much as the dock, maybe more. Better you should get one from Amazon, free shipping, and you'll always have it in case of need.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
There is no 5.25 hard drive ~ only 3.5 and 2.5 ...

ok.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
I can take a drive out of a broken laptop and just stick it in my desktop to recover the files?

No need to open the desktop and install the drive. There are inexpensive external drive docks that you can use to transfer the files.

I'd offer to lend you one, but the round trip shipping would cost about as much as the dock, maybe more. Better you should get one from Amazon, free shipping, and you'll always have it in case of need.

... But putting it in my desktop is free and I can do it today instead of waiting for an order to arrive.

Thanks for the tips and info!