Laptop to IDE Hard Drive Adapter and Disk Imaging

GEC: Discuss gaming, computers and electronics and venture into the bizarre world of STGODs.

Moderator: Thanas

Post Reply
User avatar
brianeyci
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 9815
Joined: 2004-09-26 05:36pm
Location: Toronto, Ontario

Laptop to IDE Hard Drive Adapter and Disk Imaging

Post by brianeyci »

Anybody have a spare one of these and wants to give me a Christmas present? It looks like something you can stuff in an envelope and mail over.

If you want I could paypal ten bucks too, but if you've got a spare one I'd gladly pay for a stamp. It looks like something worth a dollar that computer guys and hobbyists have all over the place but is overpriced if you try buying it. Not to mention I tried buying it, and I got fast-talked into getting a USB enclosure instead. Which doesn't work except with special drivers and I can't install Windows to. My laptop has no optical drive and no floppy drive and I don't have the media center which the laptop attaches to so my only option is to hook the hard drive up to a desktop like this.

Also, I need disk imaging software. A no frills kind, workable with a bootable cd or bootable floppy. Free if possible, but I'm willing to pay. Reliable too. I don't care if it's slow, I'm not trying to image every day.

Also if you happen to know anywhere I can get a cheap 2.5 inch hard drive, I wouldn't mind being directed. Bigger is better.
User avatar
Dominus Atheos
Sith Marauder
Posts: 3904
Joined: 2005-09-15 09:41pm
Location: Portland, Oregon

Post by Dominus Atheos »

If you're willing to use Paypal, you might just want to get this.

It's close enough to you that you could probably just go pick it up.
User avatar
Stark
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 36169
Joined: 2002-07-03 09:56pm
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Post by Stark »

You can usually buy simple PC-board converters from electronics hobby stores: they're AU$5 around here. You're right, they're much more useful than the USB enclosure things.
User avatar
Glocksman
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 7233
Joined: 2002-09-03 06:43pm
Location: Mr. Five by Five

Post by Glocksman »

Software wise, after screwing around with various programs I settled on Acronis True Image 10.
The program's US$31 downloaded from newegg, but it's 'damn well worth it' in the words of the old Curtis-Mathis TV ads.
The only drawback is that in the current release, you can't burn the images directly to a bootable DVD, but it does file split into CD or DVD sized chunks and you can make a bootable CD rescue disk that you can use to restore from.

It'll restore a 10GB XP/applications install in less than 10 minutes when booting from the CD and restoring from an image file located on a second hard drive, and in under 20 minutes when doing it from a laptop drive in a USB enclosure.
"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."- General Sir Charles Napier

Oderint dum metuant
User avatar
Lisa
Jedi Knight
Posts: 790
Joined: 2006-07-14 11:59am
Location: Trenton
Contact:

Post by Lisa »

This has been a life saver so many times it's worth double what I paid for it. It's actually paid for it's self a few times over.

Though this one will do sata drives too. no need to mess with opening cases or anything. Only reason I'd get the one you've pointed out is if i was going to leave that hard drive in that machine.

As for back up imaging software there's "PING" - Partition Image is Not Ghost, it's free and more info can be found here.
May you live in interesting times.
User avatar
phongn
Rebel Leader
Posts: 18487
Joined: 2002-07-03 11:11pm

Post by phongn »

I've had several successes with DriveImage XML.
User avatar
brianeyci
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 9815
Joined: 2004-09-26 05:36pm
Location: Toronto, Ontario

Post by brianeyci »

Thanks for the replies peeps, I'm probably going to go with DA's solution and buy one of those converters. As for the disk imaging software, I'll hold off and tell you how it goes later - Brian.
Post Reply