Any laptop HD pros out there?
 

I got rid of an old laptop awhile back. On general principles, and for privacy, I took the hard drive out of it and threw it into a box.

There is a game on it that I can transfer if I can pluck a couple of files off it. So I dropped $13 and bought this adapter, which professes to allow you to connect IDE drives, including laptop ones, to a USB 2.0 port.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...orPee/card.jpg

The connector flips over for the larger hard drives. The drive I want to access, a 500 meg one, is attached. There is a power cord that is used for power to the larger drives.

Apparently because the drive is so old, the adapter overhangs the four pins which I assume provide power to the drive.

Does anyone have any (cheap) suggestions on how to access this drive? The last thing I want to do is open up another laptop, and I doubt that's a good idea anyway.

those 4 pins are not used, you'll be fine. (they are for jumpers)

If you notice the drive spin up and down repeatedly the drive needs more power than the port can supply. Remove other USB devices and try again.

That did happen. It's acting oddly, too--XP Home SP2 finds the hard drive under "device manager" but not under "My Computer" or in Windows Explorer.

I couldn't hear it spinning, though, so I think your comment is applicable here.

Some of those can be tough to hear. Try another port. If you're using front panel ports, try the back.

Check in Disk Management. Even if it isn't mounted, is the file system recognized?

I have run into a couple DOA IDE/USB adapters. They would register as present but not bring up a drive. Also, some can't handle large partitions though large is usually way beyond 500MB. Do you have other drives you can test it with?

also, if you have a powered USB hub, try plugging it into that,they can provide more power and maybe get you going.