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Review on πŸ’» Vantec USB 3.0 SATA IDE Adapter ISA225 by Jeff Davidson

Revainrating 4 out of 5

This works for IDE drives when it doesn't. then you have to get creative.

I have used this to read data from at least five (5) legacy IDE drives and one (1) SATA drive. This worked for all but one - a 1998 4.3GB 34300 WD Caviar HD - I've tried jumpers in all sorts of settings - no dice. I connected it to an old computer with IDE cables and it turned out that the drive was not working. A few tips: (1) As with other IDE drives, some of them should be configured as slaves, not masters. I found this out by finding documentation on the Vantec website stating that the product may not work if the drive is not set as a slave, even though the written instructions that came with the box insist on a master. (2) Computer detects. Drive immediately, but may not always be able to read data from it - this is how you know the drive is "working", but jumper settings may prevent computers from reading data from it - try different jumpers- Settings.(3) If you are using Windows, open the Disk Management window. This window shows at a glance whether you can read the data from the disk or even see the disk. If you see Disk 1 (or maybe a different number) but nothing else, try changing your jumper settings. (4) Sometimes following the instructions works, sometimes it doesn't. I was able to read some discs on my Win7 PC, others only on Win10. (5) Sometimes you need to connect things in a certain order according to the instructions, sometimes you need to change things. This is madness. It's amazing how this device works at all. (6) Even if you manage to connect a hard drive, Windows Explorer crashes when trying to read some folders. So download another program like Explorer and delete the files from your hard drive. Jumper settings and IDE drives with PitA tapes are a breeze.

Pros
  • Cables and Accessories
Cons
  • Long Lead Time