They are very inexpensive and are much better than the ribbon cable
arrangement you are trying now. There can still be an issue but that can be
fixed. USB issues arise a lot with Vista (and even with XP) but at least
you can rule out the connection part.
One thing to do when troubleshooting usb issues is to remove all but the
keyboard and mouse and especially any hubs or docking stations and then try
a port which has been working successfully with other devices. With laptops
there can be too heavy a load on the usb bus otherwise.
Please tell us the details of the computer. That is always useful.
"Ehab" <Ehab@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:FF185429-FC02-470C-80F2-1F1A7F69C03E@xxxxxx
Quote:
> will that fix the problem ? I want to make sure before i go and purchase
> one
> of those..
>
> "Colin Barnhorst" wrote:
> Quote:
>> Why don't you use usb external drive enclosures? Those are designed for
>> what you want to do.
>>
>> "Ehab" <Ehab@xxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:EA13711D-4323-4851-92BC-C38E0873ADA7@xxxxxx Quote:
>> >i am trying to connect two old seagate ide 80 gb hard drives ( barracuda
>> > 7200.7 and ST380020A ) to my dell inspiron 1300 laptop with windows
>> > vista
>> > home premium. i am using an ide to usb cable. first thing that happens
>> > when i
>> > connect either is that 'safely remove hardware' icon pops up in the
>> > system
>> > tray and then disappears after a few seconds. i managed to double-click
>> > it
>> > a
>> > few times before it disappears and go into the properties of the 'USB
>> > Mass
>> > Storage device' and at first it says this device is working properly,
>> > then
>> > the mouse pointer turns into an hour sign and the following msg
>> > replaces
>> > that
>> > : Currently, this hardware device is not connected to the computer.
>> > (Code
>> > 45)
>> >
>> > To fix this problem, reconnect this hardware device to the computer.
>> >
>> > Click 'Check for solutions' to send data about this device to Microsoft
>> > and
>> > to see if there is a solution available.
>> >
>> > it then disappears also from the Safely Remove Hardware popup box all
>> > together. the drives do not appear in my computer, device manager or
>> > computer
>> > management. i have rebooted many times, tried all the different jumper
>> > settings, and even deleted the INFCACHE1.inf file as mentioned in one
>> > of
>> > the
>> > newsgroups fixes i found after hours of googling. still i cannot seem
>> > to
>> > access the drives at all. any pointers to what im doing wrong ?? thanks
>> > in
>> > advance..
>>