5 ways to connect your old storage devices to a new PC

When your computer breaks down, or when you need to upgrade to a new, faster machine, you may think that buying a new computer will solve the problem, but that is not always enough. It turns out that a modern PC may not be compatible with your old storage devices.

If you build a pc yourself, you can still choose one of several 5.25 “bay cases for optical drives, but if you buy a predesigned desk, most likely it does not have that bay. If you are hoping to recover data from your older hard drives or even floppy disks (yes, seriously), you may also find that you can’t connect them to your motherboard.

Likewise, if buy a laptopA mini PC or an all-in-one today, not only will it not have an optical drive, but it may not be compatible with your old computer’s SATA drive, or it may come with a full-size SD card reader. . With this guide, you will learn the different ways to connect your old storage drives to a new computer.

External optical drives

Since CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs are still common, many companies sell external CD / DVD drives. The question is, which one should you buy?

For $ 30, there’s a well-reviewed generic option on Amazon that offers everything you need in a CD / DVD drive and nothing you don’t need – the dual-head USB cable supports Type-A and Type-C connectors. With an additional power cord, the device is compatible with low-power devices such as the Surface Pro 8. The device is compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux, and comes with your choice of a black or gray padded sleeve.

Blu-ray drives are more expensive and are sold by well-known companies. For $ 90, Lg sells a compact device that can write at 6X speeds. If you value speed over portability, Asus has a drive that can write at 16X speeds for $ 125.

External enclosures for internal drives

If you can’t install your old SATA drive inside your new PC, you can still use it as an external drive. If you have a standard USB port, you can do it with any 2.5 “SSD or HDD for only $ 10 with Sabrent’s enclosure. If you only have USB-C or want a higher quality product, you should get the aluminum case instead of $ 21.

If you have a 3.5 “hard drive, you will need a larger enclosure with an additional power connector. Orico has one for $ 23, and Sabrent has one with a fan for $ 29. Again, Ugreen has an Aluminum / Type-C option, for $ 32.

If you already have an old M.2 SSD that you want to convert to an external one, SSK’s aluminum housings are the best choice for you, with Type A and Type C cables. The SATA version is $ 14while the NVMe version is $ 20 (or $ 17 with a coupon).

External SD card readers

If your computer doesn’t have a full-size SD card reader, the solution may be cheaper than you think …

For only $ 9, Vanja sells a device that has basically two slots (SD and microSD) and two USB 2.0 connectors (Type-A and Type-C), which are fast enough for any non-UHS SD card. If you also want to use either of the two faster card slots, USB 3.0 version costs $ 16.

External floppy drives

USB floppy drives seem like something that shouldn’t exist: after all, USB is the connector that allowed floppy keys to completely replace floppy disks at the turn of the century. However, with the inability to connect an internal floppy drive to a modern motherboard, USB drives are the easiest way to use your old floppy disks with your new computer.

There are several companies that sell external floppy drives, but with the exception of the logo, most are possibly identical, so your choice should depend on the price and reliability of the seller. At the time of writing this article, “Raayoo” seems a good option for $ 19.

You probably won’t find a USB-C floppy drive, so if your computer doesn’t have USB-A, you need to buy an adapter like the one from Syntech ($ 10 for a pack of 2).

Parallel ATA (PATA) to PCIe / USB Adapters

If you don’t recognize the connector on your old hard drive, it’s probably PATA, also known as IDE (among other names), which was replaced by SATA when floppy disks stopped being popular. To install the drive inside a modern desktop PC, you will need to use one of its PCIe slots for an adapter.

Startech sells such an adapter for $ 23. It only uses one PCIe lane and can be installed in even the shortest PCIe slots. You can screw it into the case, but it weighs so little that you may not even need it.

Other companies sell adapters that basically convert PATA drives to SATA for less, but we don’t recommend them as they are complicated to install and can create physical compatibility issues with drive cages. If you do not have a desktop PC with an available PCIe slot, you will need to use an external adapter kit like Vantec ($ 20).

Please note, however: it does not include a protective sleeve for the drive, and if the drive does not have any space between the PATA and the power connectors, you will not be able to use it.

Header Photo Credit: Simon Migaj