How To Recover Data from Old Hard Drives - Unitek IDE & SATA Adapter

[@Porrete]

DO you happen to still have the driver for it? I bought the Y-3324 model and can't make it work... And their website has no drivers for it, or any other anymore. Thanks!!!

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hi. So, there's no driver for just using it to move files. Providing your drive isn't corrupted, it will appear in Windows Explorer. The download is for One Touch Backup to turn your drives into external back-up HDDs: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZOYmnqpe86kfJIsi=jpDf_xsMz4pIwMaj&t=140

[@geltonbeltonwelton]

May or may not help. In my quest I found that you need a version of windows that was on that HDD before you can access it. Microsoft has removed support for IDE devices since their earlier updates but I can't say when. I thought the device I was sent was defective. Tried a few of these devices to find this new info out. What version of windows did you use and how long ago? I may install an older version of windows say xp and see if I can claw the old data onto a pen drive ... Good luck in your pursuit.

[@HowToDoItTech]

@@geltonbeltonwelton Thanks for the info. That's an interesting Microsoft dropped the IDE support. I can't pin your comment but other people will find it useful. I was using Windows 11

[@ronkali5365]

@@geltonbeltonwelton What if you're trying to read a drives from a dvd recorder ?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Probably not unless the hard drive has the right connections and was running on Windows

[@EricTheOld]

I ordered mine from Amazon and not only did it not come with instructions, it didn't come with a CD. Thank you. I successfully recovered my data from my 5 year old ASUS with broken hinges that cost more to repair than to replace😂

[@HowToDoItTech]

Awesome! I'm pleased the video helped

[@AwoudeX]

an "easy" way to make sure it's almost impossible to refind any delicate data, first format, then fill the entire drive with compressed files so it's not just the FAT that is gone, but the actual data everywhere is overwritten with the new data. There might be some segments left because of how data is stored, but those will be small. The larger the files, the fewer segments are left untouched.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Great tip!

[@mattg8787]

@@HowToDoItTech i got a question i have a usb to ide adapter like that it connects to the computer makes a sound like its connected and nothing shows up what's wrong with it or that am i doing wrong

[@HowToDoItTech]

@@mattg8787 So, just to check, have you connected a harddrive too? If the harddrive is in working order, it should appear like an external drive.

[@LokiDWolf]

This seems great to simply get data off of whatever drive or media. I mean I like that it has multiple uses. But, would be great if it helped with a corrupted drive or a drive that just simply failed for no known reason.

[@elizabethhair9017]

If you backup your data to a 2TB hard drive, which would you recommend please, am following this guide to retrieve info from my last hard drive. Happy New Year and thanks for your help.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hi there. Just to confirm, are you looking for a recommendation for a brand of external HDD? I'm personally a big fan of sticking with major brands for peace of mind. I'd recommend Samsung or Western Digital. However, this device only works with internal hard drives. Do let me know if you have more details on your requirements and hopefully I can point you in the right direction.

[@qatar573]

Great review, very informative. Do you know how to fix a hard drive if it was corrupted or not working for some reason, do you have any advice or go to method to fixing the issue?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Thank you! I haven't had a chance to look at fixing corrupted drives myself. Someone asked the same thing so I might have to plan a video

[@JamesJablonski2008]

@@HowToDoItTech please do I like n share thanks 🫂

[@theshadermakesstuff5360]

Hello. I'm watching this vid and still am lost as to how to move files off the old HD onto my current PC. Specifically, pictures. When the file explorer opens on the old HD, there is no listing for "pictures" as if it would list in in desktop. So I'm not sure which files to move. I go along with the instruction manual but that doesn't seem to help me.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hi there. So, with this device your old drive will appear as an extra drive in Explorer providing the drive is operational and not corrupted. You can access the drive as you would your main harddrive. You can then choose to drag-and-drop or cut-and-paste folders from your old drive into new locations.

[@darkwolf41nite53]

So when I plugged mine mine to the device a the usb to the computer the drive doesn’t show up on the computer how do I get the computer to see that it’s there !??

[@HowToDoItTech]

So, providing the drive is in working order (not corrupt or broken) and your adapter is plugged in using the accompanying power supply and switched on, the drive should turn on. If you need to confirm whether it's the drive itself, I recommend trying another computer to troubleshoot first.

[@EastDallasKicks]

Every solve this?

[@botross7795]

Hi there, I have a dead portable hdd even when connected to laptop it just won’t read it anymore. But the disc is spinning inside, you guys reckon this thing could help me recover all the data from it?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Sadly this won't work with external hard drives out of the box. It sounds like the PCB for the USB drive on your device is faulty. I can't recommend stripping down your EHD to get to the drive, but it's one option. I haven't seen a video about recovering EHDs but there may be another video on here that can help.

[@TimeWaveOfficial]

i have a "Barracuda ATA V" 60Gbytes Seagate and it has these old pins and 4 pin power, can i use this connector?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Providing the drive is working and has an IDE or SATA connection it should work :)

[@victoriablack7330]

Hello! Thanks so much for this! Question- I have a very old Windows 7 PC (around 2010) and the computer has not stopped working, but it is dying (the fan I believe is going bad in it). I have some photos on it that I want to take off from the hard drive. If I could, I would like to take the hard drive out of the computer and throw the computer away. Then, I would like to buy one of these kits (or a similar one) that would work with the hard drive and get the photos off it it using this method. But the problem is- I don't have another Windows Computer to do this, I switched over to Chromebook a few years ago. If I did this, would the kit work on my Chromebook and get the photos off of the hard drive, or do I need another Windows computer to do this? I am new to this as I've never done this before. Thanks!

[@HowToDoItTech]

No, sadly it's won't work as it'll require a computer that read the Windows file format and partition.

[@victoriablack7330]

@@HowToDoItTech Ok! Thanks!

[@renerioscom]

Excellent review!!!

[@HowToDoItTech]

Thank you!

[@MsHappy1]

Which one should I use for a e7440 Dell?

[@HowToDoItTech]

In theory your laptop hhd will have the right connectors as they are pretty standard but my recommendation is to double check the specification before buying.

[@andrewmoonbeam321]

Will I definitely need a power supply for say a 2TB Seagate Essentials for data recovery, or will the PC suffice?

[@HowToDoItTech]

You'll definitely have to use the accompanying power supply.

[@andrewmoonbeam321]

Okay, many thanks for the video and information!@@HowToDoItTech

[@starman9458]

Will the USB to hard drive adapters work with a MAC computer? I have M1 Mac Mini 16GB with a 1TB SSD and I salvaged my hard drive out of my HP-15 laptop when it quit working and I have most of my photos on there from my old iPhone I had from 2012 to 2014 and need to get them off of there. I ordered an USB 3.0 adapter from Amazon and it will be in on January 4th.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hi. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test it with a Mac and the instructions said it was for PC only. I'm inclined to believe that the software is PC only rather than the device but I'm unable to verify.

[@starman9458]

@@HowToDoItTech I ordered a SATA USB 3.0 hard drive adapter from Amazon and it should be in next Wednesday and it’s compatible for MAC OSX.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Excellent! Good luck with the recovery. I get the sense that these devices all operate the same way so it should be very straightforward.

[@shadik6903]

Does this work for hard drives that won't connect? I need help. I have a Western Digital 10 tb that wouldn't sync up. So i took the hard drive out. Trying to see if i could connect to my mac but i've been 2 busy raising to kids by myself.

[@HowToDoItTech]

That's a great question. I haven't tested with a faulty drive, only drives from devices where the power supply is broken. My intuition is that if the drive is broken, this adapter won't work either :(

[@shadik6903]

@@HowToDoItTech I need some help. lol I have a lot of songs that i've lost. My music on under Shadiktv but yea i have some songs i'm trying that i would rather get from the hard drive than redo them.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Yeah, I can't guarantee success using this device, but depending on your budget you could *try*... but I think there may be better solutions out there for recovering data on corrupted drives, which inspires me to do some research and possibly make a video. Good luck! I hope you're able to recover your songs.

[@mightyj806]

If I sound like a novice , I am...lol. I have an old Compaq Presario desktop with windows XP circa 2005 or so when, about that time, it seemed like the hard drive was going so I it turned off to never use again. Like others, I have old pics on their I would like to save if I can. Presently i'm using a Toshiba desktop with windows 8.1( never updated to the next level). Simply, assuming the old hard drive isn't shot, can I use this system to transfer my pics to the windows 8.1 computer? Thanks.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Yes! And worst case if the drive is very old, you'll just need an adapter.

[@9bytehub]

that darn 4 pin molex connector broke on me immediately trying to unplug it. for some reason my old IDE drive didnt respond i dont know if its the adapter or the drive. the back up mode is pretty cool in theory havent needed to try it in an emergency situation yet. a way to get those hidden files to show up is to go to file explorer options and uncheck the hide folders and pick "show hidden files, folders, and drives". the restore option is kinda weird i had to make an empty backup folder first "hidden file" onto the drive and then drag everything into that folder and then restore it....or i could just drag and drop all contents manually onto a folder... so i dont know maybe a pointless feature.

[@HowToDoItTech]

I wonder if the old IDE drive is very old the latest version of Windows might not recognise it. I hadn't thought about the age of the OS versus the OS on the disk. I wonder if there's a compatibility issue?

[@9bytehub]

@@HowToDoItTech that’s probably what it is because the drive i was trying to look into was windows xp

[@IndianKat]

I have old Samsung ST500LM012 HDD in my dead laptop? Would it work?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Providing the drive is operational and the connectors match, yes.

[@IndianKat]

​@@HowToDoItTech a followup question. Please look into it. This old drive had four partitions in my old laptop: C, D, E, F drives. Would these show up in the new laptop where I will connect the SATA USB port?

[@st.unikatst1597]

thank you, now I can order without a bad conscience❤

[@kizouille1]

Great video, quick question, I've connected everything up but when I want to see photos or something else, it says I need the administration authority.. anyway around it ?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hi. So, it sounds like the either computer your using needs administrator access or the drive has the legacy permissions still active on the data. For the first one, if you're not the computer owner, it'll just require them to input their password/change to Administrator. However, if it's the second one I'm not sure. However, I did find this video which *might* help: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3jShXt4YpKVsMU

[@kizouille1]

@@HowToDoItTech yeah so its old IDE 3.5 hard drive, when i click on photos or documents it asks for permission, where would i type a password? the hard drive is over 15yrs old so no chance of remembering

[@HowToDoItTech]

@@kizouille1 That's a bit of a mystery to me. Was the previous video of use at all in solving the issue? kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3jShXt4YpKVsMU

[@BadgesForTheCross]

Just picked one of these up. Did you experience problems with the IDE interface, specifically - Drivers? Mine works fine for SATA drives, but I get PCI interface error in Device Manager when connecting an IDE drive. There is no "driver" on the web page, only the software. Any suggestions? And no, windows automatic search for an updated driver did not work. I am running through a USB hub, so my next attempt is to go directly to the computer.

[@HowToDoItTech]

I must admit that I didn't with an old wiped drive but would have to test it again with an IDE drive with data on it to see if I have the same issue.

[@antoniiocaluso1071]

so...what did you find out??? thanks!@@HowToDoItTech

[@cassiemcottle2944]

Hi where can I buy the unteck adapter

[@HowToDoItTech]

Here you go: Amazon.com: amzn.to/3FGHmoR or Amazon.ca: amzn.to/3tawFtZ

[@kindlykitten-gh9hd]

Could this work with a old tivo hard drive? i have a Servers RS-TX20 tivo the issue is its hard drive is going out sometimes it gets stuck warming up and fully turned on if it manages to warm up it stays on for 3 or 4 minutes then crashes and tries to reboot the issue is i want to get the recordings off of it on to disc so i need a way to get the recordings safely off of the hard drive so i can replace its hard drive

[@HowToDoItTech]

No, based on your description it's not suitable to pull files from PVRs which are stored in a format that this won't recognise using your computer.

[@bendogie1]

before scraping the drive take out the good magnets

[@55Ramius]

Yes, was thinking the same. I remove the magnets, disk platter and rotation surface since it is super low friction for things you may need that for. If you dont tinker with projects then scrap it all I guess. I hate to think how many are just thrown away.

[@ardaratown1871]

For files that may have been deleted from the drive should I use ftk or autopsy to image sections of the drive?

[@HowToDoItTech]

That's a great question. The unitek adapter is only useful when the files are available on the old drive.

[@mlk27743]

Can this device also be used to recover files stored on a USB stick? I have a few that are no longer able to open on my laptop.

[@HowToDoItTech]

No, sadly this won't work with USB drives.

[@mlk27743]

@@HowToDoItTech Thank you.

[@HowToDoItTech]

You're welcome!

[@hunterhunted2171]

I am looking at cloning a IDE hard drive to SATA but the source has a QNX operating system. Would it work ?

[@HowToDoItTech]

It will only work with Windows OS 😕

[@james77011]

Can i use this if im planning on upgrading my magnetic hard drive to solid state hard drive??

[@HowToDoItTech]

If you're upgrading to a SATA SSD you should be able copy all your data across but I haven't tested that. But it doesn't support M.2 SSD drives.

[@danskretteburg]

I have tried 2 SATA cables with no success. Is the Unitek device more reliable?

[@HowToDoItTech]

There have been mixed results for different users in the comments. It has worked for me without any issues, however.

[@stephenhogg6154]

Mine was working fine until I attached it to one particular HD. At that point it whirled up, then turned off. After that, it did the same with every HD.

[@HowToDoItTech]

That is a giant pain and suggests that Unitek support should have a fix.

[@Vzh_]

Do you know if it would work with Hitachi HTS543225L9SA00

[@HowToDoItTech]

It is designed to work with any Window's formatted drive that uses a SATA interface. Looking at the spec for your drive, it supports SATA so should work.

[@pierluigicampa]

Hello, can you connect a USB 3.0 hard drive to this ?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hi! It doesn't support USB 3.0 natively and so will run at USB 2.0 speeds. Hope that helps!

[@safetydave720]

Thanks so much for this info!

[@HowToDoItTech]

Glad it was helpful!

[@davidrogers9066]

I just received a Unitek adapter to recover files from an old tower pc hard drive. The drive shows up in devices under control panel/file browser, but it will not open to view or access anything on the drive. At first upon attempting to open the drive, the progress bar on the browser continues until the very end and then just keeps spinning. The Unitek software doesn't seem to to recognize the drive even though my laptop does. Any suggestions as to what may be causing this?

[@HowToDoItTech]

That's an odd one. I haven't experienced that issue myself. While Unitek doesn't have a Support section (other than contacting them directly via a form) they do have a troubleshooting guide in the manual (FAQ section) which might help: onedrive.live.com/download?cid=52E8D7BCED8638B8&resid=52E8D7BCED8638B8%21148&authkey=AKaf_ia_9Ue54uc&em=2

[@DCeilingGuy]

Good day can i use this to to get back files on a hard drive that is not reading or showing information? Thank you

[@HowToDoItTech]

No, sadly the drive will need to be in working order for this to work

[@DCeilingGuy]

@@HowToDoItTech do u have any idea What piece of gadget I can use for this

[@HowToDoItTech]

I'm not aware of anything you can buy. But I'd be interested to know myself

[@DCeilingGuy]

@HowToDoItTech thank if I come across something, I will leave u a message, thank you

[@swoopdown27]

I have a Seagate portable hard drive that has a broken USB CONNECTOR. Will that device be to retrieve files from a portable hard drive that has a broken USB CONNECTOR?

[@HowToDoItTech]

No, sadly it'll only work with hardware that is not broken.

[@cooldog60]

So you can use this to transfer files to a usb and then look at them on a computer?

[@HowToDoItTech]

You'll have to transfer files to your computer first, and then onto a USB drive :)

[@cooldog60]

@@HowToDoItTech Okay, Thank You.

[@yellowdart6666]

i have the reader just was curious what software i needed. any help would be appreciated

[@HowToDoItTech]

The drives will automatically appear in Windows Explorer provided they aren't corrupted. But you'll need to install/download the Unitek software if you want to use your old drives as additional back-up devices: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZOYmnqpe86kfJIsi=RvJ-NrArJJwa_Tzg&t=142

[@shadlee228]

Does it work for Lacie rugged external hard drive?

[@HowToDoItTech]

No, this device is designed for use with operational internal drives with SATA and IDE connectors only

[@shadlee228]

@@HowToDoItTech so you are saying i would have to disassemble my hard drive, correct?

[@HowToDoItTech]

I can't recommend it myself. It will void any warranty you have and my recommendation is contact the manufacturer customer service for repairs or faults. However, if you're undertaking disassembly on your own volition, it'd be advisable to research the specification of the hardware first to ensure the necessary connectors are present.

[@AlexDiavolo1]

I plan on retreiving files from an old windows laptop i bought around 2007. Is this the appropriate adapter to use? Do i need to take out the hard drive? And will i be able to transfer files to my macbook after i succesfully retrieved them? Thanks in advance! 🙂

[@HowToDoItTech]

Yes, this will work providing the drive is in working order and not corrupted. You will need to remove the hard drive first to connect to the adapter. However, this adapter is only for use with Windows computers so to recover the files, you'll need another Windows-based PC or laptop. Once you have the files, you can then transfer them via other means (e.g. a USB thumb drive or a cloud service). Obviously only files that are compatible between Windows and MacOS will work.

[@AlexDiavolo1]

@@HowToDoItTech I'm assuming bootcamp from a MacBook probably won't work? Also, will it bypass any login passwords if I don't remember them? Thank you so much in advance!

[@HowToDoItTech]

@@AlexDiavolo1 Sadly this device is only rated to work with Windows devices from the marketing. I don't have a Mac to test it. Also, another user said they couldn't transfer files from password protected drives.

[@AlexDiavolo1]

@@HowToDoItTech oh gotcha! Any recommendations for password protected drives?

[@HowToDoItTech]

@@AlexDiavolo1Sadly not at this time... I'll need to do some future videos on the subject personally to explore options.

[@dscroggins3958]

Does this work on cellphones

[@HowToDoItTech]

No, only computer drives. Hope that helps!

[@valy267]

Hi, can this process be used if the HDD is faulty?

[@HowToDoItTech]

No, sadly, the hard drive does need to be in working order

[@OSHEIT]

@how to do it tech if my hard drive need to be in working order then why do I need this?

[@HowToDoItTech]

It's mainly for those times you have old devices where the main power supply is broken or missing.

[@gjcarrillov]

I want to change the disk that it has in my laptop for an SSD. It is possible to clone a disk with this device ? Thank you very much.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hi! No, unfortunately this won't enable you to clone drives directly. It just backs up th data to your computer. However, someone may have found a work around using this device. I'll have to do some research.

[@shadlee228]

Does it work for external hardrives?

[@HowToDoItTech]

No, unless you are dissambling them and the drives have a SATA or IDE connector

[@shadlee228]

@@HowToDoItTech ok thanks my unitek arrives tomorrow hopefully it will work

[@chris01479]

If I replace the heads from the donor drive to the failed drive, can I be able to recover the data using this adapter?

[@HowToDoItTech]

It really depends on what failed. This device is only good for working drives that aren't corrupted.

[@unitedstatesdale]

Great video. Thanks _Hillary_

[@boblab]

My computer died and I'm trying to get the information from the m2ssd to load into the new computer and I'm having trouble with permission. Is there a way to do it? Thank you

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hi! Is there a password on the old drive? I believe this might be a roadblock.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Also, I found this which may help you: superuser.com/questions/989508/getting-access-is-denied-of-an-external-drive

[@KnowledgeSeeker26]

Read "How to Connect and Get Data Off a Hard Drive With These 6 Methods": www.makeuseof.com/tag/connect-get-data-off-hard-drive/

[@HowToDoItTech]

Thanks! Interesting read.

[@KnowledgeSeeker26]

@@HowToDoItTech You're welcome.

[@NigelCarrUK]

I plugged in a Seagate Barracuda 1000GB drive. Nothing happened. There was a brief noise but I can't see the drive anywhere on my PC. I can see it in device manager/control panel so how do I see it on my PC?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Sorry to hear that Nigel. Just checking and I don't see any limits on drive size, which was my first thought. It could be a device error. Unitek offer a 2-year warranty so you should be able to get it replaced.

[@NigelCarrUK]

@@HowToDoItTech It's a drive error - time to open it up I think. The drive isn't spinning so no amount of whizzy software will help until its unstuck. Thanks for coming back.

[@NigelCarrUK]

@@HuskyGamersUNITE I think you are right!

[@loveamerica5725]

Can you use this device to boot from the hard drive through the usb ?

[@HowToDoItTech]

I haven't tried to do it myself, but I'm doubtful. I don't think it would recognize any connected harddrive as a boot media via USB despite being connected via USB.

[@jxslayz6663]

I have a very serious question, can I get data from an HDD is completely unrecognizable? I rebuilt my pc and must have fried it somehow.

[@HowToDoItTech]

No, unfortunately the drive will need to be operational.

[@horacio040586]

I can not get the otb software to read the device. Is there any way for it to.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hmmm... that sounds like a device issue rather than the OTB software but I could of course be very wrong! Are you able to get the drive recognized by the adapter and reformat the drive? That *might* be it.

[@horacio040586]

@@HowToDoItTech no. It’s a sata drive the computer sees it as a hard drive but will not let me change or see any of it.

[@HowToDoItTech]

@@horacio040586 That's an odd one. I've not run into that issue personally. Do you see the same issue with any other drives? It might narrow the issue down to that particular HD.

[@royc242]

Mine will only read the recovery partition not the drive or information on it. It states "I:\ is not accessible. Access is denied."

[@MinecraftMartin]

Just bought this after watching this video. Trying to recover a file from my wife's old laptop that recently died. The SSHD shows up in Disk Management, but all the options are greyed out except for "Delete Volume". Think this must be a formatting issue. Gonna look around the internet a bit more to see if there's a solution to this. bleh

[@HowToDoItTech]

I had a look around too and it does sound like it's the disk management. There's an extensive list of troubleshooting ideas on this thread that may help: www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/11qlkck/my_hard_drive_shows_up_but_it_is_grey_i_cant/

[@galaxytraveler5779]

I can't stand that USB C or whatever is on the back. Everything I have with that connection type often gets stuck in a disconnect/reconnect loop. I have to position the wire in a very specific way for it to stop.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Sorry to hear that. The Unitek Adaptor uses Micro B USB (which is quite a rare connector in my experience). Have Unitek customer support been able to help at all?

[@rautamiekka]

Sounds like a badly damaged cable.

[@mahmoudahmed-kc6uh]

Is it possible to recover data from a hard drive with a bad sector, or from a hard drive that has been formatted

[@HowToDoItTech]

Not to the best of my knowledge. Any corrupted data won't transfer as it just really moves it but doesn't perform any diagnostics or repairs.

[@John_Gav]

I have 3 hard drives with the 40 pin connection and one has xp on it the other has windows 95 and the other one windows 98 can i use them and boot my new pc so i can get the files

[@David-ip5bj]

Connect it to your working laptop or pc, Then transfer the files to laptop or pc.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Providing the drives still work (have power) and aren't corrupted, you should be able to use this adapter to access them.

[@IncognitosRandom]

Thanks, very helpful

[@HowToDoItTech]

Glad it was helpful!

[@emilye9923]

I have an old hard drive that came from a windows laptop, can I transfer to a Mac?

[@HowToDoItTech]

No. They will be incompatible unless you wipe and reformat the drive. However, it's worth doing some research on what brand of drives Apple uses and whether you can transfer the drive.

[@55Ramius]

I almost bought this but read a comment below about it only working on drive that function but are just in disfunctional computers. My problem goes back to when Windows 10 was installed. I had a almost new Seagate 4 TB external drive and as soon as Windows 10 was started up, the drive refused to be recognised. I tried tons of things and of course went to Seagate page for a patch. Come to find out that patches were developed for all drives but mine. This drive has 2 TB on it, mainly images and I would like to recover them. BEST BUY wants $500 to recover it. I told them, they were crazy. The drive is not broken. Some conflict with software is. I get it if the drive was screwed up and you had very important data on it but that is not my case and they held fast to that $500 price. So , if that is the issue, will this device recover it ??

[@antoniiocaluso1071]

so...what did you finally get to work for you?? thanks!

[@HowToDoItTech]

So, sadly it doesn't sound like this will work for you as it's designed for internal drives that use IDE or SATA connectors. External drives tend to use USB or another similar port.

[@55Ramius]

Nothing. It has been sitting on the shelf since beginning of Windows 10. @@antoniiocaluso1071 😒

[@55Ramius]

I have seen videos of people removing a standard drive from these externals and just plugging them into normal drive slots so if I removed it, I wounder if it could go into this device and be recovered?? I am about ready to use the drive for target practice with my 9mm... Tired of fighting this thing so long.@@HowToDoItTech

[@jakeham4017]

Will it work on Mac?

[@HowToDoItTech]

According to the instructions it's designed to work with Windows computers and I'm unable to test with Macs, unfortunately.

[@cassiemcottle2944]

Where can I buy unitek adapter

[@HowToDoItTech]

Here you go: Amazon.com: amzn.to/3FGHmoR or Amazon.ca: amzn.to/3tawFtZ

[@ccrowsss]

So my drive shows up, but it's greyed out and says "please insert a disk into USB drive: E" i'm confused, it won't let me access the contents of the hardrive because of this. What am I supposed to do?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Interesting. That error would seem to appear if you're trying to connect an external USB drive in normal circumstances. The way the Unitek adapter works would probably trigger the same issue. It's related to Windows rather than the device according to what I've found online: recoverit.wondershare.com/flashdrive-recovery/please-insert-a-disk-into-usb-drive-fix.html

[@shannonphilpott214]

does this work if your computer has had water damage?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Unfortunately I think if the drive is waterlogged you won't be able to recover data. The tool works for old working drives you're unable to access, rather than corrupted or destroyed drives.

[@tylerd.5541]

So I have 2 external hard drives that would not power up. When I plug in the Unitek nothing happens. The blue light just blinks and nothing is coming up on my computer, any thoughts?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Do you know if the drives were working just before you used them on the Unitek adapter? Sadly the adapter won't work with dead or corrupted drives.

[@tylerd.5541]

@@HowToDoItTech Dang, no they were not working.

[@Krthaspecialist]

Does this work if forgot password?

[@HowToDoItTech]

I haven't been able to test that but if I get the chance, I'll check it out.

[@stevedepace17]

Can someone please explain where the data goes please? IE: is the unitek the hard drive storage? How do I send the data to it please?........Sorry, Complete novice🙏

[@HowToDoItTech]

No problem. So the way it works is your connect the Unitek device to your computer via USB and then connect your old drives to the Unitek device. Your computer will be able to see the drive (providing it's not corrupted) as if it's an external HDD.

[@brucesaxton3625]

Thanks!

[@HowToDoItTech]

Thanks so much for the comment and the 'Super Thanks'. That's very kind of you :)

[@tudvalstone]

So my old defunct laptop was password protected, do you mean this device can bypass that?

[@HowToDoItTech]

To the best of my knowledge, the password would still be protecting the data on the drive unfortunately.

[@CyriacS]

I was hoping to connect a floppy disk reader to it as well as my old ide drives, but the floppy reader has a different kind of IDE connector and a small power connector instead of molex. Bit of a shame.

[@HowToDoItTech]

That is a pain. If you can identify the connector and the power connector, you might be able to find adapters and still be able to use this device.

[@CyriacS]

@@HowToDoItTech thanks for the reply. Yeah I did some reading and found that PATA cables and floppy cables are completely different despite having very similar connectors. I already found an adapter on Amazon so it's all good!

[@kduane1]

Will it do passport drive that my computer no longer can see?

[@HowToDoItTech]

No unfortunately not anything that uses a USB connection. This only has connections for internal HDDs.

[@kirozbrz]

Legendary!

[@AyZeD]

I can't see any of my files, and when I plug it in only "system reserved drive D:" shows up in the file Explorer, how screwed am I? How do I get it to show all my data like an external? Or can't I?

[@HowToDoItTech]

That's an interesting one. Just looking online it seems to be just partitioned system files (not directly related to the Unitek adapter). Here's a guide for troubleshooting on Microsoft support which may help you: answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/system-reserved-drive-d/bc9cbabd-72c6-4dc9-9d57-214aebb31116

[@AyZeD]

@HowToDoItTech thanks man but all good I found it not long after writing this comment lol. I think I just clicked into the local drive and it was in there as well as the partition one.

[@NorthGaLife]

Does is work for old cell phones

[@HowToDoItTech]

No, only for IDE and SATA drives

[@matthoward9509]

can i use this with a panicked kernal that the hardrive was running ubuntu

[@HowToDoItTech]

Unfortunately I haven't been able to test that :( You might be able to get an answer from the manufacturer.

[@kduane1]

The drive must be able to spin am I correct?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Correct! The drives must be in working order and not corrupt for this device to work.

[@anthonywalker6268]

Maybe it fits a little too snug. I'm afraid the way it's going in will snap the old connectors.

[@HowToDoItTech]

I hope it doesn't! They should be a standard size so sounds tricky

[@SScott-kp3lc]

Do you have to know the password for the drive you’re trying to access?

[@HowToDoItTech]

That is a great question. I haven't tried it with a secured hard drive

[@drewberwocky]

please help, 80% of the ide drives I have, show up as 100% empty but with proper drive letters like t:\ 100% nothing on it, not even one file I know for sure there are.. and this has happened to 29 ide drives out of 30 only 1 shows files, the rest, just see them as empty. advice? elp?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hi. So, Windows (and I'm assuming MacOS) automatically attribute drive letters to any connected harddrives. You can actually reassign the letters if you want. Unfortunately I'm not sure why the data isn't appearing for you specifically. If you definitely know there's data on them, it could be the drives are corrupt.

[@drewberwocky]

@@HowToDoItTech no its saying its an empty drive that is not initialized Then asks me to set mbr which does nothing as its not the old mbr..but trying trial recovery software shows 200gb per drive and they are full ALL DRIVES HAVE LETTERS I use t u v: Just to not confuse These are old ide. 200gb plus drives 80% read as empty but they aren't My.other adapter read a few this won't And this one powers on a few the other didn't But please note Your video is WRONG about the restore feature This isn't a file recovery tool It goes by mbr to fix it which does what I did...makes it look blank ie my current USB hookup reads T: 198.9tb free of 202tb Aka 98% empty Psi. That app again bad news. I'd hope you.might REMOVE that from your video along with backup Both don't belong on modern os's And recover tried to find windows files for recovery not.mbr missing files So recovery doesn't exist with that tool. And in fact is dangerous to use Win 10 pro sp 99999

[@wkelly-hn4kb]

I got an adapter from sabrent..it's not giving me and files or folders I had loaded with my bird photos or music ..no sign of it anywhere .to call them is futile .none speak perfect English .. and none seemed to have strong knowledge of the product. One thing I noticed that could be a problem is that the adapter didn't include the last for prongs of my older Toshiba HD. LIKE the smaller ones you show. I'm thinking maybe those prongs are the very thing I'm not getting I think my drive was partitioned ..and all saved things of mine are in the C partition. None of them could even comprehend what I was saying .

[@HowToDoItTech]

Yeah, I'm not familiar with the Sabrent version. If you're not seeing the drive appear at all you could try this version instead?

[@train4905]

Exellent

[@jeremyb239]

If I format the drive would it delete my files?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Yes. It'll remove everything and revert to a blank drive

[@james77011]

What is the adapter storage capacity??

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hi. There is no storage capacity on the adapter itself, but it will work with HDDs up to 18TB of storage (but I don't have a drive that big myself).

[@thhdhn2]

Do Windows 11 recognize and read old data?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Yep! Works for me using Windows 11

[@fdohhyoh7800]

How can I connect this hard drive? Please help

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hi. Hopefully the video explains it but you can also refer to the manual that comes with the device here: onedrive.live.com/download?cid=D75D52B742BD1D34&resid=D75D52B742BD1D34%21562626&authkey=AL4f0XDqvWqW7qg&em=2

[@attilaenglerth9667]

My computer doesn`t recognise the adapter. Cd is installed, and cable and hdd connected properly but the system doesn`t show it. I can see it only Device Manager- Disk Drives- Innostor Ext. HDD So ????

[@HowToDoItTech]

+Attila Englerth that doesn't sound right. You won't need the CD (back up software) just to see connected drives. That suggests the drive might be corrupted.

[@crazychickpug]

I had this same problem, but it turned out there was no drive letter assigned to my drive. I used paragon partition manager to add one, and it works fine now. Hopefully this fixes the problem!

[@zweiwing4435]

I need one!

[@noYes-eo3rj]

when i select device it says check the device information Fail. Please check device status

[@HowToDoItTech]

It sounds like the drive itself is corrupted unfortunately

[@OriginalSpikeyTee]

Doesn't do what it says o the tin. Device not found for me.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Does it work with any other drives you have available? The drive does need to be in working order.

[@kavefametv]

so this doesn't work with Mac harddrives ?

[@HowToDoItTech]

The manual doesn't cover Mac HDDs unfortunately and I didn't have one to test.

[@kavefametv]

@@HowToDoItTech do you know of any that do? I've had a hard drive that crashed out of my 2012 laptop for some years now.

[@HowToDoItTech]

I haven't seen any dedicated ones but would be interested to know myself. Sorry I'm not much help

[@kavefametv]

@@HowToDoItTech helped a lot actually I was going to purchase it...thanks !

[@donnywilson8879]

Anyone have any ideas for when I plug it in and nothing happens? Snug, plugged and turned on but nothing happens.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Just to confirm, was the drive working before? This device is only for use with working/operational drives.

[@DonnyLB]

The reason I have been looking for a solutions is because it used to work but then it started spinning then stopping.

[@pyro5263]

My unitek stopped working and it buzzes 6 times then don't do anything after that

[@HowToDoItTech]

Sorry to hear that. I hope you're able to get a replacement under their warranty

[@pyro5263]

@How To Do It Tech it definitely works great and it is older maybe it is an excuse to buy a new one

[@ALSILVERU2]

Nothing but "No" "I'm Not Sure" "I haven't Tried" as an answer for this gadget implying it can retrieve files from old broken harddrives. The low price is the 1st red flag 🚩 *Companys charge hundreds to several thousands with no gaurantee of extracting any files and no refund. I've ben there done that. 😖

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hi. Is this a reference to my answers or from Unitek themselves? I just wanted to check. Cheers!

[@mrbrown708]

@@HowToDoItTech I have to be honest. Based on your previous responses I would assume they were making reference to your answers. I admit that sometimes the honest answer is "No" or "I haven't tried that" or "I have not come across that" but I am also inferring that the person is searching for a response that indicates a little more experience with the concerns of people that are having problems with the product. I understand. I am also looking for a recovery solution but I am also wary. It also appears that this person has been burned by a similar experience.

[@GogoVictoria]

@@mrbrown708 That's fair feedback. I don't have any corrupt drives and the specification for this devices only concerns itself with working harddrives. It's not marketed for recovery of broken or corrupt devices so I wouldn't want to give unsound advice. My advice to anyone looking for a concrete response on it's suitability for situations outside of working IDE and SATA harddrives is to contact Unitek directly.

[@y2blas]

what do i do if it does not even read?

[@HowToDoItTech]

Hmm... Is the drive label appearing in your Explorer window?

[@michaelmckinley626]

Great video except he talks so damn fast, unless you are a techie one has to pause the video every 3 seconds to repeat.

[@HowToDoItTech]

Thanks for the feedback. I've been working more on my cadence for walkthroughs so hopefully future videos are easier to follow

[@seasonfilms9375]

OK! DOES THIS RECOVER FROM AN HDD THAT WAS DROPPED AND HAS PHYSICAL DAMAGE INSIDE?

[@HowToDoItTech]

No, it'll only work with working HDD

[@stevejohnson1321]

There are cheaper solutions from China ebay sellers, although it's hit-or-miss on success.

[@oooooo1535]

BENFEI SATA to USB Cable

[@raymiyanda5363]

Mm❤❤❤❤❤

[@mrpickle23]

that thing sucked when I tried to use it

[@HowToDoItTech]

Where did you get stuck?

[@mrpickle23]

for some reason when I plug in my old external drive to a new computer it comes up on my computer as a D: and E: drive and then when I click on either one - the new computer folder manager crashes and says "not responding" and I can't do anything until I shut off the old external drive.@@HowToDoItTech

[@HowToDoItTech]

Okay, let me see if I can find anything to help troubleshoot tomorrow

[@HowToDoItTech]

Okay, so it would seem that the reason you have D: and E: appearing is because the drive has two partitions. Unfortunately I'm unable to find any resources on whether it would contribute to crashing Windows Explorer. I'm able to view my own partitioned drives though. One recommendation would be to try the adapter and drive on another computer and also test any other drive you have to see if you can isolate the issue to the problematic drive.