Help for an old friend

[ghowell]

I've got a "live" 486 (Win 3.1 and dos) and we need to get data off of it. I have a few older laptops that might be able to act as transitional computers (Win 95. 98)to laplink data through - but each of them have storage issues already. These are the only only ones that com and/or parallel ports. Before I dig into that approach does any one have suggestions for the "easiest" to grab the data from this old beastie?
Someone in another thread mentioned a usb hard drive "rack" or holder? Would that work with an old full height hard drive?
Sigh.
Suggestions/advice welcomed.
Thanks.

 

[Rick]

Is the 486 a desktop system?

Something like any of these should work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...r&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE

These adapters connect IDE devices to computers with a USB port. The idea is you'll need to remove the hard drive in your 486 (shouldn't be too hard), connect it to the adapter and plug it into your newer computer.

In the past, I've connected 1GB and 2GB drives using USB adapters and they have worked just fine. However, I've never plugged in a hard drive as old as yours *could* be, but hard drives even that old should still be compatible with the original ATA-1 standard. Most of these adapters claim they can work with any drive that conforms to ATA standards.

You can also buy enclosures. They do the same thing as these adapters, but have fewer connection options and require some installation. A USB enclosure might be a good choice if you plan on accessing your hard drive more than just a couple of times to transfer your data.