USB to IDE adapter question's

[expertwannabe]

never used one but thinking of getting one to test some hard drives
1st can you use an adapter to test a HD and 2nd will it boot up to see what OS if any is on a HD
thanks

 

[Kevin16]

A USB to IDE adapter basically makes your internal harddrives external without the enclosure. So yes, you can test a harddrive and use an OS.

 

[expertwannabe]

that is the way I was understanding, just needed a 2nd opinion
thanks

 

[Rick]

1st can you use an adapter to test a HD

You can test drives, but a lot of good diagnostic software is run outside of Windows in environments with NO USB support. So yes, you can test drives. But no, you can't test them very well.

2nd will it boot up to see what OS if any is on a HD

Kevin16 said 'yes' without hesitation, but there some additional things you are entitled to know. There's two major problems here. First, Windows 2000/XP doesn't support booting from a USB drive. It will freeze/bluescreen during the Windows XP logo. Second, the computer must support USB drives as a bootable device. Most newer systems do, but older systems do not.

 

[Kevin16]

Windows 2000/XP doesn't support booting from a USB drive. It will freeze/bluescreen during the Windows XP logo.

You can boot fully from a USB drive providing you make some modifications, but i think he just wants to see if there is an operating system on the drive.