I have just purchaced a new computer with a sata hard drive. I'm not sure if the motherboard has a connection for an IDE drive. My old computer had an IDE drive. How can I recover the files off the IDE drive with my new computer?

first, check to see if the new pc has a hook up for ide cables. Then, if it does, check to see if the sata drive has two different plugs on the back. one is for the sata cable, and the other is for older ide cables. change the jumpers on the ide drive to slave, and then hook it up with the ide cable, and it should work after you hook up the juice.

You can also purchase an external hard drive kit, which will turn you older IDE hard drive into an external drive. Most newer drive kits will not only work with USB 2.0, but they'll also work with firewire and even external SATA as well.

The best part about external hard drive kits is that they're relatively cheap, too- they'll go for between twenty and sixty bucks, depending on the manufacturer and what kind of goodies are included in the package. Antec and Vantec are two known makers of such things.

If you don't mind taking part in a little bit of computer surgery (as you'll have to install the old drive into the kit's housing), this would probably be the easiest way to go. It's also the most economical as you'll end up with a drive that you can take with you and use for other purposes.

The sata drive has 3 connections, power,sata cable and then I think its a 8 or maybe 10 pin socket. Looks like the socket you change the jumper on the ide drive. The ide drive has a power and a 40 pin connection. My mother board has an extra 40 pin socket, but I'm not sure what it is exactly.

That extra 40-pin socket is more-than-likely an extra hook-up for a second CD/DVD drive (many of which are still PATA drives, which means they use the wider cables).