StarTech.com ATA-133/IDE to USB Adapter ICUSB2IDE

by StarTech

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4.7 x 1.4 x 5.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• ASIN: B000GD1G86
• Item model number: ICUSB2IDE
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,404 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

Connect your IDE hard drive to a USB port. Compatible with most IDE 33/66/100/133 drives. With simple Plug and Play installation, you'll be using your IDE hard drive or ATAPI device in no time.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good product, rotten documentation, October 24, 2008

By 

PLB (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: StarTech.com ATA-133/IDE to USB Adapter ICUSB2IDE (Personal Computers)

This worked on one of my three computers, but documentation was incomplete and inaccurate before and after purchase. Not mentioned in the supplied instructions (or mentioned on Amazon) is the fact that you'll need access to a live 5V "SP4" floppy power connection for it, in addition to the 12V "LP4" drive power your IDE drive needs. I wasted many hours over most of last weekend trying to figure this out, even with telephone help from their tech support. Even so, the product failed to install on one Win2K box and one WinXP box, but finally worked on another WinXP system and wound up doing the job I needed.

If you're buying this bridge to access an IDE drive EXTERNALLY (I've never heard of an internal USB connector), you probably don't want to open the PC case, in which case you'll need some external 5V and 12V power source. Startech makes one (icusb2idepw for $23), but for about the same price you could buy a second bridge -- the Sabrent USB-DSC5 bridge for $20 -- plus a Belkin F2N503 splitter cable for $7 and have everything you need for both IDE and SATA drives without having to open the PC. This solution gives you two bridges for different applications, plus power for both. Note that the Sabrent didn't work with my ATA/133 drive, which is why I also bought the Startech bridge.