I have a number of old computers which I intend to donate or dump, but first would like to look at, and maybe extract, the data on their hard disks.  To do this I purchased a BYTECC HDD External Box, Model ME-835 which connects the old HD to an ACER Aspire 3000 laptop running Windows XP via a USB port.
When I plug in the USB cable the computer recognizes "New Hardware", but I can't seem to access the old disk.  In fact, I can't even determine if the laptop can "see" the disk.  When I plug in a flash drive, the laptop immediately sees the drive and assigns it a letter designation with which I can then easily use to read the device, and I had assumed that I'd also see a new drive letter that represents the HD in the ME-835, but not so.
I've attempted to do this with two different HDs, both are Maxtors, but different models, which date from the 1980s.  Can the problem be with the fact that these particular HDs are old, or is it possible that I need a driver of some type.  I thought that Windows XP would see the drives and then let me access them, but.....
I'd sure appreciate any suggestions as to just what might be wrong here.  The ME-835 did come with a CD with drivers, but there was a note that they worked with only Windows-98.
Lewis Emerson
 

        The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website,
           web based bulletinboard for questions and answers:
              Visit our sister website at http://nospin.com