Hi Guys, My system has IDE hard drives. Can I connect an external SATA hard drive via USB for backup and restore? Or do I need SATA controllers on my motherboard (which I don't have)? I could just get an IDE hard drive, but I am intending to upgrade to SATA within the next few weeks, so I need something compatible with both types of drive.Can I use one of the Coolermaster Xcraft 350 enclosures? I notice they come in IDE, SATA and Firewire versions. Does this just relate to the kind of drive you put inside, or the kind of hard drive controller on your motherboard?http://www.pccasegear.com.au/prod3882.htm Cheers,Noel.

You can use that enclosure on your system. It will connect using a USB or external SATA so you can plug it into any system with a USB port. The speed advantage of the external SATA drive over an IDE may or may not be noticeable to you depending on how much data you will routinely backup. I'd go with the SATA setup since you will soon be upgrading your internal drives to SATA also. You don't save much money with IDE these days so there's not much reason not to make the full leap to SATA.

Thanks for the info! I'll go with the SATA drive then.Much obliged!Noel.