The 30-year old drive must be IDE since that what was used back then. There weren't any SATA drives before 2003. You must have drives of both types.

You can buy enclosures that can handle IDE drives, SATA drives, and both IDE/SATA drives.

I have an enclosure that handles both. Here is the configurations for both types of drives:

 

Most likely

it serves as a backup drive to store important data

Do you really want to put important data on an old drive?

 

That Rocketfish RF-HD35 hard drive enclosure is designed for EIDE/PATA hard drives and not for SATA hard drives.
You need to buy and use the appropriate hard drive enclosure for that Western Digital 400 GB SATA hard drive.
You can buy and use one that supports the use of both types of hard drives, as Edward already said.

 

Thank you for the replies.
Based on the info provided, I need an enclosure for a SATA hard drive.
To be sure though, I put "Western Digital WD5000AAKS" into a search engine and it says it's a SATA hard drive.

Western Digital WD5000AAKS-65A7B0 - 500GB 7.2K RPM SATA 3.5" Hard Drive

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Which kind of hard drive enclosure though? When looking at them online I have to choose from:
SATA
SATA I/II/III
SATA III
SAS/SATA



Why use an old hard drive for a backup? Well, they seem to outlast the rest of
a PC by decades so might as well not waste them and fill up a landfill with them.
The backup drive is only turned on a few times per year so it lasts and lasts.
I also figure the odds are pretty steep that the external back up drive and the internal PC drive fail at the same time. Also, when I know what I need to purchase, I have another Western Digital WD 4000AAJS 400GB SATA hard drive to use as an additional backup.

 

Older drives may be SATA I or SATA II. Currently hard drives are SATA III. The higher the number the newer and faster it is. You have to decide what specs your drives are and buy an enclosure to match that. If you want to support all then look for an enclosure that supports SATA I/II/III.

Since some of your drives are quite old you should monitor their health. One way is to use a program like CrystalDiskInfo. Download the Standard Edition. There are two versions

• Zip = open and copy anywhere on computer (ex. CrystalDiskInfo9_0_1a.exe)
• Installer = install on computer (ex. CrystalDiskInfo9_0_1a.zip)

Note for Zip version you open zip file and copy to folder:
a. CdiResource folder
b. DiskInfo32.exe or DiskInfo64.exe depending on whether your computer is 32-bit or 64-bit

CrystalDiskInfo

Download

[2025/07/21] CrystalMark Retro 2.0.6 – Manual / History Standard Edition Installer ZIP ZIP (9x) ZIP (NT) Source Code Store ($9.99) Shizuku Edition Installer ZIP ZIP (9x) ZIP (NT) Store ($9.99) Aoi Edition Installer ZIP ZIP (9x) ZIP (NT) Store ($9.99) [2025/08/31] CrystalDiskInfo 9.7.2 –...

crystalmark.info

If the drive shows Good then all is OK. If it shows Caution then monitor regularly and replace it ASAP. I have seen it show BAD but that means stop using it and discard it immediately. Hopefully you will never see that because many times it is too late to save any data.

Here are examples of a couple old IDE hard drives. One is Good while the other shows Caution. Note when the status is Caution some of the health indicators turn from blue to yellow.

 

Well, I would assume these drives are SATA 1 since they are 15 years old. But I may as well future proof and get one that will do all 3 versions. Any good brands come to mind? I am looking now but don't see any names I've ever heard of.

 

My old IDE enclosure went bad so I had to get another one a few months ago. I ended up getting this one. I never heard of it before but that goes to much of what I see for sale. Note I was only looking for just an IDE enclosure but ended up with it. That is because I already had a couple SATA enclosures.

X-MEDIA XM-EN3451 3.5-Inch USB 2.0 IDE SATA Aluminum Hard Disk Drive HDD External Enclosure Case, Support 3.5-Inch IDE, 3.5-Inch SATA/SSD Hard Disk Drive

Note unlike IDE, both SATA 2.5" and 3.5 hard drives use the same connector. That means a 3.5" SATA enclosure which comes with a power adapter can be use for both size SATA drives.

 

Thank you, that looks like it will work just fine for all my old drives. Do I need to but anything else to use it like a power cable or something? Or just use the old connection and power wires I have for my Rockfish?

 

Each enclosure has its own particular cables and power adapter. Other cables will probably not work. BTW, the photos shown in post #2 are of this enclosure with the cover removed.

 

If this is for another desktop, you can also install the drive inside your system as another internal drive.

 

MisterEd, I'm going with your suggestion, sort of. I'm opting for the same brand but the model that costs 2 bucks more.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007I8QMJU?th=1

Why? USB 3.0 instead of 2.0. Also it comes with a stand. One of the minor complaints of the one you mentioned is it gets warm. I figure on a stand instead of laying flat, the heat will dissipate better. Probably will never be on long enough to matter anyways, but it can't hurt.
Now I realize I can't put an IDE drive in this one but I figure it's about time to retire the one that's about 30 years old anyways. It still works fine but it's just too small at 120 GB.

Gr3iz, I don't even know if there's room in my Pavilion Desktop 590-p0054 for another drive. It came with a SSD and a mechanical drive already. Besides, this is easier to reuse every time I get a new PC. Actually, easier all around for someone like me, LOL.

 

Gr3iz, I don't even know if there's room in my Pavilion Desktop 590-p0054 for another drive. It came with a SSD and a mechanical drive already. Besides, this is easier to reuse every time I get a new PC. Actually, easier all around for someone like me, LOL.

Understandable. Just a suggestion.

 

Oh no doubt and it's appreciated. I ask questions for my benefit obviously but I also hope any information provided can help others too. The more information the better! Thank you.