Hi, I am looking for an adapter that will allow me to use my SATA (laptop) harddrive with my IDE (desktop) motherboard. Any suggestions ? But here's my big question - the sata drive has XP Pro loaded on it and the desktop boots in Win ME(millenium) so would there be a problem accessing the sata drive from the desktop because of different types of file systems ? Thanks!

If your PC detects both drives you can pick which one to boot off of via the BIOS or Windows will ask you. It's two different file systems, but that's just how the data is allocated.

If the Laptop is Formatted NTFS WinME uses FAT32 and therefore cannot access the harddrive directly. There are third party software programs that allow viewing of NTFS files while in the FAT32 environment. As far a an adapter goes, you have TWO choices. First is a simple adapter to allow connection of the Laptop drive to a standard flat IDE ribbon cable. The second is an external USB drive enclosure. Why are you doing this? Has the Laptop died? If not, a cable connection MAY offer a simpler solution. Booting from the Laptop drive when installed in your desktop isn't going to work. Laptop OSes are linked to the laptop hardware. You should be able to access the files though.

yes the laptop died (actually I broke it <sob> dont ask). It was an ibm thinkpad(z60m) I bought last year. I suppose it must be NTFS (xp pro). I will search download.com or something to see what utilities are out there but if you have any suggestions please feel free.

Which way would you prefer, internal or USB external?

I'd say internal would be my first choice. That's not to say that usb is ruled out. Its still open as a next option.

I didn't notice that your Laptop is SATA. Below is an excerpt I found. So you have a couple of internal and a couple of external choices. It may come down to cost. You could install a PCI based controller card that could accomodate SATA or a combination of SATA & IDE. You would still need some kind of mounting rails because desktops are setup for 3.5" drives. Your PSU may or may not have any connectors to supply power to the drive, as the connection is different. You would also need a SATA data cable. "2.5" Serial ATA hard drives actually use the same connectors as their desktop counterparts. These drives plug into standard SATA data and power cables". So what is needed is a standard SATA to IDE adapter. Below is a link to one source. Keep in mind that you still need an open IDE channel. Here is a link to a USB to SATA cable. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... Here is a link to SATA to IDE internal adapter. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ... Here is another option. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...