Viewing data on second HDD with windows already installed?

[moguri]

So here's the situation... my mom's old laptops motherboard fried but the hard drive is fine, however its PATA. My laptop only has SATA. There are some documents she needs on it and I was wondering if I hooked it up with a device like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812161002

How would I go about getting the files out if Windows is installed on that drive? I'm guessing I can't just browse it, or could I open it in a VM or something? Sorry I'm a noob when it comes to computer stuff.

[arons4]

You can just browse it, you can also just boot ur pc onto the hdd, but just plugging it in with that and it'd work like any other external hdd. It would have windows files on it, but they're just files like any other.

[Rawt]

Once you have the PATA HDD installed into that USB , it is literally as simple as plugging it into your PC. Your PC will recognize it as a new usb device, automatically install any drivers for it if necessary, then you can browse the drive through windows explorer like any other drive.

[Xemnar]

I wouldn't recommend booting to a USB HDD, however when you plug it into your laptop with the adapter, windows will detect it just like a big flash drive.

[Dizey]

You can just use an 2.5" ide to usb 2.0 enclosure. They are fairly cheap these days:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182143.

The answer to your 2nd question is yes. You can simply connect it to another computer using the above device and browse it like any other drive. The trouble you may run into is that it wont let you browse her user folders without taking ownership first.