Whether you’re an übergeek computer whiz, average compu-nerd or that annoying little kid across the street that knows how to use a computer better than grownups ever will, one day the time will come when you have to connect a bare hard drive up to your computer for some reason or another. Usually it’s to get your stuff from your old computer to your new one (pictures, documents, music), help a client recover data from a buggy drive or dead computer or save massive amounts of downloaded files after house-sitting for a friend and sucking down their high-speed bandwidth like there was no tomorrow.

When the time comes, there are two simple ways to hook up almost any type of hard drive to your computer as easy as possible… and if you thought “use a hard disk enclosure,” you’re wrong. Very, very wrong.

First, the SATA/IDE to USB adapter. Basically these are the internal guts of a typical SATA and an IDE hard disk enclosure combined into one Frankenstein of an adapter (or if you prefer the mutated offspring of the unholy union of a SATA and IDE swinger’s party). You can hook up pretty much any 2.5″ notebook or standard sized (3.5″) hard drive whether it’s SATA or IDE and connect it to a computer through a USB port. And since you have a bare drive without an enclosure there’s no need to worry about the drive overheating from prolonged use (unless you’re in the middle of the Sahara desert). This is bar none the cheapest and most flexible way to hook up a bare hard drive to your computer. (Usually costs anywhere from $5-15 on the Net.)

The second option is a Hard Drive Docking Station, usually a more expensive and less capable choice. These toaster-like contraptions are basically like an enclosure except for they have an open base, usually with one or two slots where you push your hard disks into like… well, a Pop-Tart™. A shiny, metal, fast-spinning, delicious Pop-Tart™. *drool* The hard drive pop tarts can then be read usually through USB while other docking stations allow access through firewire and eSata connections. (Usual price of docking stations are $30-50).

It’s also the easiest way to connect a bare hard drive to your computer and the open-air design makes sure the drives won’t overheat when used for long periods of time but usually such docks are for SATA drives only, so if you want to connect an IDE drive you’re out of luck. If you look hard enough there’s some no-name combo SATA/IDE HD docking stations but they’re usually even more expensive than other docks. Much, much more expensive than getting the SATA/IDE to USB adapter listed first in this article.

So there you go peeps - two of the simplest, best and cheapest ways to take a bare hard drive and access it on your computer for whatever reason you want. Except for ridding the world of brussel sprouts… trust us, we tried everything!