old pcs, can I access from my macbook pro?

[bigdogtruck]

Hi all, I have 2 old PC's running Windows 7. I currently use a Macbook Pro and run Parallells with Windows 7 for some work stuff. Can I take the hard drives out of those old PC's, put them into enclosures, and occasionally pull a few files off of them to use with Windows 7 on the Mac? I would want to use a USB connection to the old drives. I am really just hoping to avoid the task of cleaning an organizing all the junk on those drives if I don't have to. I also don't want to store those old desk tops. Thanks in advance

 

[Fishrrman]

Yes, you should be able to do that (depending on how the drives from the PCs are formatted).

Since the drives are only going to be accessed occasionally, I don't really believe it would be worth the money to buy external enclosures for each of them.

One important question (depending on the age of the PCs) will be:
Do the drives use an IDE/PATA connector, or are they more modern and do they use a SATA connector?

You will need to know that before you buy the appropriate adapter with which to connect them to the Mac.

If both the drives have SATA connectors, you could probably buy a USB3/SATA docking station. However, know in advance that you can just access one drive at a time (that may be all you need to do).

If the drives have IDE/PATA connectors, the best solution might be to buy an "adapter dongle" that can handle both IDE -and- SATA drives. This looks like it could do the job:
http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Adapter...25138980&sr=8-1&keywords=IDE+SATA+adapter+USB

 

[bigdogtruck]

Thanks so much for the help. I really appreciate your thoughts and guidance.