External Hard Drive problem

So, I’ve pulled the old (WinXP) hard drive out of our old desktop pc so I can remove the photos from it. I’ve put it into a usb caddy and plugged it into my laptop. When I try and navigate to the drive it says ‘please insert a disk into drive f’

Please tell me there’s something I can do to take all the old baby photos off the drive? And no, I didn’t take a backup …

Cheers

You probably know this but they should both be switched on before you plug the usb in, I think.
If your worried try it back in the old desktop and get the files from it that way?

Trouble is the old desktop is boxed up in the loft!

Trying the quick solution first …

You may have to change the jumper on the hard drive. What did the instructions for the USB caddy say? The hard drive can be set up as Master, Slave or Cable Select. Some USB caddies require the HD to be set as CS..
Here’s what you’re looking for…

This ^^

Also, make sure it’s plugged into the caddy firmly. Removing and reseating might be sufficient.

IDE can be funny about hot-swap. Try a reboot after you’ve plugged it in and connected the caddy?

Does the caddy have / need power? Power over USB may well be insufficient for an old drive.