SATA to USB 3.0 Adaptors.. the truth

So you've probably seen these SATA to USB (or USB 3.0) adaptors and connectors on online auction sites?

Here's an example of one that I actually ordered. Specifically you need to be aware that these just don't work with 3.5" hard drives! It does kinda say this (if you bother to read it..) but I just thought, it'll be fine.. I was wrong and maybe writing this will help somebody else out from making the same mistake or possibly just for somebody who's interested in seeing exactly what happens if you try?

So what actually happens if you try to plug in a 3.5" hard drive?

Well.. before I attempted that I plugged in an old spare hard drive into an actually hard drive caddy to test if the hard drive was actually readable. As you can see from the above picture it is and it was labelled GAMES2.

Now.. moving onto the actual SATA to USB 3.0 connector..

You'll see that yes, it has detected some kind of USB drive! However it wont tell you anything about it, nor will it access it.

So then I tried it from a completely separate PC just to be sure. Notice that the exact same thing happens.

Finally, moving back to my original machine. I tried an old 2.5" laptop hard drive and it detects and reads from that perfectly.

I cannot say 'for certain' but I believe it is because the two USB ports cannot provide enough wattage for a 3.5" hard drive. Maybe if I was to cut 'n' splice two of these leads together then it would indeed be sufficient to answer this question.. however who would want a SATA to USB3 adaptor that takes up 4 USB slots?!!

So to recap, if your hoping to use one of these SATA to USB connectors for a 3.5" hard drive then unfortunately it just won't work.

EDIT : Unless you power the hard drives up yourself.. see my quick 'How To' video!