I’ve done that too, and also have an adapter that connects an IDE drive to a USB port. In this case, I need to run the 2002 AutoCAD software on a Windows XP computer. It won’t run on later Microsoft operating systems. The software would cost thousands of dollars to replace but does everything I need to do. It would also take hundreds of hours of time to learn how to use the later software. It costs nothing to keep a couple of older PCs around to do what I need to do. I even just purchased a couple of legacy laser printers for $5 each that work perfectly with XP. Prints cost fractions of a penny each, and the toner doesn’t dry out. They printed just fine with 15 year old toner cartridges. They were so cheap because drivers for later operating systems are not available.
Yes, I have used one of those IDE to USB jigs.
Also got a win7 system, that I had to get circa 2007. It has ultra vnc or such so I can access from a linux box. Lately having issues with browser and aero crap and transparency. The ‘feature’ hides that drop down box material from the computer at the other end of the vnc connection. Haven’t been able to find a way to turn of aero in win7 or Waterfox browser. Legacy firefox browser has no issue with drop down at the remote viewing end.
Thanks for your input.