Hi, Bob.
If I just attach it to the spare IDE and power connector will the Vista
system recognize it at bootup,
Most likely. We can't say for sure because we don't know very much at all
about your computer, but in most cases, yes, an IDE drive should be
recognized when you plug it in.
assign it a drive letter and go from there
Yes, but... Have you run Disk Management? It has been a feature of all
Windows since Win2K and the Vista version is the best yet. This built-in
utility (the techies call it a Snap-in to the Microsoft Management Console -
MMC - but most of us never use that term) does all the jobs that we used to
do with other utilities in DOS and Win9x. Use it to create and delete
partitions, format and label (name) them and assign "drive" letters. It's
in Computer Management, but I like to just type diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter -
and furnish the Administrator password.
There MAY be a couple of flies in the ointment, but probably not. You MAY
have to initialize that "foreign" drive; instructions are in Disk
Management's Help file. And you MAY need to give yourself permission to see
the files on the drive because of UAC, Vista's User Access Control security
features. If you hit either of these snags, post back with details for
further guidance.
But it probably will "just work". ;<)
RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)