I'm going to be getting an external drive enclosure for an extra 3.5" IDE drive I've got. The purpose of the enclosure is so that I can occasionally plug this drive into my PC and back up all my important data such as the My Documents directory and my downloaded Steam content. In other words, I won't be running any applications from it, but performance is still a consideration.

Ease of installation and plugging/unplugging is a factor as well. I'd like to be able to plug it in and not have to install any drivers or answer any prompts. I'm running Windows 2000 if that's a consideration.

Cost is also a factor. I don't want to spend a lot of money on something that's only going to be used occasionally.

So from my initial googling, I seem to have a choice between FireWire and USB2. Both are high speed, but I don't know whether I should be concentrating on one or the other, or if I'm going to see any difference between the two.

Anyone have any experience with these devices and can offer any advice?