Accessing files from an old internal Hard Drive

I am trying to access my personal files from an internal Hard Drive in which I removed from a computer of mine which stopped working. This computer was using Windows XP Professional.
The computer I am using now uses Windows 7.
I removed the hard drive from the failed computer and tried connecting it to my present computer using a USB 2.0 To IDE/SATA Cable but I am always asked to initialize the disk. I have doubts about doing this as I think this will wipe the hard drive clean.
I did however backup my personal files using Microsoft Backup before my failed computer stopped working.
I downloaded and installed the Restore Utility for Windows from Microsoft on my present computer and tried restoring my backup but I keep getting the message 'This media has been secured. You do not have the proper privileges.' I think that this is because I protected my backup with a password.
I would appreciate any help in solving my problem.

Is your old drive IDE or SATA?
On your new Motherboard do you have both IDE and SATA Ports?
You should be able to connect old drive to new mobo