taget disk mode with firewire/usb

Well i have an old imac 24 inch that i want to power up in target disk mode. however, my wifes laptop that i want to connect it to doesn't have a firewire port. is there a way i can connect a firewire cable to her laptop? maybe a firewire to usb cable? im sorry im so computer illiterate.... i just want to get some files off the hd of the imac before i wife it and reinstall the OS

I don't think so, and doubt Target Mode would work over such a cable.

Your best bet would be to take the drive out and put it into a USB enclosure...