My old computer was suddenly off and wouldnt turn on anymore when I returned home one day. I was going to buy a new one anyway but the guy at radioshack told me it could be power supply or my motherboard.Anyway I have a new computer now but need to transfer the stuff off the hard drives on my old computer to the hard drives on my new one. I dont wanna have to fix the other computer yet so powering it on wouldnt be an option so is there a way to connect the old hard drive to my new computer via some kinda usb or other connection?
2006-10-30 02:36:38 · 11 answers · asked by con10twithlosing 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Desktops
This is easily done with just a little work inside your old PC. Pull the case off to expose the hard drive. The hard drive may be mounted in the case with 4 small screws. Sometimes, in newer or more expensive systems, the hard drive is in a removable cage. This makes things real simple. There are two cables that connect to the hard drive. Power (3 wires in one small connector) and Data (a large ribbon cable). Carefully detach the cables. They may be in tight, so pull from the connector so as not to yank the wires out. Place the hard drive into a USB hard drive enclosure. This can be purchased from most computer retailers. There will be power and data connection inside teh new drive cage that fit into the drive and you will need to replace a couple of screws to hold it in place. Then plug the USB cable into your new PC. You do not have to power off the new PC to do this. USB connections are "hot swappable". Once the system recognizes the new drive (you may hear a DING) then you will be able to browse the files and burn what you want to save to a CD or copy to the hard drive in your new PC. If your discardind the old PC, save this new external drive for extra storage. After you have copied what you want to save...format it it clean and use it to archive your important files. If your new system goes south you will be safe from having to do this again. Be sure to dispose of teh old computer properly. The circuit boards and electronic components are not environmentally friendly. You may even get a few dollars for it from a recycler. The can melt the parts down and salavge the precious metals.
2006-10-30 02:57:14 · answer #1 · answered by Digging for answers 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are USB converters that will convert optical drives to USB I think there maybe something that will do the same for hardrives I am not sure. If you are a little savvy you could add the old harddrive to your new system as a second drive or have someone do it for a little fee. I wouldn't pay more than $50 to have it installed. That way you could use the drive as storage and a backup drive depending on if it is something you would be interested in doing.
2006-10-30 02:48:32 · answer #2 · answered by RayRay 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hello I would check the battery on the motherboard on the old computer if it is a old computer lots of times when the battery on the motherboard goes bad the computer will just shut down and will not restart.to change it out open the case of the computer and look at the mother board you will see a battery about the size of a nikle kind of like a watch battery real thin snap it out a new one will cost about 3.00 bucks or so at the computer store.I would try this first.
2006-10-30 02:47:11 · answer #3 · answered by Randall 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I bought an external enclosure and uesd the USB port to copy the files I wanted and the formated the dic and now I have a portable hard drive.
2006-10-30 02:45:48 · answer #4 · answered by Psycmixer 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To transfer anything from the old drive it has to be on.
If you don't want to turn the old computer on, you'll hahve to take the harddrive out, and put it in your new one as a second drive.
Then you can just pull the files you want and copy them to your new drive.
If by chance you already have two drives in your new one, you'll have to unplug the secondary one first.
2006-10-30 02:40:13 · answer #5 · answered by Coop 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-12-28 08:11:09 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can install the hard drive from the old computer as a slave (secondary) drive in the new one, and them copy from one to the other.
You will have to remove the hard drive, and physically install it in the new machine!
2006-10-30 02:39:03 · answer #7 · answered by fire4511 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, take a external case with a USB 2.0 connection.
Your computer will recognize as a external disk.
2006-10-30 02:41:11 · answer #8 · answered by Rafael MM'S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
make the old hard drive slave by removing the jumper and connect it to the new system
2006-10-30 02:44:16 · answer #9 · answered by alamgeer 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
http://www.lifehacker.com/software/feature/how-to-install-a-hard-drive-137179.php The best way is to piggy back your old hard drive in your new computer see web site above.
DW
2006-10-30 02:42:38 · answer #10 · answered by DANNY W 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋