Old hard drive in new system

[rightsaidfred]

A friend running XP on a ten year old computer fried their CPU, so the consensus was to buy a new machine, which runs VISTA.

Anyway, in an attempt to save the old data I plugged their old hard drive into the ribbon behind the new drive. The drive is recognized, it appears to be partitioned, but I can't get any data off it.

Under disk management, the C: and D: drives show up under disk 0. The D: (old) drive is in a cross hatched area; status: healthy, system active, primary partition. When I click on it, I get a screen that says "no files available". I don't think I erased anything. I seem to be missing a step or two. Any hints?

[TwoRails]

Hi rightsaidfred

Welcome to PCMech !!

Perhaps more was fried than the CPU... some more detail on the old system's problem would help. How did you setup / jumper the drive when you stuck it in the new system?

[rightsaidfred]

I stopped in one day, and the computer would boot and run for a few minutes, then shut down. I suspected the fan on the heat sink, and sure enough, it didn't turn. I replaced that, and things seemed to be fine. A couple days later, the machine would just go a couple of screens on start up, then crash. I figured a motherboard problem.

New tower was plugged in and started nicely. Shut that down and plugged the old hard drive into the ribbon inside the machine. I started down the route outlined in the sticky thread above, but I didn't find the same commands after a while. I mucked around a bit, trying not to do anything that seemed too nuclear.

[TwoRails]

Depending on how the first drive is jumpered, that's how you set up the second. Most newer system are jumpered as "CS" which meas you should set the second one as CS also. However, if the first one is Master, then the second one should be set as Slave. If Master / Slave doesn't work, then try both at CS. If that doesn't work, try a different cable. If that still doesn't work, most likely the drive has a problem.

[glc]

A much safer way these days to get data off a drive in another computer is connect it with a USB adapter. This one is a valuable part of my toolbox and it's cheap:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=2020&cat=HDD

It can handle any hard drive made - IDE, SATA, and notebook.

[rightsaidfred]

(TwoRails)----Depending on how the first drive is jumpered...

Where would I find this info?

[glc]

You would have to physically look at the drive. Most drives have a jumper chart on the label, if not, you can download the chart from the manufacturer's site.

[phigdon]

usually a slave is not jumper and the master is jumpered next to the data cable i believe and it depends on the drive manufacture.


glc, thanks for the link. i found this on the egg. 3.5, 2.5. CD/Optical and SATA. $30.

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16812270111


got anything else in the bottom of that tool box???

[glc]

30 bucks? Why spend that when it's less than 20 bucks shipped at Geeks.com?

It sits in my toolbox along with a USB floppy drive, a 40 gig notebook drive, and a spare 1 gig flash key.

[TwoRails]

No jumpers can also mean Slave. The surest way is to jumper the drives either as CS or Master/Slave to avoid confusion or guess work.

[phigdon]

well first the newegg NJ shipping center is less than a day from me, second i have a newegg account so no money out of pocket, and last why not?

[rightsaidfred]

I see now I plugged the old hard drive into the cable behind the cd rom.

If I assume the new drive is cs, how do I set the old one on cs?

Under 'disk management', both drives show up under 'Disk 0', with their gigabyte values added together.

[glc]

You cannot assume ANYTHING. You have to physically LOOK at the drive's jumpers and compare them to the chart.

Being that you are having a difficult time concepting drive jumpers, order one of those USB adapters and use that. You won't have to mess with jumpers and cables.

[rightsaidfred]

I'll get on it.

The info from Gateway indicates that it is cs. I have a feeling the old drive is still good, but that I'm missing something that will let me "crack" into it. I've got to spool up some more brain cells and figure this out.

After thinking a little more, I suspect the old hard drive might not support cs (it was made in 1999). I will do more research. And get the cable.

[glc]

Any time you connect a drive out of another computer internally on an IDE cable when there is another device on the cable, be it hard drive or optical drive, both drives have to be appropriately jumpered for the cable type. There are 4 possible jumper settings - master, slave, cable select, and (on some drives) single/master, slave not present. Jumper block location and sequences are not consistent between different brands of drives, and even different models from the same manufacturer. Different combinations may or may not work. Position of the drive on the cable (end or middle) can also be critical. In a nutshell, if you are not familiar with drive jumpering, you are better off using the external solution. On an external adapter, generally if the drive was at one time working in the old computer it will work on the adapter without rejumpering - but if you have a problem cable select will *always* work on the adapter.

[Blaster3]

Originally Posted by phigdon well first the newegg NJ shipping center is less than a day from me, second i have a newegg account so no money out of pocket, and last why not?

Part #: 2020
Warranty: 1 Year
Condition: New
Packaging: Retail Box
Ship Weight: 1 lb
Manufacturer:
MFG Part #: 2020
Supported By: Geeks


Reg Price: $11.99
Save: $2.00 (17%)
Now: $9.99
Qty


only $9.99 thats why

[Stidham]

I have one of these that I got from the LCS (local computer store) for my toolbox. MY GOD, I can't live with out it.

Later,
Dave

[bd1886]

What a great tool!

[Detonate]

Do I understand from what you guys are saying, that the USB adaptor will also handle drives removed from laptops? I must have one of these.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Detonate Do I understand from what you guys are saying, that the USB adaptor will also handle drives removed from laptops?

Yes, the adapter works with 2.5" laptop HDDs.

Cricket

[glc]

The 2020 adapter has 3 ports. Standard 3.5" IDE, 2.5" laptop IDE, and SATA.

[Detonate]

I ordered the 2020 and got it Saturday. It works great. I had an old 20GB Maxtor IDE drive I wasn't using, so I installed Kubuntu Live Desktop Persistent on it using the 2020 and now I can use it to demo Kubuntu easily.

[Techx10]

I just purchased a 5.25 drive enclosure and put an old 20gig maxtor HD in it. The drive had to be jumpered for cable select and the HD in my computer is a master. This is the way to go for old HD's. Not only can you read the data already on it but if you so desire you can use it as a backup or storing some files. The enclosures are inexpensive. With it being USB it is not confined to just one computer.

[glc]

The reason I suggest the 2020 adapters are as follows:

1. Cheap.
2. They work.
3. Very easy to swap drives, no housing to open and close.
4. Compatible with 3 different types of hard drives.

The 2020 is out of stock but the 2020-OTB is available, it's the same thing with the addition of a one touch backup capability (which I would probably never use).

[TwoRails]

Right now, Geeks is having the OTB version on sale for $12.99:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...20-OTB&cat=CDW