Posted: 3/13/2010 7:44:37 AM EDT
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I need to grab my 2008 tax files from my computer that went on the blink. I believe the hard drive is good so I just want to grab some of my files off of it. The old comp appears to have some sort of short and starts to boot and then shuts down...
OK..I guess I need to remove the old hard drive and get some sort of enclosure or case so I can grab these files. Can anyone point me in the right direction with this? Thanks |
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BlacX Sata adapter at NewEgg. At many BestBuys as well. ETA: With all respect to the poster above me, I've tried several of the adapters he mentioned. Many of them dont work with Vista, and they stop working fairly quickly. No offense, but they aren't reliable when the chips are on the table. YMMV, mine was consistent. |
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You are on the right track. One of the first things you will need to know is if the drive is IDE, SCSI, or SATA. Which are gray ribbon cable, gray ribbon cable with _tiny_ wires and usually blue ends, or red "giant phone cord" cable respectively. Pull the old drive out (and stop trying to boot the old comp, just pull the sound, video, memory and network card and dump the rest you could damage your drive doing that) and examine the drive to figure out what kind it is. Then search "drive enclosure" on Amazon.com or Newegg.com knowing you can get what you need. I use a Thermaltake SATA drive holder that has a top load quick release on it. Then I just buy as many drives as needed. It runs USB and eSATA connectors to any PC, laptop, or Mac. Only cost about $40. You could also get a dedicated enclosure and just use the same drive in the box. (You will have to do this if it's IDE or SCSI drive.) Those are all USB, and should range in price from $30 to $100. |
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I just pulled the old drive out and put it into my new machine in one of the empty spaces. The only problem I have is that the motherboard sees the old one first and will reboot to that (after an update) instead of the new drive, despite the appropriate slave/master pin settings. But all my files are there and available. |
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Quoted: You can set the option for which drive it boots from in most BIOS's.I just pulled the old drive out and put it into my new machine in one of the empty spaces. The only problem I have is that the motherboard sees the old one first and will reboot to that (after an update) instead of the new drive, despite the appropriate slave/master pin settings. But all my files are there and available. |
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Quoted:
all you need right here no mess no fuss http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Adapter-Converter-Optical-External/dp/B002OV1VJW I have the gray ribbon cable in my old dell. The link that DT posted looks like all i hve to do is remove the drive, and plug in the power adapted and plug a usb cable to my new comp. True? |
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Quoted:
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You can set the option for which drive it boots from in most BIOS's.
I just pulled the old drive out and put it into my new machine in one of the empty spaces. The only problem I have is that the motherboard sees the old one first and will reboot to that (after an update) instead of the new drive, despite the appropriate slave/master pin settings. But all my files are there and available. This. Go into your bios, and change the boot priority to the proper hard drive. You should be able to google how to get into bios, but its usually by holding delete, or f10. |
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Quoted:
I just pulled the old drive out and put it into my new machine in one of the empty spaces. The only problem I have is that the motherboard sees the old one first and will reboot to that (after an update) instead of the new drive, despite the appropriate slave/master pin settings. But all my files are there and available. I just did this and works great. Thanks |
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Quoted: Quoted: I just pulled the old drive out and put it into my new machine in one of the empty spaces. The only problem I have is that the motherboard sees the old one first and will reboot to that (after an update) instead of the new drive, despite the appropriate slave/master pin settings. But all my files are there and available. I just dis this and works great. Thanks NP <tips hat> Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: You can set the option for which drive it boots from in most BIOS's.The only problem I have is that the motherboard sees the old one first and will reboot to that (after an update) instead of the new drive, despite the appropriate slave/master pin settings. But all my files are there and available. This. Go into your bios, and change the boot priority to the proper hard drive. You should be able to google how to get into bios, but its usually by holding delete, or f10. I tried that - when I go into the boot menu, the old drive shows up with an (S) after it, and the new OEM drive shows up with a (M), but the old one is higher on the list than the new one. Lemme see if I can fix it. ETA - got it. Had to go back through to "hard drive priorities" and hit P/U a few times. 
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Quoted: It's the little things that make you wonder why it was so hard the first time ...Quoted: Quoted: I just pulled the old drive out and put it into my new machine in one of the empty spaces. The only problem I have is that the motherboard sees the old one first and will reboot to that (after an update) instead of the new drive, despite the appropriate slave/master pin settings. But all my files are there and available. I just dis this and works great. Thanks NP <tips hat> Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: You can set the option for which drive it boots from in most BIOS's.The only problem I have is that the motherboard sees the old one first and will reboot to that (after an update) instead of the new drive, despite the appropriate slave/master pin settings. But all my files are there and available. This. Go into your bios, and change the boot priority to the proper hard drive. You should be able to google how to get into bios, but its usually by holding delete, or f10. I tried that - when I go into the boot menu, the old drive shows up with an (S) after it, and the new OEM drive shows up with a (M), but the old one is higher on the list than the new one. Lemme see if I can fix it. ETA - got it. Had to go back through to "hard drive priorities" and hit P/U a few times. DAMHIKT (- Don't ask me how I know this.)  |
