old hard drive to new computer

[TorcidaSplit]

Hi everyone.

My older computer has recently gone kaput and I'm looking to buying parts for a new one to put it together. Sort of a noob question though, but is it possible to run my old SATA hard drive straight through my new computer? I'm not looking to buy a new hard drive at the moment because I don't "own" a copy of Windows XP to run it from, but I'd like to know if my operating system will run from my old hard drive?

I hope you can piece together what I'm asking. I'm kind of in a panic because I have a university essay on that hard drive that I need printed, and I'm trying to find a simple approach to it..

Thanks a lot!

 

[Ð88]

No. Not immediately. There's some cleanup and preparation before you can go ahead and boot from it. The new hardware will mess it up because the old drivers are installed (drivers for your old computer hardware). You can, however, just plug it in and access it if you're booting from another hard drive that's set up for your new computer.

 

[TorcidaSplit]

No. Not immediately. There's some cleanup and preparation before you can go ahead and boot from it. The new hardware will mess it up because the old drivers are installed (drivers for your old computer hardware). You can, however, just plug it in and access it if you're booting from another hard drive that's set up for your new computer.

Yeah, but that newer hard drive will need a clean installation of Windows XP in order to even access the older one?

Thank you for your quick answer!

 

[Grantofhell]

Tricky Situation.

Yes, you will need an OS to access the files on the old drive which is tough because most computers that people (like me) have just lying around have no support for new interfaces like S-ATA. See if you can find a friend that will let you use their computer to dock yours for a moment and clone it. If not, I'm sure a place like BestBuy can clone drives for you.

I recommend SeaTools at Seagate.com - Though I don't know if it will support cloning non-SeaGate drives. I cloned my old WD with it, but I cloned TO a new SeaGate.

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...toid=d0d51d4dad651110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD

^^^^ SeaTools link. Install it on a working harddrive with your new and your old harddrive installed as well. Somewhere on the program is a cloning tool. Just follow its instructions and make sure to set the correct drives lest ye clone to the wrong drives :9. I wish you much luck.

Grantofhell :d

 

[Tommy Boy]

You need to get hold of a Windows XP disc and do a repair install. Doesn't matter if you don't own one, you can borrow any XP disc and use it as long as it's the right version for you (home or pro).