Community Newsletter: Q&A forum: 9/16/05 Moving your old hard drive to a new computer

Charly...... an exelent answer... simple but efective ...easy to read and follow.... I am just about to get a new computer and this explanation will make it a brease.... thanks for a job well done.... Diego A

see my post "how it works" for a solution, a sub-post to "using old drive externally".

Sirzak

If you have network cards or can borrow a couple, you could network the two computers together and transfer all your data through the network. I use Ghost to backup both my laptop hard drive and 2 desktop computers to each other through my network. It can be a bit slow, but well worth the wait. Then if any of my drives fail I can safely buy a new hard drive and re-ghost all the info back onto the new drive through the network. I don't have to remove any drives or open any machines. Hope this helps.

Thanks for this info Charlie. I just did this yesterday and today I got this e mail. I did it just like you said although I was a day ahead of your post. Still it didn't work. I had to take it to the shop and have them put it in. My new computer is a cheap-o and there was no bay for my extra drive. I did get it hooked up but windows said hard drive failure was imminent. The drive was working fine in my old computer so I don't know what happened to it. i changed the jumper settings and it still wouldn't boot. I have to pick it up today. guess I'll get the bad news maybe.
Donna

Another alternative is to pull the old hard drive from the old computer and purchase an ide to usb adapter (availagle from cyberguys.com @$65) then you have a portable storage device for use on any computer

Hello Charlie,

Both your answer and those of the others that posted here are great for taking the old drive and ADDING it to the new PC, either with all data on it or emptied (just for storage).

Let's not forget however that sometimes (maybe not in this specific case) one may wish not to throw away all the history of software installed & carefully configured & upgraded over the years (or go through the whole process anew, assuming this is even possible!)

An interesting variation of the initial question would than be: how do you take your old drive (or a clone of it, on a physical newer drive) and install it on the new machine (with all its new hardware ...), while keeping your applications running as if nothing happened in between?

In the "old days" of DOS, Win3x & Win9x this proposition seemed to be "the normal" thing to do: just move the drive to the new PC, start in Safe mode (if we are talking Windows and not DOS), delete some old drivers & install a few new drivers, and ... presto, you're done!

How does one manage all that in the new days of Win2K & WinXP with all their Plug-and-Play (or is it Plug-and-Pray?), that should make things easier?

I for one, am still looking for a viable answer; anyone who can help will probably do a great favor to the whole community

Best to all,

Eric

Good answer, Charlie!

Related question if you're willing. What about moving just the stuff ON that hard drive?!?

I want to take a small, 10 gig drive, install an 80 gig drive, clean install XP, and then transfer everything and it's daughter directory over to the new drive. I also want all the software to work properly, etc.

Is this fantasy? Can I do it without simply copying the bad ole drive byte by byte?

I really don't want to do that as the original drive came as OEM with Win98 installed and has been updated to Win2K and then to XP. The inherited garbage and the foibles that occur from multiple updates are more than the current user can stomach. Sudden memory dumps, crashes, all unexplained and inconsistent.

Thanks in advance.

DeanThom

Was there an answer to the question about access to transferred OE folders in the new HD?

Alternatively, I wonder if it is possible to take out the old HD, mount it in a $30 USB2 5.25'' HD enclosure and then plug it into a USB2 port on the new computer? Will it be recognized as just another removable drive? The fact it has an operating system, my case, XP Home, would that create any problems?

My intention is to transfer data from it to the new computer, not to ever run the OS on it.

That was a very detailed and accurate description but did I miss where you told him that all of the settings in the OS that match the old computer are going to be wrong on the new one?

Charly, I think the question regarded the possibility of using the old hard drive as is, with all the programs and settings etc. Just adding the old drive as second hard drive without the possibility of using the programs installed in it, is a banal problem.
In any case if this was not the original question, it is my question.
Thanks
Daniel

Dude you people don't even read do you? You can not run the programs, when they install, they include registry settings that your new PC doesnt have. You just can't run the files, you need to rebuild the registtry entries.

I agree. Not to carry any brief for MS but I have had an experience where I actually had broken the install discs, called MS (same number as the numer for activation) told them my tale of woe and paid $25.00 I think and they sent me new discs AND installing them I had to get a new authentication #. bu tother than that it worked out. You had a leagal copy of office andall you want for xmas is excel????? Hmmmmmmm.

PC relocator (was known as aloha bob and was shareware and faiyl highly regarded for a whilecnow it's sold in stores but I 've not used it. Supposedly though it addresses the issues of programs scattering their ancillart files all over your C-drive and backtracks to pick them all up and reinstall appropriately. (that addresses the issue that the knucklehead in the previous post was alluding to, and presumably what you pay for (if you bought it, or downloaded and old shareware copy) with this program utility.
ggood

Thank you for the detailed info on the question of moving old HD. I may use this for a different situation.
OR maybe I'm going down the wrong path.
I get a message from my system when booting up that my HD might be in danger of failing. To back up all data and replace the HD.
I have put all data into "my documents" and I created a "briefcase" on another networked off location computer. I guess I will be ok. I received my new HD and read your response. Now I am wondering if I can just put in a new HD (NTFS) with a new XP installation and just run programs and data off the old (fat32) system. I also wondered if I could/should use my unused copy of GHOST 2002 to transfer anything, or is MS just as effective??

With external USB 2.0 hard drive cases available for less than $50, it makes sense to me to take the old hard drive and use it in an external case. Plug it into the USB port on the new computer. It will be recognized and be immediatly available for use.

First task should be to run a virus check on the drive -- just in case.

The old drive becomes a great backup device or even a repository for all those digital pictures. Quick, easy, and cost effective.