Transferring data from hard drive to another computer

[torinsmom]

So, I have several desktops that need to be reformatted. I haven't done this because there is data on the hard drives that I don't want to lose. Someone posted this link on a thread for a device that you can hook up to laptop hard drive and then to another computer through a USB. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817334014

Does anyone know if this will work with a desktop hard drive or are those different?

Marsha

 

[jsmith]

its a 2.5 inch enclosure-depending on the age of your desktops they maybe larger than that. Also-if the hard drive you are removing from you desktop has an operating system-particularly windows on it-and the computer you are planing on attaching the enclosure to has an OS-you will get some conflicts. there are a number of solutions to your issue-the easiest is to purchase a external Usb hard drive large enough to store all the files you want to save and then us it to back up ALL the files you want to save. You can use an enclosure-but if you are going to reformat the drives so the computers can be used again-it doesnt really make sense because hard drives are fragile and moving them in and out of carriers isnt really good for them. You can also simplely give the computer whose data you want to save and the computer you want to save it on compatible static IP addresses and connect them with an ethernet cable and move the files from one to the other.-no cost incurred-and its pretty simple.

 

[torinsmom]

its a 2.5 inch enclosure-depending on the age of your desktops they maybe larger than that. Also-if the hard drive you are removing from you desktop has an operating system-particularly windows on it-and the computer you are planing on attaching the enclosure to has an OS-you will get some conflicts. there are a number of solutions to your issue-the easiest is to purchase a external Usb hard drive large enough to store all the files you want to save and then us it to back up ALL the files you want to save. You can use an enclosure-but if you are going to reformat the drives so the computers can be used again-it doesnt really make sense because hard drives are fragile and moving them in and out of carriers isnt really good for them. You can also simplely give the computer whose data you want to save and the computer you want to save it on compatible static IP addresses and connect them with an ethernet cable and move the files from one to the other.-no cost incurred-and its pretty simple.

COuple of questions--HOw can I get the info on the bad computer onto an external hard drive? The computers will not get beyond the screen that tells you the system has failed.

Can you explain the last process? Is this something you could do with "dead" computer?

Marsha

 

[FireDancer]

The easiest way would be to pull the drives out of the bad machines and make them slave drives on a good computer. A slave drive doesn't boot so you won't have to worry about the OS on them. They act as a data drive and provided they work you can just drag and drop the data off of them. You probably don't need to do anything more than open the bad computer, remove the drives, install them in the new computer. I will go out on a limb and guess that the drives, especially in the older computers, are all IDE/ATA which means you only have to make sure the drive jumpers are set correctly.

If you just want to get the data off of the old computer without removing anything you can get a CD bootable Linux distro like Knoppix or Ubuntu and just boot into the OS and use an external drive or USB key. Here is a list of Live CD Linux distributions.

 

[Imzadi]

I bought 32GB flash drives from buy.com. I loaded all my files onto them and simply transfered them over to the new computer. The flash drive is now my back up for files.

 

[torinsmom]

I bought 32GB flash drives from buy.com. I loaded all my files onto them and simply transfered them over to the new computer. The flash drive is now my back up for files.

I'd love to do that, but the computers in question are not booting up. I don't think I can get the info off without taking the hard drive out.


So, there should be an extra spot for a second drive on my desktop--is that what you mean by a slave drive?

Marsha

 

[jsmith]

yes thats what he meant by a slave drive-in windows essentially another partition of the hard drive-and then you just drag the info to where you wanted. Im sorry i didnt take from your first post that the computer was "dead"-you said they needed reformatted but i generally reload an OS before the system quits booting so i didnt think of it that way.
I would use one of the solutions firedancer suggests or take a ghost image of the drive and copy the files i wanted out of the image-but ghosting requires some special software. Any of the solutions we are presenting assume that the drive itself has not gone bad-which is a possiblity. The best one for you is probably removing the drive from the original computer and installing it as a slave in the good computer.

 

[torinsmom]

yes thats what he meant by a slave drive-in windows essentially another partition of the hard drive-and then you just drag the info to where you wanted. Im sorry i didnt take from your first post that the computer was "dead"-you said they needed reformatted but i generally reload an OS before the system quits booting so i didnt think of it that way.
I would use one of the solutions firedancer suggests or take a ghost image of the drive and copy the files i wanted out of the image-but ghosting requires some special software. Any of the solutions we are presenting assume that the drive itself has not gone bad-which is a possiblity. The best one for you is probably removing the drive from the original computer and installing it as a slave in the good computer.

Yeah, when I turn on the computer, a black screen comes on and tells me there is a fault or something to that effect. In my experience, that means it has crashed and needs to be reformatted.

Marsha

 

[FireDancer]

Yeah, when I turn on the computer, a black screen comes on and tells me there is a fault or something to that effect. In my experience, that means it has crashed and needs to be reformatted.

Marsha

Maybe, but not necessarily. It might be that the boot sector has become corrupted or the Master Boot Record erased. Both can be fixed but booting into the recovery console and running in order:

fixboot
fixmbr

This has curred about 80% of the boot issues I have had. Another option is to run a utility called SpinRite.

If it is a boot sector error than loading the drive into another computer as a slave would fix it. So would booting to a disc image like I mentioned above. Both of these require a little above average computer skill so it might require a call to a computer savvy friend.

The only time a disc is unrecoverable is usually a physical error that keeps the drive from spinning correctly or a ferric problem that keeps the disc head from tracking. If the disk spins and every about 5 seconds you hear the heads trying to retract and recenter you have the latter. Other than a quick spell in the freezer to try and correct the magnetic problems (don't laugh, it works) the only option is forensic recovery which is usually cost prohibitive.

From what you have said so far it seems your data is there, it just might be a bit harder than average to get it off the drives.

 

[torinsmom]

Maybe, but not necessarily. It might be that the boot sector has become corrupted or the Master Boot Record erased. Both can be fixed but booting into the recovery console and running in order:

fixboot
fixmbr

This has curred about 80% of the boot issues I have had. Another option is to run a utility called SpinRite.

If it is a boot sector error than loading the drive into another computer as a slave would fix it. So would booting to a disc image like I mentioned above. Both of these require a little above average computer skill so it might require a call to a computer savvy friend.

The only time a disc is unrecoverable is usually a physical error that keeps the drive from spinning correctly or a ferric problem that keeps the disc head from tracking. If the disk spins and every about 5 seconds you hear the heads trying to retract and recenter you have the latter. Other than a quick spell in the freezer to try and correct the magnetic problems (don't laugh, it works) the only option is forensic recovery which is usually cost prohibitive.

From what you have said so far it seems your data is there, it just might be a bit harder than average to get it off the drives.

How do I boot into recovery to try that?

 

[FireDancer]

How do I boot into recovery to try that?

Insert the Windows disc that you hopefully have. Even if it isn't the version on the computer that is fine. When the Windows installer loads you should see an option to install a new instance or repair an existing one. When you see this will depend on the version. If you select repair you should be given two options, emergency recovery or recovery console. Choose recovery console (usually by pressing R) and you will get what appears to be a DOS screen. Select the Windows OS you want to repair, it will most likely be the only one there, and enter the administrator password. Run the two commands.

I always use a Windows 2000 disk even for XP or Vista because I know the fixboot and fixmbr programs on the disc work quite well.

Good luck.

 

[airhead]

Just wanted to make a comment. I'm so impressed with the computer knowledge here on the DIS!!!!!!!! LOL!!!

 

[torinsmom]

Yeah, me too! I just wish 1/2 of it was mine

Marsha