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View Full Version : Old Hard Drive Data -> New Computer

MPClark
06-23-2006, 06:24 PM
Hey guys. Ok I used to have a Dell Inspiron 5150 and I had a power jack problem like everyone does with that piece... So instead of bothering with it anymore, I sold it on eBay and got a new Dell, a Dimension 3100, yes, a desktop :thumbdown ... Now I want to transfer some files from my hold hard drive, which I kept when I sold the laptop. So, I'm left with a brand-new computer, and a laptop hard drive will all my data on it. How do I get certian files off of it onto the new computer? I know many times HDs are used as external storage and that would be easy to just grab files off of. But this one has an operating system installed on it as well, and I wasn't sure if that would make things messy. Ideally I would buy a USB addapter for a HD, something like this [ http://www.pcmicrostore.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10502074 ], and just use USB cable to plug it in and transfer... Can I do that with the operating system and all the other components installed on the disk? I really appreciate the help, thanks!
Prosaic
06-24-2006, 12:01 AM
A device like that should work just fine for you to read your old laptop drive. Having a operating system on the drive shouldn't make any difference at all. When you plug it into the USB port on your desktop XP should immediately recognize it as a new device and give it a drive letter. You can then copy anything you want off of it.
MPClark
07-04-2006, 06:42 PM
Cool. So I got that adapter so I can run my laptop HD through USB. I can open most of the folders on the disk, however when I try to open my "Documents and Settings" folder, an error comes up that says "Access is denied." I believe this is because I had a password on my user name on the old computer. I tried booting the computer using this disk as the start-up device, but that did not work. Is there a program I can use, or some sort of folder settings I can change to allow me to move the files I'd like to? Thanks.
WeAreNotAlone
07-04-2006, 08:57 PM
Ok I used to have a Dell Inspiron 5150 and I had a power jack problem like everyone does with that piece... So instead of bothering with it anymore, I sold it on eBay.


I would assume you made the buyer aware of this problem?
MPClark
07-04-2006, 09:50 PM
Of course. I told them everything that was wrong and everything that I tried. I just thought that someone with more experience and patience would be able to make it a good computer again. I wouldn't have sold it if I thought otherwise.
WeAreNotAlone
07-08-2006, 04:14 PM
Of course. I told them everything that was wrong and everything that I tried. I just thought that someone with more experience and patience would be able to make it a good computer again. I wouldn't have sold it if I thought otherwise.

Glad to hear it as there are allot of people on this board that would not.