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Hi all, i need a wee hand.
right my old computer died on me so i got a new one, the old computer uses windows XP pro and the new one, XP Home and i really need the info from the old hard drive. I have tried to setup the old HD as a slave but it doesn't work, i've tried to make it the master but that doesn't seem to work due to a difference in the BIOS i think.
How to i get the info from an old hard drive into the new bigger hard drive?
1) your new pc will not boot off the old hard drive because of driver differences especially if the new one has a new mainboard.
2) Setting up as a slave drive sometimes causes problems if the other drive is set to cable select, check the new drive is set to master. You should be able to boot the new pc and see both drives.
to avoid jumper setting set the master and slave hard drive in diffrent calbe, for the time remove cd-dvd from the MB and use separate cable for both hard drive.
to make work faster check in CMOS for the hard drive before booting windows.
Hi Andy,
Does the new computer even recognise that the old HDD is there?
You said that your old computer "died".......... have you tried putting the HDD from the new computer in there? OK you will get problems because of the different Windows and hardware, but does it boot?
If I had the machine in front of me I would stick a boot CD into it (Ubuntu or whatever)........... if that booted then it is your hard drive that has died, not the PC ;)
nah defo the pc, and i cant put in me current HD as the old CPU is offski. when i put the old drive in as the master i get a message cant remember what it is though, i'l have to check when i finish work.
Andy ... try to provide more info in the future for us (ppl who'll help you)
1. Are they both IDE drives (new systems use SATA) ?
2. Are you using same IDE channel? (You can try to set up the old one as "secondary master")
3. Is the old one recognized in BIOS at all?
4. Have you tried using Live Linux CD (knoppix, ubuntu) (like nihil mentioned)
the firmware is different, is that a problem?
old one 3.93
new one 3.06
what firmware???
:rolleyes:
More info is needed
MLF
Well,
My first question would be how do you know that the old HDD is still functional.......... check that, or have it done for you...............
If the old machine died as far as the CPU........... there is a good chance that the HDD went south on the same waggon train?
;)
to be honest i know nothing about IDE's and ATA's etc but i remember hearing somewhere that if the firmware isn't the same as the one your operating system uses, it can cause problems, is that true?
well possibly it did, the whole thing ran as slowly as possible, maybe a virus i dont know but it was working on the last day before i took it out.
OK Andy,
The first step is to see if we can get the old drive recognised by the BIOS.
Set it up as a slave (it should have a jumper switch?) and attach it to the second slot on the ribbon cable (the one half way along). If your primary drive does not have a jumper (some don't these days) then you will probably be best off setting the old drive to CS (cable select).
Boot into "setup" (BIOS) and on the first page you should see your basic system details which will include the drives that BIOS has detected.
Does it report that the slave drive is there? If it doesn't there should be an option down the bottom to "autodetect drives".......... please run that.
If that doesn't work, there should be an option for manual settings........you could try adding it manually?..............you will need to tell it the same information as you see for the master drive, but that apply to the old drive (capacity cylinders etc.) You should be able to find them on the label on the drive.
Incidentally, what was the message you got when you tried to install the old drive as "master"?
EDIT: In answer to your question, the "firmware" should not matter. Your BIOS should recognise your hardware before your operating system loads.
Whilst firmware can be an issue with running or managing hardware from within your operating system, it is not used by your BIOS.
magic guys, it works.. cant think why it never the last time.. strange, have got my files and i am now in the middle of formatting it.
thanks again!