recovering data from old hard drive

[imaprofiler]

Hello,

Just built new pc. My old one died (probably bad psu, but didn't really care to find out). Assuming that the data is still intact, I want to retrieve some of the files from my old drive (Seagate sata 120 gb). Windows XP is currently installed on old drive.

I plan to do a new windows xp install on my new sata drive, and then connect the old drive in order to access the data. After I retrieve the files that I want, I'll then use the old one as a secondary drive. (Again, if possible. If you have suggestions for this that would be great too.)

Will someone share the best approach for accomplishing this? My new build is in my sig if it matters. New drive is a SAtA 2, and the older one is SATA if that is important.

I hope someone can understand my goals and help with the matter.

Thanks

 

[Tarrant64]

You are already on the right track. You can mount the hard drive as a secondary drive(make sure you have the proper permissions to get the files you need should you get the "access denied" error). Once this is done, you can go ahead and go to the Computer Management console(located in Administrative Tools, I think). I'm on my Mac right now so I can't check it right away.
Once there, go ahead and reformat the hard drive(as NTFS) and you're good to go.

 

[imaprofiler]

Great! Just so that I'm clear...

Should I only connect the new SATA2 drive for the initial boot and OS install, and then connect the old drive after everything is up and running?

And, will it matter that one drive is SATA2 and the other SATA? I"m guessing that since my OS will be on the faster drive that using the slower for storage won't matter, but I don't know for sure. Thoughts?

Thanks so much for your reply. I'm ready and eager to get the new pc up and running.

 

[Tarrant64]

Ok, let's see...

Once your original drive is setup, you can just plug in the new drive(umm...SATA is supposed to be hot swappable?...shut it off and plug it in. ).
Windows should pick this up as a secondary drive and drag and drop from there. The speed differences of the hard drives won't cause any problems.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: imaprofiler
Great! Just so that I'm clear...

Should I only connect the new SATA2 drive for the initial boot and OS install, and then connect the old drive after everything is up and running? YES, that's correct. Assuming your old HD didn't get damaged, your motherboard will detect an OS on it; that could cause problems. Don't connect the old HD until Windows is up and running on the new HD.

And, will it matter that one drive is SATA2 and the other SATA? I"m guessing that since my OS will be on the faster drive that using the slower for storage won't matter, but I don't know for sure. Thoughts?Won't matter one bit. Install Windows on new HD, get files off old HD, reformat old HD.

Thanks so much for your reply. I'm ready and eager to get the new pc up and running.

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: imaprofiler
Should I only connect the new SATA2 drive for the initial boot and OS install, and then connect the old drive after everything is up and running?

Yep. That way you won't get confused about which drive you're installing on.

And, will it matter that one drive is SATA2 and the other SATA? I"m guessing that since my OS will be on the faster drive that using the slower for storage won't matter, but I don't know for sure. Thoughts?

Adhering to 'SATA 2' standards does not make the drive faster. It may be faster for other reasons, as it's newer, but not by much. Work it out - your average hard drive can push 50MB/s, or 400Mb/s, 'SATA 1' supports 1.5Gb while 'SATA 2' supports 3.0Gb, so both are well above what is needed for the drives.

 

[imaprofiler]

Thanks to all! Just tried to fire everything up and cpu fan not spinning.... It moved slightly but no spin Sigh....

It's always something, unless of course it's something else.

 

[mechBgon]

Ensure that you have your ATX12V cable hooked up. Square 4-pin plug with two yellow wires & two black wires. It's different from the 4-pin section of the 24-pin main ATX cable, so don't get them confused.

When you go to retrieve your stuff from your old drive, you will probably need to take Ownership of the \Documents and Settings\<your account name> directory in order to get into it. Holler if you need help with that.

 

[Tarrant64]

My class is out, but I should be back on within the next 30 minutes or so. If you don't have it up and running by then, I will be back to help troubleshoot. Others here should be helping too...

 

[imaprofiler]

It's spinning now. Does the C2 duo 6700 spin up with a delay. Just a second or so delay?

Either way it's working now. I'll be watching it though. Thanks for your help.

 

[Tarrant64]

When you say spin up, you mean the HSF, right? (heat sink fan). I dont' know how the Core 2 Duo's work because honestly I haven't personally owned an Intel processor. Only ones I work with well, are at work. I do know though, that with the AMD X2 processors(probably 939 too), when you boot them up it has auto sensing to the temperatures and will adjust fan speed for that. Maybe I'm losing my mind.

 

[imaprofiler]

I think it is taking a sec to set fan speed. It's running fine now. I am accustomed to seeing my previous hs fans spin immediately at power up.

My guess is that your mind is o.k. Relatively speaking of course