Windows 10 and XP

[Lil Frier]

Just got asked this and didn't know off-hand, wondered if someone else could answer for me.

My dad's friend has a PC running Windows XP. He said the HDD is about to go out (or possibly has). Given that XP and 10 are both NTFS, would it be possible to connect the XP drive to a W10 machine and grab the desired information off of it? It was just the first thought I had to save stuff before the drive went in the toilet, but I didn't know if W10 would read stuff from the XP-carrying drive.

If not, anyone got an idea of a good solution to the problem? The files will eventually need brought forward to a newer version of Windows (I assume 10).

 

[mikeymikec]

No problem.

 

[Elixer]

Assuming the HD still works, yeah, you can do that.
If the HD is throwing SMART errors, it is better to clone that HD ASAP with ddrescue, and then work with the cloned drive.
If the HD doesn't work, then nope, you can't do anything with it, except send it to the pros for major $$$ to recover what they can.

 

[JackMDS]

Old XP ia probably IDE, New computer would be SATA!!!

In any case you are much better off copying the Files to Flash Drives first, then Flash drive to new computer.

By doing so you would have also BackUp (Flash drive).

 

[mikeymikec]

Assuming the HD still works, yeah, you can do that.
If the HD is throwing SMART errors, it is better to clone that HD ASAP with ddrescue, and then work with the cloned drive.

Surely taking the time to read an entire disk off is more risky than copying only the data one needs?

Old XP ia probably IDE, New computer would be SATA!!!

You can buy external drive enclosures/docking bays with IDE and SATA connections.

 

[Lil Frier]

I'm not worrying about the interface yet, I'll figure that out later. My dad said it sounds like a bearing in the drive is going bad, so I assume it's working OK, maybe having some occasional issues, but it very noisy.

I'll get a hold of him and give it a try, or have him do it (since we both have W10 PCs to try with). I don't know how much data needs saved, so the idea of a flash drive is good, but I can't verify I have one big enough for what needs saved. However, I have 3 drives running in my PC (1 SSD, 2 HDD), and one of the 2 HDDs is essentially empty, so I'll probably just throw the stuff onto that drive to keep it away from my stuff.

Cloning was (erroneously) mentioned, but doesn't make sense here. There's no plan to restore the PC and OS as-is, so I don't see a benefit in cloning an XP machine's drive to move the pertinent data onto a W10 (or 7/8) one. I'm just going to start grabbing files off of it, probably just needs me to save pictures and work documents (he does work from home).

Thanks for the assistance, glad there's hope to get it taken care of. Wish me luck in saving it!

 

[JackMDS]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pny-turbo-256gb-usb-3-0-flash-drive-black-gray/8052124.p?skuId=8052124