changing hard drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jamal
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Jamal

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If i put it in another cpu with a burner can i pop it in there and get them on cd than switch everything back?
 
Jamal,
what exactly are you talking about? did i miss the beginning of this thread?
andy
 
sorry bout that I was rushing. what I was trying to say was, I have a computer with some songs that i have made in it. Can I take that hard drive out of that computer and put it in another computer with out losing any information on the drive?
 
I'd seriously consider getting some backup medium. CD-RW or tape or something. Hard drives can fry at any time, with no warning at all.

But, as for your question.

If you mean, install the hard drive as master, and boot up to your old operating system. Well you could, but the new hardware in that machine will be redetected, and probably cause you a lot of grief.

You could hook your drive up as a slave drive on the primary master, or as a master or slave on the secondary IDE port and transfer the files off your old drive, to the other drive in the machine.
 
Emeric said:


You could hook your drive up as a slave drive on the primary master, or as a master or slave on the secondary IDE port and transfer the files off your old drive, to the other drive in the machine.

how do i go about doing that?
 
"I have a computer with some songs that i have made in it. Can I take that hard drive out of that computer and put it in another computer with out losing any information on the drive?"

jamal,
my answer to that is, if your really careful and take proper precautions like using a grounding strap on your wrist while doing the computer work and you dont smack the hard drive around, everything should go ok. as long you dont erase what you want off of your old hard drive, once you put it in another computer, itll still be the same computer, just in a different case. its really no big deal changing hard drives.
andy
 
Spacedye is right

Folloe spacedye's instruction... by the way it helps to have the computer you are transfering in the room. Good luck.

Heretic
 
IMHO, your SAFEST solution would be to make the hard drive that has your songs on it the way Emeric mentioned. Either make it the SLAVE drive off same cable as the existing MASTER drive which would be on the first IDE port, OR make it either slave or master on the second IDE port. Since it would be on the second IDE port, being master or slave doesn't matter.

I have had to many hard drives become unbootable by simply replacing it as the master drive in another PC. Upon bootup, the OS will want to reconfigure it to match the Motherboard specs along with all other devices in that PC. I'm not saying it wouldn't work, but the chances are greater to have the problems I just mentioned. I'm no expert, but believe me, I have had this problem more times than it has worked. If it were me, I'd go with the slave drive scenario or the 2nd IDE port scenario.
 
Right with you Rdub!!

Definitely go the slave route. The machine I'm running now started its life as a 386 10 - 15 years ago. I know from experience that swapping a hard drive into another computer as the BOOT drive is a very messy proposal and should be avoided by anyone who hasn't been elbow deep in a computer before. But mounted as a slave drive you'll easily be able to access your music files without hassle.

To install the drive as a slave you have to select the setting from some jumper pins on the back of the drive. There are usually three different selections Master, Slave, and Cable Select. Make sure that the boot drive of the machine that you're transferring into is already set for master. Set the music drive to slave. Hook up the second connector on the IDE ribbon cable to the drive (Making sure that the red stripe on the ribbon cable goes to pin one on the drive, you should be able to copy the orientation on the boot drive that's already connected). If you start the computer up and the drive LED comes on and stays on, you know you've got it reversed. Hook up the power connector.

When you turn on the machine you have to change a couple setting in the BIOS. Most times you just hit delete when the computer prompts you during post. Now just arrow down to the Primary slave drive, and using the page up & page down keys, select auto detect. Hit F10 to save and exit, and you should be in business.

That was all pretty quick... if you have any questions feel free to ask.
 
but he may not be able to hook up a 2nd hard drive if the computer in question doesnt have enough power supply cords.
 
He should be able to go buy a "Y" power adapter that will give more power plugs. Might even need two of'em.
 
Well....

I've switched computers a number of times, as well as switching hard drives. You can go the Slave route, but then you won't have the same apps already installed that you did on your old system. If all you're looking to do is transfer files, then don't bother even installing your old HD... just hook it up as a slave for a few minutes and dump the files onto your new drive,.. but if you want to keep using your old drive, it is entirely possible to use the old HD as your new master drive. Simply uninstall most of your detected items (video, sound, blah blah blah)... shut the computer down, pull the drive, put it in the new computer and boot it up... it will then re-detect the new hardware on the new computer and you can start using it again as if nothing had ever happened. Now,... if you run into any problems with the O/S (I assume you're using Windows) then you can run the repair disk and clean up any loose ends, but otherwise, it should go fairly smoothly. I just did this about 5 days ago and I now have a brand new computer with all new components using my old 40GB drive that I've been using for a year now... I didn't have to loose a single app or file. It is definiately possible... but like I said... if all you're looking to do is save a couple of files, then using your old drive just isn't worth it. Just back em up to CD or connect the drive just long enough to dump the files off of it.

WATYF
 
This thread is an excellant illustration why you should always use two hard drives. Keep the operating system on your boot drive, install all your programs there, keep your swap file there, but keep all DATA on the second drive. If you do that, moving your data drive arround is a piece of cake.

And grounding straps are for sissies :D
 
hey....
i think he just called me a sissy....
LOL!!!!
yes, this thread has gone on toooo long..

but the dual hard drive system is the system that i use and it is the intelligent system.
 
I used to always leave the old XT power supplys plugged in (and turned off) to give the case a good ground point for me to short myself to). Boy was I surprised when a burst of smoke and sparks erupted from my mobo while changing a card while hooked up to a plugged in ATX supply. Didn't take long to figure out what happend after I thought about it minute.

Bummer...
 
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