How do I put the hard drive from pc into another?

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Hi everybody,
I'm new to posting on this site but I decided to after another member had the same problem as me.

The thing is, I need to take the hard drive out of my gateway 500 computer which I bought in 1997 or 1999 (not sure) and put it into another desktop pc I have but I'm unsure as to how to go about it. Can any hard drive go into any pc?? if so could somebody give me some tips or a link which would give me a step by step guide?

 

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bigbang,

What is the make and model of the hard drive in the "gateway 500 computer?"

 

Well the drive is going to be IDE for starters. Most modern systems still have IDE interfaces, but tend to use SATA for the hard drives. If you have such a system then it's just a case of connecting up the drive to the IDE interface, and checking that the drive is recognised in the BIOS.

Another easier way of getting the data off it would be to buy a 3.5" IDE Hard drive enclosure / caddy. Pop the drive into that and then you can plug it in via USB and pull whatever data off it that you need.

Something like this would do the job, and it's only £14.00.

You could also use a kit like this which is even cheaper. That will allow you to connect any IDE or SATA drive and access it via USB.

 

THis will show you how to install and IDE hard drive http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading/install-hard-drive.htm

You need to take some things into consideration like does the hard drive you are taking out of the old pc has an operating system on it.

do you need to format the drive or is it just a drive with data on it etc.

If it's just a drive with some data on it then you can just put it in, but if it's got the operating system on then this could cause issues and would most likely need formatted.

 

How do you know if the hard drive has a operating system on it or not?

 

Does the computer with the hard drive have windows on it, if this is the only hard drive in that computer then it will have an operating system i.e Windows on it.

 

.... and don't bank on it working by just putting it into another PC.

Sounds like you should really be taking it to a professional to look at, especially if there's data on it you don't want to lose.

 

Formatted?? Noooo.

The key here is to make sure that you don't interfere with the boot drive.. the boot.ini file tells the computer which operating system to boot from, which IDE channel and the correct partition, so as long as you don't mess with the original hard drive cabling, you can put any drive in a computer to retrieve data from, whether it has an OS on it or not.

 

Yes you are correct, I was asumming though that the OP was taking this hard drive out and replacing it with the one in the other machine.

 

I agree, if you really don't know what your doing. Take it to a local computer shop who can do it for you.

 

I think the best suggestion so far is to buy an external hard drive caddy, stick it in there and plug it into your computer via USB. They don't cost much on Amazon.co.uk. I got an Icybox from there - has worked really well.
Just make sure you get an IDE one not a SATA - (I assume because you have an old HDD, it will be IDE) - or you could get one that will allow either interface - might be a bit more expensive though.

I have a drive in my Icybox with an old XP install, cant be bothered to wipe it, and it sits connected to my Linux box - whether the OS is there or not - it makes no difference.

Of course, if you *really* dont know what you are doing, take it to someone who does ;)

 

Already linked to two devices which will do the job. The latter will connect to any IDE or SATA (2.5 & 3.5").