copying files from old XP machine that won't boot to new Vista mac

G

Guest

My motherboard on my old XP,,apparenly has issues..It gets power but will
never turn on,,fan spins briefly then dies. But it is older so I don't mind
and my upgrade will be in next week,,with Vista.

Can I run the file transfer wizard from the new Vista box via usb cable to
the old pc even if I can't boot it up?
It gets power,,the LAN port works etc..

I want to move over some docs, pics, pst files,,some software .exe
programs,,bookmarks..etc...I don't need the settings of these apps,,,I can
re-install on Vista...Can this be done even if I can't boot the old pc,,will
Vista on the box still "see" it? Or does the old machine need to be able to
set the fiiles up in a ceratin way for the new Vista box to bring them over?
If this can't be done,,what can I do to get the files/data off the old xp
hard drive over to my new Vista box?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

thanks
Joe
 
D

Don

JoeB said:
My motherboard on my old XP,,apparenly has issues..It gets power but will
never turn on,,fan spins briefly then dies...
Click to expand...

I can't answer the question you asked, but it's possible that part of
power supply went bad. You might be able to rescue the whole machine
by replacing the power supply. And they're relatively cheap.
 
G

Guest

thanks,,I had thought of doing that,,but it is an older pc and my new vista
machine will be in 2 days and I want to get those files over sooner than
later. Would the belkin cable transfer work if I can only get the vista
machine to boot up. The other machine when I plug it in,,the fan turns
briefly then stops,,the lan port lights are on and it works (still have
wireless with my laptop),,But the hd light on the front of the unit does not
light and pressing the power switch does nothing at all. This was just a
"wake up one moring and it happened thing" I wasn't messing with the cables
or anything. But I am excited about the new much much more powerful system I
have on the way,,I just want to get some important data off the old XP box.

thanks
Joe
 
D

Dave B.

How exactly are you going to transfer data from the old PC via USB if the
machine turn on?
This would be akin to driving your car when the engine won't start, of
course you can't.
You would need to install the old drive in the new PC as a slave and
manually copy the data to the new drive.

--
 
G

Guest

Very true dave,,I have read some posts elsewhere about the slave drive and
just drag and drop over to a folder on the new main drive..Looks like I will
be opening up the new PC when it comes and putting the old drive in there it
looks like. Anything I should be aware to make it sure it goes smoothly?
thanks much!!
Joe
 
D

Dave B.

Assuming your old drive is IDE and not SATA, the easiest way is to turn off
the new PC, unplug the data cable from the CD drives in the new PC and plug
it into the old hard drive, use one of the CD power cables to connect the
old drives power, boot up and copy away. Reverse procedure when your
finished.

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G

Guest

I want to do the same thing "JoeB" is trying. My problem is not as bad, but
it is a problem.

When I turn on my old computer, Window starts up normaly until you choose a
user. After that I get a blue screen with a black & white gateway box. No
icons, no task bar, no start---nothing. I can bring up the windows task
manager with Ctr+Alt+Del, but I don't know if that will let me access the
files I want to transfer.
 
G

Guest

awwww ok,,so don't even worry about mouting it inside the new box,,just
unplug one of cd/dvd drives and power the old drive with that power
cable..Upon reboot I am guessing that Vista will see that old drive ,,or do I
need to go into BIOS or anyting and set all drives to auto-detect..I really
appreciate the help!!

Joe
 
D

Dave B.

No need to permanently mount it unless your going to keep it in there.
Yes, make sure your BIOS is set to auto detect, most are by default. In
theory, Vista will detect and set up the new drive and assign a drive
letter.

--
----
Crosspost, do not multipost http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
How to ask a question http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
How to Post http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.db-pc.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
D

Don

Dave said:
Assuming your old drive is IDE and not SATA, the easiest way is to turn off
the new PC, unplug the data cable from the CD drives in the new PC and plug
it into the old hard drive, use one of the CD power cables to connect the
old drives power, boot up and copy away. Reverse procedure when your
finished.
Click to expand...

One minor point: if the new machine is equipped with two CD/DVD drives
on the same controller cable, they will be configured as master and
slave, or maybe as 'cable select'. The guest drive must be configured
the same way as the drive it's replacing. Check the jumper on the back
of the drives.
 
G

Guest

Thanks so much Dave. and yes , the new PC has two cd/dvd drivees. I will
check to see if they are on the same controller cable,,and once I remove the
old hard drive make sure to set it correctly,,hopefully just to slave.
Should have it done within about 5 days,,and we will see how it goes.

thanks
Joe
 
D

Dave B.

That's why I said unplug the cable from the CD drives (plural), no need to
worry about jumper settings then.

--
 
G

Guest

It is done,,Up running and all is well.
My new setup is not IDE contoller,,It is SATA..So for $40 I just went out
and got 3.5' external hard drive enclosure and moved all the data and now I
have my old hard drive which was fine as an externla backup. I am backing up
the image weekly to it with Acrons as we speak. So I accomplished two things:

- got my data over to Vista
- got an external HD for backup now

thanks!
Joe
 

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