safe to use hard drive from fried computer?

[ccx42]

I recently had an old P200 fry on me when I turned it off. It made a
'pop' and smoke came out. From then on, pressing power did nothing. I
tried replacing the power supply to no avail, so I'm assuming the
motherboard is dead too.

I'd like to put it's hard drive into my new(er) computer, but am
worried that the hard drive may have been toasted as well. If this is
the case, is there a chance that it could damage my new computer?
Thanks!

 

[Arno Wagner]

I recently had an old P200 fry on me when I turned it off. It made a
'pop' and smoke came out. From then on, pressing power did nothing. I
tried replacing the power supply to no avail, so I'm assuming the
motherboard is dead too.

I'd like to put it's hard drive into my new(er) computer, but am
worried that the hard drive may have been toasted as well. If this is
the case, is there a chance that it could damage my new computer?

It could shorten out the PSU in your new computer. Whether that does
damage depends on a lot of factors, incuding whether the PSU in the
new computer is really short-circuit proof.

Arno

 

[Rod Speed]

I recently had an old P200 fry on me when I turned it off. It made a
'pop' and smoke came out. From then on, pressing power did nothing.
I tried replacing the power supply to no avail, so I'm assuming the
motherboard is dead too.

I'd like to put it's hard drive into my new(er) computer, but am
worried that the hard drive may have been toasted as well. If this is
the case, is there a chance that it could damage my new computer?

Very unlikely.

I wouldnt rely on it for data storage, it may have got
damaged by the original PC dying, but its unlikely to
damage your new one while you get the data off it etc.

 

[CJT]

I recently had an old P200 fry on me when I turned it off. It made a
'pop' and smoke came out. From then on, pressing power did nothing. I
tried replacing the power supply to no avail, so I'm assuming the
motherboard is dead too.

I'd like to put it's hard drive into my new(er) computer, but am
worried that the hard drive may have been toasted as well. If this is
the case, is there a chance that it could damage my new computer?
Thanks!

It's possible, but not very likely. If you're worried about it,
you could connect it by itself to a separate (cheap) controller, or
even put it in an external USB case.