transferring data from old hard drive

[Guest]

I have a new dell pc running XP. I have an older pc, running windows 95, with a 3 GB hard drive. I want to transfer all the data from it onto my new computers hard drive. How can I do it? Can I run a parallel port from one pc to another and then copy the files? Should I remove the old HD, put it into my new pc and transfer files across? I am at a loss. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Kenny]

If you have some experience with hardware you could install the old hard
drive into the new computer temporarily, and copy the files.
This is what I do most of the times.

I have a new dell pc running XP. I have an older pc, running windows 95,

with a 3 GB hard drive. I want to transfer all the data from it onto my new
computers hard drive. How can I do it? Can I run a parallel port from one
pc to another and then copy the files? Should I remove the old HD, put it
into my new pc and transfer files across? I am at a loss. Any suggestions
would be appreciated.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi SM,

I have a new dell pc running XP. I have an older pc, running windows 95,
with a 3 GB hard drive. I want > to transfer all the data from it onto my
new computers hard drive. How can I do it?

There are several methods. Which you use depends on what you have available
to you.

Can I run a parallel port from one pc to another and then copy the files?

Yep, though it will be excrutiatingly slow. A better option would be to use
a crossover cable and ethernet ports (if you have them available), or a hub
or router with straight cabling.

Should I remove the old HD, put it into my new pc and transfer files
across?

This would be the second choice after the ethernet connection. Slaving it in
the new system temporarily will allow you to copy over the date fairly
rapidly. The only real task here is the hardware work.

I am at a loss. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Well, I hope these help. There is a tool called the files and settings
transfer wizard in WinXP that can also help expedite this process, though it
too is limited by the speed of your connection between the two systems.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Windows
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Malke]

Hi SM,


There are several methods. Which you use depends on what you have
available to you.


Yep, though it will be excrutiatingly slow. A better option would be
to use a crossover cable and ethernet ports (if you have them
available), or a hub or router with straight cabling.


This would be the second choice after the ethernet connection. Slaving
it in the new system temporarily will allow you to copy over the date
fairly rapidly. The only real task here is the hardware work.


Well, I hope these help. There is a tool called the files and settings
transfer wizard in WinXP that can also help expedite this process,
though it too is limited by the speed of your connection between the
two systems.

I have to agree with Kenny and Rick. In my mind, the easiest thing will
be to temporarily slave the old hard drive in the new machine. Here's a
little how-to about that (it is far easier and quicker to do than it
will be to read this!):

Here is how to slave a hard drive in another machine in order to copy
over its data. We'll call this drive "drive.old" and the target drive
"target.drive". Turn off both computers, and then take drive.old out of
its computer, gently removing the ribbon cable and power connector.
Handle hard drives carefully, and try not to touch any exposed circuit
boards. Look at drive.old - between the connectors for the ribbon cable
and power is a small section with little pins. There will be a tiny
plastic rectangle covering some of the pins. This is called a "jumper"
and is used to set the drive's status to master, slave, or cable
select. If drive.old was the only drive in the computer and was not
already the slave drive, you will need to change the jumper position
from master to slave. If you plan on putting drive.old back in its
computer, make a drawing of the jumper area so you can put everything
back the way it was. You can determine the jumper settings for a drive
by 1) sometimes there is a picture of the jumper settings on the drive
itself; or 2) looking in the drive manual, if you still have it; or 3)
looking on the drive mftr.'s website. In many cases, just removing the
jumper completely will set the drive to slave. Some drives need a
different jumper setting for "master - single" and "master - with
slave", so you might need to change the jumper settings on
target.drive, although usually this isn't necessary.

Now attach drive.old in drive.new's computer by putting it on one of the
ribbon cable connectors and plugging in a power connector. Turn on
target.drive's computer. If you've done everything right, then
drive.old will show up in the BIOS and then in Windows. You can then
drag and drop your data from drive.old to the place of your choice on
target.drive. When you are finished, shut down the computer and reverse
your steps. This procedure is actually very easy and doesn't take long
to do.

Malke

 

[Ron Sommer]

I have to agree with Kenny and Rick. In my mind, the easiest thing will
be to temporarily slave the old hard drive in the new machine. Here's a
little how-to about that (it is far easier and quicker to do than it
will be to read this!):

Here is how to slave a hard drive in another machine in order to copy
over its data. We'll call this drive "drive.old" and the target drive
"target.drive". Turn off both computers, and then take drive.old out of
its computer, gently removing the ribbon cable and power connector.
Handle hard drives carefully, and try not to touch any exposed circuit
boards. Look at drive.old - between the connectors for the ribbon cable
and power is a small section with little pins. There will be a tiny
plastic rectangle covering some of the pins. This is called a "jumper"
and is used to set the drive's status to master, slave, or cable
select. If drive.old was the only drive in the computer and was not
already the slave drive, you will need to change the jumper position
from master to slave. If you plan on putting drive.old back in its
computer, make a drawing of the jumper area so you can put everything
back the way it was. You can determine the jumper settings for a drive
by 1) sometimes there is a picture of the jumper settings on the drive
itself; or 2) looking in the drive manual, if you still have it; or 3)
looking on the drive mftr.'s website. In many cases, just removing the
jumper completely will set the drive to slave. Some drives need a
different jumper setting for "master - single" and "master - with
slave", so you might need to change the jumper settings on
target.drive, although usually this isn't necessary.

Now attach drive.old in drive.new's computer by putting it on one of the
ribbon cable connectors and plugging in a power connector. Turn on
target.drive's computer. If you've done everything right, then
drive.old will show up in the BIOS and then in Windows. You can then
drag and drop your data from drive.old to the place of your choice on
target.drive. When you are finished, shut down the computer and reverse
your steps. This procedure is actually very easy and doesn't take long
to do.

Malke
--
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"

You could disconnect the CD-Rom (DVD) cable and connect the old drive to the
secondary IDE.
This eliminates the possibility of the old drive conflicting with the new
drive.

 

[Malke]

(snip all my own stuff)

You could disconnect the CD-Rom (DVD) cable and connect the old drive
to the secondary IDE.
This eliminates the possibility of the old drive conflicting with the
new drive.

Ron - That's a really good suggestion and if you don't mind, I'll
incorporate it into my howto. The only problem would be if the original
cd-rom was on ide0 and there was no cable for ide1. That wouldn't
happen very often, though, maybe just once in a while for very much
older machines. I'll have to think about how to word that without the
howto getting much bigger. Thanks!

Malke

 

[Ron Sommer]

I just think there would be less problems using the CD-ROM connection.
The old drive would not need to be rejumpered.
The drive could be master, slave, or cable select.
Just move the drive with the IDE cable.

 

[Malke]

I just think there would be less problems using the CD-ROM connection.
The old drive would not need to be rejumpered.
The drive could be master, slave, or cable select.
Just move the drive with the IDE cable.

Yes, and those jumpers *are* very teeny and it is A Law that if you have
only the one it will fly out of your hand and hide somewhere
inaccessible. Thanks for the good suggestion.

Malke