Trying to transfer data

[J.Jack.J.]

I don't know if this would be categorised as a specifically Vista
question, but here goes. (BTW if you can't answer, I wonder whether
you could direct me to a suitable newsgroup for my question?)
I'm trying to transfer data from a hard drive taken out of a laptop,
with Vista installed, to a desktop with XP installed. It's a SATA
(assuming that's the one that doesn't have the grey ribbon) and I have
connected the drive internally using the two connections. The drive
gets warm but is not recognised in My Computer or the Device Manager.
Might there be something I'm doing wrong?
With thanks in advance.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I don't know if this would be categorised as a specifically Vista
question, but here goes. (BTW if you can't answer, I wonder whether
you could direct me to a suitable newsgroup for my question?)
I'm trying to transfer data from a hard drive taken out of a laptop,
with Vista installed, to a desktop with XP installed. It's a SATA
(assuming that's the one that doesn't have the grey ribbon) and I have
connected the drive internally using the two connections. The drive
gets warm but is not recognised in My Computer or the Device Manager.
Might there be something I'm doing wrong?
With thanks in advance.

Which two connections?

Some SATA drives (older ones, mostly) have two power connections and one
signal connection... You should be using two flat plugs of different
sizes, each with a little "l" at one end; they can only go in one way
into each socket. The wider one is power, the narrower one is signal. If
you're using the old-fashioned Molex plug for power, you need to use the
narrower SATA cable for the second connection.

Maybe there is a setting in the BIOS to enable/disable the slot you
chose.

Try using an external USB docking station. The drive just drops in, so
you can't go wrong, as long as you connect the docking station properly
to its power supply.

 

[J.Jack.J.]

Which two connections?

Some SATA drives (older ones, mostly) have two power connections and one
signal connection... You should be using

OK have tried connecting a USB docking station. It seems to know that
there is a mass storage device attached (as I can see the 'safely
remove hardware' icon, which says -- by a left click -- it's a mass
storage device) but still no progress with finding it in My Computer.
The Device Manager just records 'USB Device' under the Disk Drives.

With thanks.

 

[Tim Slattery]

I don't know if this would be categorised as a specifically Vista
question, but here goes. (BTW if you can't answer, I wonder whether
you could direct me to a suitable newsgroup for my question?)
I'm trying to transfer data from a hard drive taken out of a laptop,
with Vista installed, to a desktop with XP installed. It's a SATA
(assuming that's the one that doesn't have the grey ribbon) and I have
connected the drive internally using the two connections. The drive
gets warm but is not recognised in My Computer or the Device Manager.
Might there be something I'm doing wrong?

You may need to go into the BIOS setup and activate the SATA port
you've plugged the drive in to.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

OK have tried connecting a USB docking station. It seems to know that
there is a mass storage device attached (as I can see the 'safely
remove hardware' icon, which says -- by a left click -- it's a mass
storage device) but still no progress with finding it in My Computer.
The Device Manager just records 'USB Device' under the Disk Drives.

With thanks.

Try this:

Right-click My Computer (or Computer) and choose Manage from the menu.
Give it a few seconds to appear.

In the left panel, click on Disk Management (if it's not visible, expand
Storage by clicking on the little triangle next to it).

When the right panel is finished updating itself, look to see if there's
a drive without a letter. I like to look in the lower panel, where the
drives and partitions are displayed in a graphic format, but the upper
panel works too.

You should be able to right click on the drive and choose from the menu
Assign (or maybe it's Change) Drive Letter and Paths.

Pick a good letter.

Note: Make sure you have picked the right drive. That's why I like the
graphic pane: it's easier to avoid an error, if there is more than one
drive without a letter.

If that doesn't work, then I'm out of my depth here.

But suddenly a question occurred to me: why did you take the drive out
of the laptop? Is it because the drive died? If so, this is a wild goose
chase...

 

[J.Jack.J.]

Try this:

Right-click My Computer (or Computer) and choose Manage from the menu.
Give it a few seconds to appear.

In the left panel, click on Disk Management (if it's not visible, expand
Storage by clicking on the little triangle next to it).

When the right panel is finished updating itself, look to see if there's
a drive without a letter. I like to look in the lower panel, where the
drives and partitions are displayed in a graphic format, but the upper
panel works too.

Yes, I did this. The drive didn't show.

You should be able to right click on the drive and choose from the menu
Assign (or maybe it's Change) Drive Letter and Paths.

Pick a good letter.

Note: Make sure you have picked the right drive. That's why I like the
graphic pane: it's easier to avoid an error, if there is more than one
drive without a letter.

If that doesn't work, then I'm out of my depth here.

But suddenly a question occurred to me: why did you take the drive out
of the laptop? Is it because the drive died? If so, this is a wild goose
chase...

I took it out because the internal power socket is faulty and will
cost too much to replace. I need the data on the drive.

With thanks.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Yes, I did this. The drive didn't show.


I took it out because the internal power socket is faulty and will
cost too much to replace. I need the data on the drive.

With thanks.

OK. Sorry I couldn't help.

Not knowing your experience level, it seemed reasonable to ask the above
questions; sorry for not assuming enough...

There are very expensive drive recovery companies. Beyond that, or
trying to recover on a different computer than the one you've used up to
now (which is just a desperate thought), I have no ideas.

 

[J.Jack.J.]

I tried to find hardware discussion forums but didn't have much luck.
Can anyone point me in the right direction to help me with this issue?

With thanks in advance.

 

[Jim]

Yes, I did this. The drive didn't show.


I took it out because the internal power socket is faulty and will
cost too much to replace. I need the data on the drive.

With thanks.

Consider buying an external drive case and inserting the drive in it and
then using it as you would a flash drive. You can get them at
Tigerdirect. Look up your drive brand and model via Google to make sure
you purchase the correct case (IDE vs Sata).

Jim