Attaching an old hard drive to my computer!

[kathi]

Hi there,

 

I hope someone can help with this trick problem.

 

I am repairing my sons old computer (9 years old, very slow with out of date parts) which has a corrupt Windows XP pro.

 

It will not boot up at all now and will not accept the XP disc to boot up from saying there is a corrupt file.

 

I would like to save some of the files from the HDD so I have tried to attach it to my computer (a HP small form with Vista home) but the old comp has a ribbon connector and the new one has a P5 (5 pin?) connector with a P7 attached to the Optical CD drive.

 

Is there such a thing as an adaptor to conver the P5 pin plug to a IDE (0) ribbon connector?

 

Is there a simpler way to get the information off this hard drive?

 

Many thanks for any advice.

[Jelly Bean]

Hello and welcome.

 

Do you have an IDE port at all?

 

Your CD/DVD rom drives maybe attached to one?

 

You can buy one of these:

 

SATA To IDE Convertor : Internal SATA Cables : Maplin

 

IDE to SATA & SATA to IDE Bi-Directional Adapter.: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

 

There are many ways to do this.

 

3.5" USB 2.0 SATA EXTERNAL HARD DISK DRIVE HDD CASE UK on eBay (end time 31-Oct-09 15:04:00 GMT)

 

This one is way over priced and can be bought a lot cheaper I bought myne for 99p:

 

3.5" USB 2.0 SATA EXTERNAL HARD DISK DRIVE HDD CASE UK on eBay (end time 31-Oct-09 15:04:00 GMT)

[kathi]

Hello and welcome.

 

Do you have an IDE port at all?

 

Your CD/DVD rom drives maybe attached to one?

 

You can buy one of these:

 

SATA To IDE Convertor : Internal SATA Cables : Maplin

 

IDE to SATA & SATA to IDE Bi-Directional Adapter.: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

 

There are many ways to do this.

 

3.5" USB 2.0 SATA EXTERNAL HARD DISK DRIVE HDD CASE UK on eBay (end time 31-Oct-09 15:04:00 GMT)

 

This one is way over priced and can be bought a lot cheaper I bought myne for 99p:

 

3.5" USB 2.0 SATA EXTERNAL HARD DISK DRIVE HDD CASE UK on eBay (end time 31-Oct-09 15:04:00 GMT)

Thanks for the information,

 

Please excuse my ignorance I still have a lot to learn.

 

When you say 'IDE port' I take it to mean do I have a port with a Ribbon type connector?

 

My PC does not have any ribbon connector types of connectors. It is a 3 year old HP compact small form PC with only usb and 1 CD/DVD driver connected with a P7 Pin plug to the hard drive and just one P5 plug spare.

 

I have looked at the options you kindly sent to me:

 

The IDE to SATA & SATA to IDE Bi-Directional Adapter.: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

Would the SATA HDD Data cable be compatable with the P5 or P7 pin connectors?

 

If so, do I just connect the IDE cable to the appropriate slot inside the addapter and the other end to the old HDD drive and plug it in then switch on and hope the pc will recognize the additional drive?

 

Sorry to be such a dunce.

 

Regards Kathi

[Plastic Nev]

Hi Kathi, the direct IDE to SATA converters require removing the cover and connecting to a spare connection inside on the motherboard.

However as your machine is one of the small ones there may not be a spare SATA connector. (Same connection type as the CD/DVD drive or hard drive)

If not then it would be best to look for an IDE to USB connector so you can connect outside the computer via a USB port.

If you wish to make that more permanent and keep the drive as an external storage device, you can get a USB "Caddy" or box, to fit the drive inside it. Just make sure the caddy is for the right size, either two and a half inch for a typical laptop drive or three and a half inch for a standard desktop drive, and for IDE.

Nev.

[Tootech]

Hi,

 

Buy one of these adapters.

 

Plexus USB to IDE 2.5"/ 3.5" Transfer adapter With Power Adaptor - Ebuyer

 

Connect your old hard drive to it, connect the power adapter also to get your old drive running and then plug the other end of the cable, the USB plug into your newer computer USB port.

 

Your drive will show up as an extra drive and you can go through it and copy over all the data you need,

 

Its the easiest way - I use one regularly.

[kathi]

Hi,

 

Buy one of these adapters.

 

Plexus USB to IDE 2.5"/ 3.5" Transfer adapter With Power Adaptor - Ebuyer

 

Connect your old hard drive to it, connect the power adapter also to get your old drive running and then plug the other end of the cable, the USB plug into your newer computer USB port.

 

Your drive will show up as an extra drive and you can go through it and copy over all the data you need,

 

Its the easiest way - I use one regularly.

Many thanks Plastic Nev and Tootec.

 

The IDE to usb is by far the easiest option for me.

 

There isn't a spare SATA connector inside the box only a spare 'P5', not a spare 'P7' which is the size connected to the CD rom.

 

A novice question before I buy the Plexus USB to IDE 2.5"/ 3.5" Transfer adapter With Power Adaptor:

Are all IDE connectors the same size?

My very old computer's IDE connector has 2 rows of 16 square holes and measure 4.5 cms. Is this a standard size?

 

Once I have connected and it has been recognised I have been told I will need to reformat it as it has corrupt XP files on it and will not bootup.

 

I had previously tried to down grade to Windows 98 because of the lack of power but of course I caused a major problem and that why I am trying to save the itunes files and reformat it to put it back.

 

Is it possible to salvage files even if the XP files are corrupt?

 

If I cannot save the files will the re-formatting option be offered by my computer?

 

I am very greatful for you your advice.

You are the only people who have offered me any useful help with this.

 

Many thanks.

[Tootech]

Are all IDE connectors the same size

There are two sizes and two different cables available. You don't need to worry as the adapter covers both sizes. Basically the smaller size fits the smaller size 2.5" laptop drives, and the other fits the larger 3.5" desktop drives.

 

Once I have connected and it has been recognised I have been told I will need to reformat it

Absolutely not! If you want to try to recover your data, do not format at this stage.

 

I had previously tried to down grade to Windows 98 because of the lack of power but of course I caused a major problem. Is it possible to salvage files even if the XP files are corrupt?

It depends on how far you got with a Windows 98 install. If you didn't get as far as a reformat and install of the Windows 98 files, all of your old XP data may still be available.

 

When you get an adapter, connect up your old drive and have a look see - come back if you need more help with finding your files.

 

If you then go for an XP reinstall, boot from your XP CD, go through the menu's to install a fresh copy and Windows will ask you if you want to reformat - yes is the answer, go for an NTFS quick format - just make sure you have all your data recovered before doing this bit.

[kathi]

Thanks again for you advice.

 

I have ordered the part so hopefully it will be straight forward. But thanks for the offer of help again if I have any problems.

 

As for the Windows 98 install:

I got to the reformating question, said 'yes' and then it had the problems and refused to load the files saying I had the wrong disc or some such.

I tried to reboot with the XP disc and it refused to read this too.

 

So I expect I may loose the files and just be grateful I can re-format and use the disc again.

 

Kind regards

 

Kathi

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, just a follow up from Tootech, the fact the XP operating system on the disk is corrupt should not prevent you from seeing and at least copying the ordinary (Non XP) files.

However, if that try of loading Windows 98 actually started a reformat, some data may be lost anyway. it all depends on how far the Windows 98 got before it refused to go further.

Sorry about that, but I thought you should be warned. However there is nothing lost by trying, you never know, the files may be OK.

Nev.

[kathi]

Many thanks for your advice.

 

Kind regards

 

Kathi

[kathi]

Hi,

 

Please could you offer me a little more advice?

 

I have the connector now.

I have connected it up OK and my computer has recognised it as in the list it says 'Hard Disk Drives' but there is no icon which I can click to open and explore.

 

Can you tell me how I get into the files on this drive please?

 

Many thanks for your help

 

Kathi

[kathi]

Sorry about this.

 

The computer doesnt seem to have recognised it the 2 hard disk drives it shows are the C drive and the external storage I already have.

 

Can you give me any advice on getting the computer to register it please

 

Thanks

 

Kathi

[Jelly Bean]

Kathi does it show in "Computer"?

 

Does it show in device manager?

 

Right click on computer and choose properties/on left choose device manager/under disk drives use the + to open the drop down list.

 

Does it show in computer management?

 

Control panle/classic view/admin tools/computer management/disk management on left double click on it/what does it show?

[kathi]

Kathi does it show in "Computer"?

 

Does it show in device manager?

 

Right click on computer and choose properties/on left choose device manager/under disk drives use the + to open the drop down list.

 

Does it show in computer management?

 

Control panle/classic view/admin tools/computer management/disk management on left double click on it/what does it show?

Hi Jelly Bean,

 

Thanks for following this up with me.

 

Under Devices there are 2 shown:

Buffalo External Console - which is my external storage

ST3160812AS ATA Device - I am not sure what this is

 

In Computer management there are the following:

 

(Blank) - Simple - Healthy - (Primary Partition)

C: NTFS - Healthy (System Boot etc....)

D: FAT32 - Healthy (Primary Partition)

E: CDFS - Healthy (Primary Partition)

 

Can you work out what this means?

 

Many thanks

 

Kathi

[Jelly Bean]

Ok Kathi I am not 100% sure of that top drive listed with no assigned letter.It could be your recovery console which I belive it is.

 

Or it could be the drive you just fitted.

 

One question,you bought the adaptor Tootech posted?

 

Did you attach the power supply to the hard drive?

[Tootech]

You should be able to just hear the disk spin up when you apply the power to the drive.

 

Also, can you post a screenshot of the Disk Management screen, we should be able to work it out from there.

[kathi]

Hi,

 

I did buy the USB 2.0 To IDE from ebuyer

Plexus USB to IDE 2.5"/ 3.5" Transfer adapter With Power Adaptor - Ebuyer

 

I have connected the drive to the power but cannot hear it whiring at all.

Doe this mean I have a problem with the drive?

 

Kathi

[kathi]

I am not sure how to take a screen shot.

[maynardvdm]

Have a look here:

 

http://extremetechsupport.com/forum/articles-and-tutorials/1328-screen-shot-and-do-make-one.html

[kathi]

Hi again,

 

Thanks for the info on taking a screen shot, very useful.

 

I have taken shots of the computer management - Disk management and the one of the Device manager but not sure how to attach these for you to see. Do I need to email them to you?

 

I suspect there is something wrong with the disk drive as there is no sound when it is plugged in.

[maynardvdm]

Hi

 

Click Add new Post at the bottom left

 

Scroll down to Attach files and select manage attachments

[kathi]

Hi,

 

I have just connected a CD rom with the attachment I bought just to test it works OK and the computer picked it up straight away so I can only assume that the Disk Dive is deceased!

 

Do you agree?

 

Kind regards

 

Kathi

[Jelly Bean]

I also suspect the disk may of died I am afraid to say.

 

Use: Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket you can then just add the link to your next post.

[kathi]

Thanks Jelly Bean.

 

Do you know where I can purchase an economical replacement?

 

Ebay maybe?

 

Should I specify any requirements in looking for a replacemet apart from the IDE (ribbon) attachment?

 

Many thanks

 

Kathi

[Jelly Bean]

Hey Kathi,it seems it is dead.

 

It should at least vibrate very slightly when power is attched and it font.

 

:(

 

I am not a fan of eBay I am a fan of Play.com as it is free delivery on everything or Amazon.

 

But it is your choice for the purchase.

 

Ok we are taliking an older computer and it possibly dont have the power to run a larger HDD/hard drive.

 

I look at this way if the origonal HDD was 20-40 gigs in size I would go no higher than a 160 gig hard drive to be on the safe side.Possibly a 250 gig.

 

Many of us choose a branded HDD such as Western Digital,Maxtor or Seagate.But you will notice the prices rise also.

 

You could just buy a generic HDD as it is an older PC.

 

You need an IDE HDD let me post examples.

 

The first two are fine.

 

Amazon.co.uk: hard drive ide - Electronics & Photo

 

I do advise you buy an updated IDE cable also.

 

Windows 98 is outdated and Microsoft no longer supports it,you will be better off with XP.

 

But if you can find a seller on eBay with good reviews you should be fine,dont be ripped off on prices and remeber posting costs.