Connecting Internal Harddrive To Another Computer

[annieigma]

I had a leak from the bathroom upstairs, which dripped into the desktop computer on the desk below. although i put a heated fan on it for several hours, it will start but not display windows and the fan is running full belt. i have purchased another computer, running windows 8, but woud like to connect the old hard drive to the computer to get some info from it. is there a device/cables that i can use? I don't want to change hard drives.
thank you.

[Noe-schitt]

You need a USB hard drive caddy but you will need to get the correct one for the type of hard drive you have

[jackthehat]

I removed a hdd from an old computer an invested in one of these (I've showed the entie google page because there are many to choose from). I can now access the hdd from my new pc and my laptop via USB cable.

[jackthehat]

*shown, for heaven's sake.....

[Hymie]

Personally, I would install the old drive as a second hard drive in the new PC. It is not difficult to do even if you need adapters to change the input of the old drive to a sata drive.

You just need to take a look at the connectors (to the hard drive) in the new PC and those on the old drive. There should be a spare hard disk drive mounting arrangement/space within the new PC, and normally there will be redundant connectors for a second drive. If you are lucky you will need no additional parts, at worst you will need a power cable splitter and possibly adapters to accommodate an older type of drive.

The required adapters can be purchased from ebay sellers for pence, rather than pounds from the likes of Maplin.

[Tuvok]

You will need to determine if its an ide drive or a sata drive - different connectors.

Then you will need to see what your motherboard has. It may only have sata.

If its an ide drive and no ide connector on the motherboard, you'll need a sata to ide converter or use the drive externally in a caddy.

[Buenchico]

Step 1: Remove the hard drive from from the dead computer. (That usually involves nothing more than undoing a few screws and unplugging the connectors unless it's a ruddy Dell; they're a real pain to get into!)

Step 2: Determine whether it's an IDE drive or a SATA drive. (That usually involves nothing more than reading the label on it. If you're not sure, see here: http://www.diffen.com/difference/IDE_vs_SATA )

Step 3: Buy a USB enclose for a 3.5" IDE or SATA drive, as applicable, from one of the usual sources. (eBay, eBuyer, Amazon, etc.)

Step 4: Connect the drive up by following the simple instructions that come with the enclosure.

Step 5. Connect the drive to your new computer using the USB connection.

Step 6: Discover that you still can't see much of the data on the drive using Windows Explorer. Don't panic!

Step 7: Take ownership of the drive, following the instructions in the video below. (It refers to Vista but the process should be reasonably similar under Windows 8 - I hope!).

Step 8: Access your files from the old drive in exactly the same way as you would from a folder on your new drive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2wkaMFsh04

[annieigma]

Buenchico, thanks for for the info, could you do me a favour and find me a link to one on ebay?? its a 3.5 sata. I have spent hours reading all the stuff on ebay, and not sure what i need. Its just to connect the old hard drive to the new computer for a few minutes to get all the photos back, so something cheap and cheerful.
Thank you kindly,
Annie.

[hc4361]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-3-5-SATA-to-USB-HARD-DRIVE-CADDY-HDD-CASE-ENCLOSURE-UK-FREE-/370777161726?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item56540a7ffe

[annieigma]

Thanks HC, Just bought it. great stuff.well done, saved me hours of looking at things that
i don't understand.
Annie.