Emachines Slave Hard Drive Help

utopiahunter · 12-17-2008, 02:17 PM

Hello. Well, I joined the forum specifically to get this problem solved. I have an emachines el1200-01e with XP SP3 (info for a computer just like it can be found here). A month or two ago my HP Pavilion a1017c had the blue screen of death and I had a school assignment I needed to complete urgently so that's when I got the emachines computer.

Anyways, now I want to take the hard drive from my HP and slave it to the emachines so that i can run some file recovery software and salvage my old files. Removing the hard drive from the HP wasn't much of a problem but opening the emachines I found that I had no idea how to connect the HP hard drive or remove the emachines hard drive. The link I gave has a picture of it. I did some research and found that this line of emachines model is "small form factor" which I suppose is the name for the new compact PCs going around nowadays. Anyways, if anyone can give any instructions on how to either remove (and eventually put back in) the emachines hard drive or connect my HP hard drive I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance, and I really like prompt and detailed answers. If any more info is needed just ask.

**simpswr** · 12-19-2008, 04:01 PM

and welcome to the Forum

Try attaching the old drive in place of the CD/DVD drive . . put it on the end of the ribbon and set the jumpers to Master

You could also use an adaptor like this to attach the old drive via usb

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812232002

utopiahunter · 12-20-2008, 08:59 AM

Thanks for responding. The thing is, I can't find any of the cables in the emachines pc.

I also haven't figured out how to remove, and barely can move for that matter, the DVD drive. Like I said, it's a compact computer and I'm inexperienced in all this stuff.
As for the USB adapter, it looks like a great product, but (1) There's no guarantee that I can manage to extract the data from the hard drive, so the money spent may be wasted and (2) my resources are limited in the financial department. Thanks again anyways.

**simpswr** · 12-20-2008, 09:23 AM

What model is the eMachines? . .

There should be something connecting the cd drive to the motherboard . . you do not have to remove the cd drive, just take the connections off and substitute the old hard drive . . it can dangle as long as it does not touch any of the parts in the case

You may be better off using the adaptor and copy the files via USB

utopiahunter · 12-20-2008, 12:49 PM

It's an emachines EL1200-01e w/ AMD Athlon 2650e Processor, 160GB hard drive and 1GB ram. I'll have to open it up again and see if I can do what you suggested.

**simpswr** · 12-20-2008, 01:05 PM

I found your manual here:

http://support.gateway.com/emachines...ide_EN_web.pdf

was not very helpfull

utopiahunter · 12-20-2008, 04:27 PM

I wouldn't expect it to be too helpful. I think I read on their website or somewhere to not attempt to do this kind of thing and take the computer to "experts," which would defeat the purpose of trying to be money-conservative. Once again, thanks again.

**simpswr** · 12-20-2008, 05:22 PM

You are welcome . . Looks like the usb solution is your best bet

12-17-2008, 02:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
utopiahunter Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 4 OS: Windows XP SP3	Emachines Slave Hard Drive Help Hello. Well, I joined the forum specifically to get this problem solved. I have an emachines el1200-01e with XP SP3 (info for a computer just like it can be found here). A month or two ago my HP Pavilion a1017c had the blue screen of death and I had a school assignment I needed to complete urgently so that's when I got the emachines computer. Anyways, now I want to take the hard drive from my HP and slave it to the emachines so that i can run some file recovery software and salvage my old files. Removing the hard drive from the HP wasn't much of a problem but opening the emachines I found that I had no idea how to connect the HP hard drive or remove the emachines hard drive. The link I gave has a picture of it. I did some research and found that this line of emachines model is "small form factor" which I suppose is the name for the new compact PCs going around nowadays. Anyways, if anyone can give any instructions on how to either remove (and eventually put back in) the emachines hard drive or connect my HP hard drive I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance, and I really like prompt and detailed answers. If any more info is needed just ask.

12-19-2008, 04:01 PM	#2 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 11,940 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Emachines Slave Hard Drive Help and welcome to the Forum Try attaching the old drive in place of the CD/DVD drive . . put it on the end of the ribbon and set the jumpers to Master You could also use an adaptor like this to attach the old drive via usb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812232002 __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow? Last edited by simpswr; 12-19-2008 at 04:03 PM.

12-20-2008, 08:59 AM	#3 (permalink)
utopiahunter Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 4 OS: Windows XP SP3	Re: Emachines Slave Hard Drive Help Thanks for responding. The thing is, I can't find any of the cables in the emachines pc. I also haven't figured out how to remove, and barely can move for that matter, the DVD drive. Like I said, it's a compact computer and I'm inexperienced in all this stuff. As for the USB adapter, it looks like a great product, but (1) There's no guarantee that I can manage to extract the data from the hard drive, so the money spent may be wasted and (2) my resources are limited in the financial department. Thanks again anyways.

12-20-2008, 09:23 AM	#4 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 11,940 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Emachines Slave Hard Drive Help What model is the eMachines? . . There should be something connecting the cd drive to the motherboard . . you do not have to remove the cd drive, just take the connections off and substitute the old hard drive . . it can dangle as long as it does not touch any of the parts in the case You may be better off using the adaptor and copy the files via USB __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?

12-20-2008, 12:49 PM	#5 (permalink)
utopiahunter Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 4 OS: Windows XP SP3	Re: Emachines Slave Hard Drive Help It's an emachines EL1200-01e w/ AMD Athlon 2650e Processor, 160GB hard drive and 1GB ram. I'll have to open it up again and see if I can do what you suggested.

12-20-2008, 01:05 PM	#6 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 11,940 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Emachines Slave Hard Drive Help I found your manual here: http://support.gateway.com/emachines...ide_EN_web.pdf was not very helpfull __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?

12-20-2008, 04:27 PM	#7 (permalink)
utopiahunter Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 4 OS: Windows XP SP3	Re: Emachines Slave Hard Drive Help I wouldn't expect it to be too helpful. I think I read on their website or somewhere to not attempt to do this kind of thing and take the computer to "experts," which would defeat the purpose of trying to be money-conservative. Once again, thanks again.

12-20-2008, 05:22 PM	#8 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 11,940 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: Emachines Slave Hard Drive Help You are welcome . . Looks like the usb solution is your best bet __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?