Can I reuse my old (working) hard drive with a new vista computer?

eddoc · 03-03-2009, 01:25 PM

I have a 5 year old Compac desktop running XP home. A few weeks ago I bought a new HP mini tower desktop with Vista home premium. I also bought cables and software to transfer files. Unfortunately, last week, the old computer just died. (Not the power supply, I went thru all the steps and even installed a new power supply, but it appears the motherboard is gone.) Of course, the new HP was still in its box, I hadn't even cut the packing tape to look at it. Is it possible to install the hard drive from the old computer as a slave in the new one and salvage the data, or as an option, could I install it in another old XP machine and do the file transfer? Lots of spread sheets, word documents, pictures and of course weeks of loading CDs into iTunes at risk here!

**TriggerFinger** · 03-03-2009, 02:00 PM

Yes... if drive is still good and working, you can still salvage your important files. Either of the options you mentioned will do. And just in case you need one more option, put it in a drive enclosure connected via USB. That way you can use it on your new computer or any old XP computer and salvage your files from there.

03-03-2009, 01:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
eddoc Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1 OS: xp	Can I reuse my old (working) hard drive with a new vista computer? I have a 5 year old Compac desktop running XP home. A few weeks ago I bought a new HP mini tower desktop with Vista home premium. I also bought cables and software to transfer files. Unfortunately, last week, the old computer just died. (Not the power supply, I went thru all the steps and even installed a new power supply, but it appears the motherboard is gone.) Of course, the new HP was still in its box, I hadn't even cut the packing tape to look at it. Is it possible to install the hard drive from the old computer as a slave in the new one and salvage the data, or as an option, could I install it in another old XP machine and do the file transfer? Lots of spread sheets, word documents, pictures and of course weeks of loading CDs into iTunes at risk here!

03-03-2009, 02:00 PM	#2 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,826 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Can I reuse my old (working) hard drive with a new vista computer? Yes... if drive is still good and working, you can still salvage your important files. Either of the options you mentioned will do. And just in case you need one more option, put it in a drive enclosure connected via USB. That way you can use it on your new computer or any old XP computer and salvage your files from there. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE