[snowman4179]

The motherboard failed on my old Dell so I got a new one. I am now trying to connect the old hard drive to the new computer to use as an external drive so I can access the files I had on it but I can't seem to get everything to coincide. I can't even get to it to open it. Do I need a new driver or something?
Thanks,
snowman4179

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Hi snowman4179
You need to provide information about your computer, this includes is it
a laptop or desktop, provide the model name or series number, motherboard
details would also help others to help you better.

I am now trying to connect the old hard drive to the new computer to use as an external drive

Do you mean as a Slave Drive? What type of HDD is the old drive is it IDE or SATA? What type of HDD is the new drive IDE or SATA? This makes a difference to how you set the HDDs up.

I can't even get to it to open it. Do I need a new driver or something

Do you mean you cannot access the information on the old HDD in Windows Explorer?
Unless the HDD you are attempting to access is the Primary or Master drive you do not need the system drivers on the HDD, the Master HDD does as it needs the information to boot the system correctly.
If you can provide the info I have asked you for and clarify exactly what it is you are attempting to do people will be in a better position to assist you.

[phillpower2]

Hi snowman4179
You need to provide information about your computer, this includes is it
a laptop or desktop, provide the model name or series number, motherboard
details would also help others to help you better.

I am now trying to connect the old hard drive to the new computer to use as an external drive

Do you mean as a Slave Drive? What type of HDD is the old drive is it IDE or SATA? What type of HDD is the new drive IDE or SATA? This makes a difference to how you set the HDDs up.

I can't even get to it to open it. Do I need a new driver or something

Do you mean you cannot access the information on the old HDD in Windows Explorer?
Unless the HDD you are attempting to access is the Primary or Master drive you do not need the system drivers on the HDD, the Master HDD does as it needs the information to boot the system correctly.
If you can provide the info I have asked you for and clarify exactly what it is you are attempting to do people will be in a better position to assist you.

[snowman4179]

Hi snowman4179
You need to provide information about your computer, this includes is it
a laptop or desktop, provide the model name or series number, motherboard
details would also help others to help you better.

I am now trying to connect the old hard drive to the new computer to use as an external drive

Do you mean as a Slave Drive? What type of HDD is the old drive is it IDE or SATA? What type of HDD is the new drive IDE or SATA? This makes a difference to how you set the HDDs up.

I can't even get to it to open it. Do I need a new driver or something

Do you mean you cannot access the information on the old HDD in Windows Explorer?
Unless the HDD you are attempting to access is the Primary or Master drive you do not need the system drivers on the HDD, the Master HDD does as it needs the information to boot the system correctly.
If you can provide the info I have asked you for and clarify exactly what it is you are attempting to do people will be in a better position to assist you.

[snowman4179]

Both are Dell, the old one is app 5yr old and is an IDE the new one is an ATA. I got some adapters from a friend of mine and got it connected but can't open it. The only thing that comes close when I right-click is "open file location." When I click on that, it takes me to "Devices and Printers" and it is listed there but I still can't get it to open. A friend of mine said to just take it to the computer shop and get him to open it, d/l everything to a thumb drive and discard the old one. It's only 80G and like I said, it's about 5yr old and is not really that big so I may just do that. Unless anyone has a solution to the problem. I'd like to keep it for nothing else than backup storage. As for the mother board, I don't know any of the specifics on it but I could find out if that would be helpful. Thanks for all your help, sorry about the delay between posts but I have to work for a living.
Thanks,
snowman...