[moondog830]

I'm not even sure if I'm in the right place ... 

 

my mother-in-law has data on an older hard drive and I need to get it off for her (her daughter bought her a new laptop for Christmas) so I can transfer the data to her new one.

 

I only own 3 laptops now and wonder if there is some device or piece of equipment I can get to allow me to hook up to her old hard drive and transfer.

 

Anyone have ideas?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

dog

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I would recommend purchasing an IDE to USB adapter. This will allow you to connect the drive to the adapter and the adapter to another computer, making the IDE drive into an external hard drive. This will allow you to access the data as long as the drive is not damaged.

 

Just out of curiosity, is there a reason the old machine cannot be used to transfer the data? Rather than disassembling it, you may be able to do a transfer a local network connection.

[Rikai]

I would recommend purchasing an IDE to USB adapter. This will allow you to connect the drive to the adapter and the adapter to another computer, making the IDE drive into an external hard drive. This will allow you to access the data as long as the drive is not damaged.

 

Just out of curiosity, is there a reason the old machine cannot be used to transfer the data? Rather than disassembling it, you may be able to do a transfer a local network connection.

[moondog830]

the operating system is apparently corrupt and will no longer load the OS ... so I thought if I could use the drive as a slave or external, I could access it since my OS does load up.

[iammykyl]

Gday.

Hope you don't mind me butting in.

The cheapest way to transfer the Data is on this page, > http://www.amazon.co...5/dp/B0002ZCJ8O

Some other devices also listed. 

[terry1966]

only problem with that iammy is that is more than likely going to be a 1 time use buy so not an option i'd recommend.

 

i'd be more inclined to buy something like these :-

 

usb2 speeds :- http://www.amazon.co...6VDMRM6QM4B4RNN

 

usb3 speeds :- http://www.amazon.co...=ide to usb 3.0

 

at least then he can us it for any drive including the much more likely sata type drives he may want to connect in future.

 

Edited by terry1966, 10 January 2016 - 02:59 AM.

[Rikai]

the operating system is apparently corrupt and will no longer load the OS ... so I thought if I could use the drive as a slave or external, I could access it since my OS does load up.

 

If you're comfortable using another operating system, you can download a live version of Linux that will enable you to access your files without having to remove the drive from the computer.

 

Best of all, it's free!

Edited by Rikai, 10 January 2016 - 10:24 AM.

[Kemasa]

Knoppix is an example of a Linux LiveCD. It is free, but it might not be as easy to use a device to transfer the data directly. If the machine hasthe ability to write a DVD, then that would be easy, assuming you know how to use the Linux tools. If you have a memory stick, that would be an easy way to copy the files using Linux. One aspect is that if there is a virus or something on the disk, you could end up copying that as well.

 

If the drive is a decent size, getting an external case is a good idea since then you can use it for backups.

[moondog830]

Best Answer

my sister-in-law took the laptop back (her father kept complaining about the laptop putting them over their limit with updating) so I don't have to worry about this now, but I have bookmarked ALL the links in case.

 

never been comfortable with other OS's ... let alone comfortable with Windows ) 

 

the drive is just a 40gig ... but mom wants her stuff off of it. 

 

Thanks for all the help, but you may consider this case closed.

 

dog

 

P.S. THANKS ALL!

[iammykyl]

Thanks moondog830 for keeping us informed.    You are very welcome.