Migrating data from old HD to new PC

VoodooDali · Post by **VoodooDali** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 10:09 am

Help!

The fan went out on my old PC and the thing overheated and now does not power up at all. You should have felt the top of the PC - it was almost hot enough to burn your fingers. I'm sure the mb is fried.

Anyway, I'm assuming the hard drive is probably okay and I really need some files (not applications) off of it. I've looked at file transferring programs, but they assume you have a functioning second PC, but I just have the hard drive.

The hard drive in question is already formatted, of course, and has Win ME on it.
The PC I want to install it on as a second hard drive has Win 2K Pro on it.
I know how to install a second hard drive, but not what to do when it's already formatted with a different OS. Please help!

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 3:51 pm

I've done this kind of thing before and you should be able to just transfer the data over without any real problems. ME shouldn't try to take over as an OS and it will just operate as a normal slave to the best of my knowledge.

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 4:41 pm

The only problem I can see in doing this is you won't be able to get any passwords out of any dialup or email accounts.

It sounds like the power supply fan in your old PC died. if that's the case, the CPU and motherboard may still be working. You should be able to get a cheap power supply just to get the old PC running, at least long enough to get anything out of it that you need.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 5:26 pm

Although your right Flibble back in my old job we had a pre-built PC in once that had the wrong cpu fan and it cooked the chip a little. we plugged the correct fan on but the motherboard never quite acted properly after that and kept crashing the machine all the time and giving us Checksum errors and what not, if there's any important data on the hard disk I'd get it backed up first and then fiddle.

You should in theory be able to boot from the ME hard disk on the other machine if you just change the boot setting in BIOS, I've done it before but only with 98 machines, not sure how 2k will react.

Mr Flibble · Post by **Mr Flibble** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 6:01 pm

Originally posted by Mr Sleep
Although your right Flibble back in my old job we had a pre-built PC in once that had the wrong cpu fan and it cooked the chip a little. we plugged the correct fan on but the motherboard never quite acted properly after that and kept crashing the machine all the time and giving us Checksum errors and what not, if there's any important data on the hard disk I'd get it backed up first and then fiddle.

Very true. Heat damage can cause a wide variety of amusing effects on computers.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 6:19 pm

Originally posted by Mr Flibble
Heat damage can cause a wide variety of amusing effects on computers.

They're only funny if it's not your computer.

::chuckles uncontrollably::

VoodooDali · Post by **VoodooDali** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 10:03 pm

Thanks all - it figures that you guys are the only ones who actually answered my real question - what happens when Win2k and WinME meet each other? Personally, I think that Win2k should just stomp the crap out of WinME since its such a sucky OS, but maybe Win2k feels a little sorry for its simple-minded cousin.

Anyway, I'm going to try doing it tomorrow afternoon.

Damndest thing was - that is the second power supply I've put in that computer. I can understand how the first one would have gone out after 2 years or so (I leave the puter on all the time) - but this power supply was only a few months old!!! I can't remember what wattage this case was - I think 300w. Is it possible that the cpu (800mhz amd athlon) and the graphics card (nvidia geforce2) were sucking up more power than the supply could handle? Isn't there a thermometer or something on the mb and some kind of automatic shut-off in the BIOS if the thing overheats?

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 6:16 am

What else do you have in your case?

For most Athlon systems, 300-350W power supplies should be adequate.

You might also examine some other heat-related issues for your computer; is your case in a location that gets good airflow? Does your case fan(s) optimise airflow within the case? Is your computer in a cool room in your house?

If that power supply is only a couple of months old, it may still be covered by the warranty, so you might be able to get it replaced at no cost.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 4:55 pm

I'd also try swapping the lead that goes to your power supply and the socket your using. Some of these things could causing the power to fluctuate which might cause the problem. The cables are fairly easy to come by so it's worth changing.

VoodooDali · Post by **VoodooDali** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 7:45 pm

Hey guys,

Well, I went out to CompUSA (I hate them but I couldn't wait for a delivery) and bought an Antec SmartBlue 350 w PSU. Cost $70, but I figure you get what you pay for. I was impressed by it b/c it has a fan speed control, a cool blue light (so I can tell if the fan is on without feeling behind the PC), and an intake as well as an exhaust fan, plus it was 50 watts more than the old PSU.

I took out the old one and it stunk like it had burnt up. Connected the Antec and voila! That old PC fired right up! I am really impressed by this old PC - it was a gaming PC built 3 years ago (now used for ordinary PC use only) and it takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Here are the specs if you're curious: 800mhz AMD Athlon cpu, ASUS A7V KT133 (Via) mobo, nVidia Geforce2 Pro graphics card, SB Live 5.1 sound card, 256 MB SDRAM, Pioneer 16x DVD ROM, piece 'o crap Plextor CDRW.