FDD connection to USB

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike W
  • Start date Start date
M

Mike W

my son's pc went phut. He bought an new one. If I remove the old FDD can I
connect it to his new pc, perhaps via USB and so transfer over files? Old
pc motherboard is definitely dead so please don't consider that as an
option.

thanks,

Mike
 
http://spaces.msn.com/members/hillbillybuddhist/
| my son's pc went phut. He bought an new one. If I remove the old FDD can
I
| connect it to his new pc, perhaps via USB and so transfer over files? Old
| pc motherboard is definitely dead so please don't consider that as an
| option.
|
| thanks,
|
| Mike
|

Personally I'd get a USB HDD enclosure, put the old HDD in it and transfer
that way.

--
Doug

I'm not an MVP a VIP nor do I have ESP.
I was just trying to help.
Please use your own best judgment before implementing any suggestions or
advice herein.
No warranty is expressed or implied.
Your mileage may vary.
See store for details. :)

Remove shoes to E-mail.
 
Hi Doug,

I feel a bit of a knucklehead as I haven't heard of an HDD enclosure and my
search on the web didn't come up with any explanation of how to do it. I
have literally just undone 4 screws and removed the disk. No what? Any
explanation would be appreciated.

Mike
 
Sorry, should have read "Now what"

Mike W said:
Hi Doug,

I feel a bit of a knucklehead as I haven't heard of an HDD enclosure and
my search on the web didn't come up with any explanation of how to do it.
I have literally just undone 4 screws and removed the disk. No what? Any
explanation would be appreciated.

Mike
Click to expand...
 
Mike said:
Sorry, should have read "Now what"
Click to expand...

Take the old hard drive (not "FDD" which is short for "floppy drive")
out of your son's computer. Slave it in a working computer and transfer
the files over. You don't need to buy an external hard drive enclosure
to do this.

Here is how to slave a hard drive in another machine in order to copy
over its data. We'll call this drive "drive.old" and the target drive
"target.drive". Turn off both computers, and then take drive.old out of
its computer, gently removing the ribbon cable and power connector.
Handle hard drives carefully, and try not to touch any exposed circuit
boards. Look at drive.old - between the connectors for the ribbon cable
and power is a small section with little pins. There will be a tiny
plastic rectangle covering some of the pins. This is called a "jumper"
and is used to set the drive's status to master, slave, or cable
select. The easiest thing to do is to remove the ribbon cable from the
cd drives in the new computer and connect drive.old to one of the
connectors on that cable. If you do this, you won't need to change the
jumpers on drive.old. Be sure to plug in a power connector to
drive.old. Turn on target.drive's computer. If you've done everything
right, then drive.old will show up in the BIOS and then in Windows. You
can then drag and drop your data from drive.old to the place of your
choice on target.drive. When you are finished, shut down the computer
and reverse your steps. This procedure is actually very easy and
doesn't take long to do.

Malke
 
Mike said:
Sorry, should have read "Now what"
Click to expand...

Sorry for the double post, but it just occurred to me that, although you
didn't say, there may have been a reason why you wanted to connect the
old hard drive to the new computer via USB instead of just slaving it.
Go to a local computer store and buy an external hard drive enclosure.
I don't know where you live or what is available there, but here
CompUSA has enclosures. Or if you want to get it from the web, I bought
a Thermaltake 5.25" enclosure with fan for my 300GB Seagate from
www.newegg.com.

Malke
 
Hi Malke,

thanks for that. I will try it as a Slave drive. Your instructions are
very comprehensive. I will do this on my own pc as my son's is new and will
be under warranty. Thanks again.

Mike
Clevedon UK

Mike
 
| | > Mike W wrote:
| >
| >> Sorry, should have read "Now what"
| >>
| >> | >>> Hi Doug,
| >>>
| >>> I feel a bit of a knucklehead as I haven't heard of an HDD enclosure
| >>> and my search on the web didn't come up with any explanation of how
| >>> to do it.
| >>> I have literally just undone 4 screws and removed the disk. No what?
| >>> Any explanation would be appreciated.
| >>>
| >
| > Sorry for the double post, but it just occurred to me that, although you
| > didn't say, there may have been a reason why you wanted to connect the
| > old hard drive to the new computer via USB instead of just slaving it.
| > Go to a local computer store and buy an external hard drive enclosure.
| > I don't know where you live or what is available there, but here
| > CompUSA has enclosures. Or if you want to get it from the web, I bought
| > a Thermaltake 5.25" enclosure with fan for my 300GB Seagate from
| > www.newegg.com.
| >
| > Malke
| > --
| > MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
| > Elephant Boy Computers
| > www.elephantboycomputers.com
| > "Don't Panic"

| Hi Malke,
|
| thanks for that. I will try it as a Slave drive. Your instructions are
| very comprehensive. I will do this on my own pc as my son's is new and
will
| be under warranty. Thanks again.
|
| Mike
| Clevedon UK
|
| Mike

Before you decide on this option you might want to take stock of the port
availability in the new computer. It *may* be SATA only while the older
drive is likely PATA.

I recommended the external enclosure primarily because you asked about a USB
solution but also because it would negate the need to work inside the new
computer. It would also leave you with a good viable option for an external
backup device (probably with a new larger drive not the old one) which is
something to consider. They are relatively inexpensive. ~ $25.00 (USD) with
careful shopping.

Malke's suggestion is of course a good one and the least expensive way to
go.

--
Doug

I'm not an MVP a VIP nor do I have ESP.
I was just trying to help.
Please use your own best judgment before implementing any suggestions or
advice herein.
No warranty is expressed or implied.
Your mileage may vary.
See store for details. :)

Remove shoes to E-mail.
http://spaces.msn.com/members/hillbillybuddhist/
 
HillBillyBuddhist said:
Before you decide on this option you might want to take stock of the
port availability in the new computer. It *may* be SATA only while the
older drive is likely PATA.

I recommended the external enclosure primarily because you asked about
a USB solution but also because it would negate the need to work
inside the new computer. It would also leave you with a good viable
option for an external backup device (probably with a new larger drive
not the old one) which is something to consider. They are relatively
inexpensive. ~ $25.00 (USD) with careful shopping.

Malke's suggestion is of course a good one and the least expensive way
to go.
Click to expand...
That's a very good point about SATA/PATA. I've just bought some adapters
and SATA cables for that eventuality in my business. If the OP runs
into that issue, then the usb enclosure is definitely the way to go.

Malke
 
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