If I temporarily install my old hard drive into my new computer, will I lose any data in my new hard drive?

Question

I just bought a new computer (Gateway) because my old computer (eMachines) just pretty much died. I have important documents on there I need to save. If I take the hard drive out of my new computer, install my old hard drive to copy my documents onto a CD, and then put back the new hard drive, will I damage anything or lose data? Also, after all of that, how would I go about installing my old hard drive as the slave? (I've heard that term, but I'm not exactly sure what it means in the computer sense. I assume it's just basically like expanding the master hard drive.) Thanks.

Answer 1

No. You will absolutely not lose any data. No way. You can probably use it as a slave drive but I don't really know how to do that.

Answer 2

You don't want to take out your new hard drive. Can you perhaps transfer the data from one PC to the other one? Or maybe you can buy an external hard drive or CD/DVD burner that will work on your older PC. Or if you only have a few GB of data you want saved and no files larger then 512MB or 1GB you can go buy a USB flash drive that's 512MB-2GB large.



Those are all things that should work. Do not remove your new PC's hard drive unless your really know what you are doing. No data will be lost unless you make a mistake.



Also most MP3 players act as a flash drive perhaps you own one or have a friend that does.



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If the above will not work or cant work you can buy a device for about $60 that will turn most hard drives into external drives. So you can convert your internal drive into an external one and hook it to your new PC. Good luck I highly suggest you make the other hard drive the slave and do NOT remove the new hard drive at all.

Answer 3

Try this link and see if it helps.



http://www.ehow.com/how_6030_install-second-hard.html



How to Install a Second Hard Drive



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When you need more disk space, it is easier to add a second hard drive than it is to replace the existing drive. This procedure is for installing an ATA hard drive in a PC-compatible computer.





Install Hard Drive



Steps:

1. Turn off the computer but leave the power cord plugged in.



2. Remove the computer cover.



3. Touch a metal part of the computer to ground yourself, or use a grounding strap.



4. Locate the ribbon cable connected to the existing hard drive.



5. Change the master/slave designation of the second hard drive (see Related eHows).



6. Connect the second hard drive to the second connector on the cable (colored strip should be closest to the power cable). If the cable does not have a second connector, replace it with one that does, or use a second ribbon cable to attach the second hard drive to the motherboard (if a second drive port is available).



7. Connect an available power cable to the hard drive.



8. Insert the hard drive into an available drive bay and secure with screws.



9. Replace the computer cover.



Add Hard Drive to CMOS Setup



Steps:

1. Start the computer.



2. Enter the CMOS setup program (the system generally indicates which key to press), immediately after memory check.



3. Use arrow keys to select Autodetect option (or comparable option for your computer) if it is available, and press Enter. If this option is not available, see step 5 to manually enter the drive parameters.



4. In the Autodetect screen, enter Y to select the default settings for each drive that is installed and bypass settings for uninstalled drives. The screen will return to the main setup screen. Continue to step 8.



5. To manually enter drive parameters, select the setup screen that displays hard drive parameters (usually Standard or Main screen).



6. Use the arrow keys to scroll through the list of drive parameters.



7. Select the set of parameters that most closely represents your drive and does not exceed the drive volume (such as 2 GB) and press Enter.



8. Press Enter or OK (or Esc if the other keys are not available) to accept the new setting.



9. Use arrow keys to select Save and Exit setup and press Enter. The computer restarts, indicating the presence of the second drive. Your drive is ready.



Overall Warnings:

Always ground yourself and your tools by touching a safe metal surface (such as the computer cover or frame) before handling the hard drive to prevent damage to the electrical components.



Don't mess around inside the computer, especially near the power supply (there should be warning labels), if you don't know what you're poking, to avoid the risk of electric shock.



Handle the hard drive carefully to avoid damaging the circuit board.



Handle the drive cables carefully to keep from bending the cable or pins.





Tips from eHow Users:

Hard Drive Configuration by Bryan

Before installing any hard drive, write down all drive parameters, such as cylinders, heads, and sectors, found on the label in case it is necessary to manually configure the drive in the CMOS setup.



Thanks. Your vote has been counted.Rate this tip:





Invalid sys disk problem. by Matthew Smith

If an invalid sys disk message comes up during boot and there isn't one, it could be because you did not place the jumpers right.

Answer 4

When you take the Old Drive out, look at the connectors and there should be a small plastic jumper. Set it as the slave (it should say on the Hard drive which connectors are slave). Then, just plug the IDE ribbon cable into the drive, the power, and just boot up.

Answer 5

No you won't lose data. You will need to slave the old drive by changing the jumper settings on it. It's difficult to explain if you've never done it before, so I suggest you look this info up on the internet. Look for a site with graphics and step-by-step instructions. Gateway should have a support site that will show you how to do this; you should know your computer's serial number.

Answer 6

You shouldn't. It's saved on the drive.



There is always a possibility that you will damage the hard drive or something won't go as planned so just make sure you back up the really important stuff.

Answer 7

you can do the swap you talk of with no data loss on the new hard drive, since they are non-volitile and don't require power to keep the data they store intact.



you change the jumper on your old hard drive to the slave position (usually has a little picture of what that looks like on the back of your hard drive) and just stick it in your new comp by connecting it to the second ide cable connector (when you first open your computer your new hard drive will be connected to the first ide cable connector).



good luck

Answer 8

You will not lost any data of your new hard disk. because old hard disk is only for read not for write. But make sure that don't overwrite any old hard disk partition to new hard disk partitions. You can set your old hard disk as slave and New hard disk as Master. But recommended is this, you should use two separate cable for both of your hard disks. If you are using two separate cables then no need to set your hard drive at slave or master setting. If you want to set your old hard disk to slave setting. You should change the jumper. You can find Jumper beside of your data or power cables. Also jumper setting for master or slave is mentioned at the top sticker of your hard disk. You can easily set this jumper location at slave or master. then in windows you will see 2 hard disks in your MY Computer. You can copy your old hard disk data to your New hard disk free space. Like that you have 6 GB free space in your new hard disk you should copy your data to this free space. Don't overwrite old file to new hard disk files. specially C:\Windows & C:\Program files folder. U should make a new folder in your new hard disk and copy all of your old data to this new folder in your new hard disk. With this mathod you will not loss any of your data. Thanks Good bye

Answer 9

just plug the old hard drive into the second ide port if it has one if not there is a usb cable out now that can make any ide hard drive an external hard drive if your interested e-mail me my address is

[e-mail]

Answer 10

yeah, like he said...