Member Avatar for tig1124

Hi, I'm a very, very newbie to this forum.

I have a Gateway desktop running Windows ME that has started to die and I want to remove the hard drive, put it in an enclosure, and use it as an external drive for my Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop which is running Windows XP Pro.

The Gateway has lost the ability to spin up CDs so I can't install PC Mover to retrieve the data from the hard drive and this is why I want to do this.

My question is this: do I need to add anything to my Dell in order to do this? I've got a FreeAgent external drive that I use now that connects directly thru a USB and have no problems.

And, I don't want to create any problems on my laptop, but I really need to get the data from the hard drive on the PC.

Can anyway point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

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As and already touched on, using a desktop drive as a USB external for an XP laptop is a common, safe way to recover files — XP will see a properly connected drive as removable storage and won’t “install” anything onto it. A few practical checks and precautions will avoid the common hiccups people run into.

First, confirm the drive’s file system before letting any machine offer to reformat it. On the laptop, right‑click the drive in My Computer → Properties → File system to see FAT32 or NTFS. If an older machine cannot read that file system it may prompt to format — do not accept that. If the laptop can read the disk, copy the needed folders off it first (always copy, don’t move) and keep the original until the copy is verified.

Second, identify the drive interface so you buy the right adapter/enclosure: SATA uses a slim L‑shaped data plug (plus a separate wide power plug), while PATA/IDE uses a wide 40‑pin ribbon-style connector (laptop PATA is often 44‑pin). 3.5" desktop drives need an external power supply in the enclosure; 2.5" laptop drives are usually USB‑powered. For a one‑time pull, a USB‑to‑SATA/IDE adapter is cheapest; for long‑term use get an enclosure made for the specific drive type.

Finally, common practical tips: power the PC off and ground yourself before removing the drive; disable Autorun on the laptop before connecting an unknown disk; if NTFS permissions block files, run the laptop as an Administrator and take ownership via Properties → Security → Advanced → Owner (turn off Simple File Sharing if needed); and always use “Safely Remove Hardware” before unplugging. These steps recover data without risking the laptop.

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Member Avatar for digitalocksmith

Have you got enough space on the FreeAgent external to hook it up to the Gateway desktop (via USB) and copy the data you need of its internal drive?

Once this is done, then you could reconnect the FreeAgent to the lappy and copy the required data to its HDD or removable disc (DVD), thus enabling you to delete it from the external and freeing up your valuable space?

Its a bit of mucking around, but it will work.

You might also be better off just installing a new optical drive in the desktop (they are cheap these days) and ghosting an image or copying the data of the drive to disc/s rather than going through the extra hassle and expense of making an internal drive an external USB interface with enclosure simply for the purpose of retreiving data?

Member Avatar for tig1124

Have you got enough space on the FreeAgent external to hook it up to the Gateway desktop (via USB) and copy the data you need of its internal drive?

Once this is done, then you could reconnect the FreeAgent to the lappy and copy the required data to its HDD or removable disc (DVD), thus enabling you to delete it from the external and freeing up your valuable space?

Its a bit of mucking around, but it will work.

You might also be better off just installing a new optical drive in the desktop (they are cheap these days) and ghosting an image or copying the data of the drive to disc/s rather than going through the extra hassle and expense of making an internal drive an external USB interface with enclosure simply for the purpose of retreiving data?

Thanks for replying digitallocksmith. Yeah, the FreeAgent has 250GB of space with only 5% used, and I've tried that. But for some reason the PC wants to reformat it and I don't want it reformatted. I assume the reformatting issue may be because I had it hooked up to my laptop first which is running the XP OS.

I don't want to restore or salvage the PC for continued personal use - I'm going to donate it to a local youth rec center for them to use after they refurbish it. That's why I'd like to take it out and make it into an external storage drive.

Given that the laptop is using a different OS than the PC, are there issues with doing this? I don't want to foul up my laptop by being ignorant, so that's why I'm looking to see if there is going to be compatibility issues.

Thanks for your assistance!

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