switching HDD's

[maczak]

My pc from pcs got dispatched yday some Im hoping it comes tommorow!... I just have one question though, will I be able to take the hdd out of my old computer and just insert it to my new computer in a different slot? It will only be temporary as I have a lot of files and etc I want to transfer.

I am a bit new to this but it shouldnt pose any problems am I right?

 

[vanthus]

That should be ok so long as it's a sata HDD.

 

[maczak]

That should be ok so long as it's a sata HDD.

What is that exactly? I right clicked on my hdd and it says its a st336032as ATA device. Would that be fine ?

 

[yonchu]

The model number looks like it might be SATA but I can't really find anything on it that says so definitely. The best way to tell is to see the type of wire and connector used to connect the HDD. SATA wires are generally thin compared to IDE and look like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SATA_Data_Cable.jpg

IDE wires are very wide (due to their parallel data transfer nature): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nappe.svg

 

[vanthus]

What is that exactly? I right clicked on my hdd and it says its a st336032as ATA device. Would that be fine ?

Not sure if thats a SATA or IDE,it would really need to be an old computer not to be a SATA,
you would need to check the connections physically to make sure.
but not to worry,there are various ways of transferring your files without taking the hard drive out.

 

[maczak]

Not sure if thats a SATA or IDE,it would really need to be an old computer not to be a SATA,
you would need to check the connections physically to make sure.
but not to worry,there are various ways of transferring your files without taking the hard drive out.

Yeah my computer is actually about 8 years old now hah, so glad to get rid of it. How else could I transfer my data? my external hardrive is broken at the moment :S

 

[vanthus]

Well I was going to suggest an external hard drive.Depending on how much data you want to copy over you could use a usb flash drive,might take a while if you have a lot.
Or you could use Windows Easy Transfer.
Windows Easy Transfer supports transfers using any of the following methods:
1) USB Easy Transfer Cable
2) Network connection
3) Removable media (such as a USB flash drive or external hard disk)
you need a special usb cable for the first method,
I used the second method,all you need to do is connect both computers to your router with an ethernet cable then follow the easy tansfer wizard.
There are other methods but I think those are the easiest options.

 

[maczak]

awesome, Il do the second method. Thanks for your help