Winxp ide hd to win7 sata hd

Machiavelli09

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Dec 12, 2010
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So I just bought a new system for gaming. My older system was 6 years old and on winxp with an ide hard drive. The new system is going to have win7 and a sata.

Since I don't need the xp os, how would I best/easily transfer my files to the new sata from the ide? I suppose i'd just need the basic stuff, music, docs, and some programs.

And fyi, I'm not familiar with the whole 2 hds so if someone suggests that, please explain how that all works.

Thanks

Edit: Sorry I wasn't clear enough. Previous comp fried so all I have is the old ide hd.
 

wombat_tg

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Nov 26, 2010
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Just put all the files you want onto a USB drive. Then copy from USB drive to new computer. Easy!
 

wombat_tg

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Yup.

Set up as slave drives they'll mount just like a data drive. The only possible wrinkle it is an IDE drive, so if your mobo doesn't want to play nice you might need to do a little fiddling around with it.

That's why I kind of smile and nod at folks who assure me their data is protected thanks to their OS password.

Their data isn't protected if I go into their case, remove their harddrive(s) and plug them into my own mobo as slaves. :p Watch me cavort in your data!

(now if their directories are encrypted, that's a different story. ^_^)
 

Supermuncher85

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You can also buy an ide to usb cable like this one:
http://www.buy.com/prod/usb-2-0-to-sata-ide-2-5-3-5-hard-drive-hdd-converter-cable/q/sellerid/18700237/loc/101/210679778.html if installing seems too daunting. Seems like a waste though if it's for a one-time use(by the way I don't own this product, it's just an example. If you want I can link one that I have personal experience with and works).

If your installing the IDE drive (giant ribbon looking like thing inside) read this short thing prior to installing http://freepctech.com/pc/001/installing_ide_devices.shtml
will explain how the master/slave system works. Your hard drive will have a jumper in the back that will need to be changed from master to slave in order for it to be accessible. Once you set the jumper into the correct place and installed the drive, it should really be as easy as powering on the computer and opening the hard drive in windows explorer to browse and copy the files.

 

Machiavelli09

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Dec 12, 2010
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It pretty much is a one time thing. I pretty much need the files off of it and then I'm done with it. Like I said earlier, I don't really understand the how or why of 2 hds and since my new one is 1TB, I'm pretty sure that's plenty of space for a few games.

Thanks for the help.