ok i have a windows xp pc which i am replacing with another 1 with better spek basically i want to know how to move the files and folders i want to keep from 1 to the other so i can sell my current pc and start using my new 1. ive tried plugging the hd from this 1 into the new 1 but it doesnt seem to see it im bit of a comp noob to be honest so if any1 could help it would be much appreciated.

well you dint specify what kind of files and folders you want bak....if they are just music or video files it easy...but if you want your new comp to be exactly the way the old one was you have to use an application called Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost

hi bacup,

Welcome to PCHF.

When you put your current HDD into your new PC, describe what you actually did, which cables you used, and which sockets (if it's IDE, you'll have a primary socket which will be on the end, and a secondary socket which would be in between), and we'll tell you where you went wrong.

well as i said b4 im a bit of a noob when it comes to all this basically what i did was unplug the hd from this pc and plug it into what i assumed were the correct leads in the other one which were coming out the back of that hd but when i went to my computer on the new pc i couldnt find my old hd and all i really want to transfer is music and video and maybe a cpl of programs.

ohk herez how it goes the must be two wires going out of your HD....they must hav similar wires on the other end...one for power the other for data...see if got that right...once done make sure the jumper is set to slave and not master

The reason why I asked as it varies slightly between PC's. I'm assuming your HDD is IDE instead of SATA for this example.



So you will need to use a spare IDE cable, or a socket from that cable and plug it into the IDE connector shown above - left, and also the power connector shown above - right.

If your using the socket on the very end of the ribbon cable, you will to make sure your HDD is set to "Master". If you are using the socket in the middle of the ribbon cable, you will need to set your HDD to "Slave". You can do this by removing the jumper shown above - middle. If you look on the front of your drive, it will tell you which two pins you will need to put the jumper into, to make it "Master" or "Slave".

Once this is done, some systems will pick the drive up automatically. Others you will need to enter BIOS by pressing [DEL] or [F2] when starting, and look for the option to autodetect your HDD.

Once this is done, you will then be able to access the drive from your new PC!

EDIT: Marked as answered I think bacup?

hi guys ive been kinda busy and havent had a chance to try that but a new question for ya the new pc i have is a 320 gig hd which has been partitioned in to 4 sections but also has another user to log in via. however this user is passworded and as my bro is impossible to get in touch with i want to know if i can still format the hd in the usuall way (i know how to do that) then i will use that hd as my back up and the one out of my existing pc as the master ???