How to Read an Old Hard Drive on a Computer
Oftentimes, the best way to ensure fast and efficient computing is to purchase a new machine. But even if your old computer is slow or damaged, there may be data on the hard drive that you want to save. If you don't want to install your old hard drive into your new computer, it is still possible to read the drive with your new PC and pull data from the old machine using an adapter cable.
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Instructions
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Set your old hard drive on a flat surface next to your new PC's tower case.
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Connect the hard drive's power cable (that came with your adapter) to an outlet, then connect the other end to the back of the hard drive. For IDE drives you must plug a 4-pin power connector into the back of the hard drive. For SATA hard drives you will connect a SATA power connector. USB hard drive adapters will come with the appropriate power cable attachments.
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Wait for the hard drive to turn on. You should hear it spin up.
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Plug the adapter cable into the back of your old hard drive. The adapter consists of a solid plastic part with several plugs, and a USB cord coming out of the solid plastic piece. For IDE drives, the solid part of the adapter plugs directly into the back of the hard drive. For SATA drives you must plug a SATA interface cable into the adapter, then plug the other end of the cable into the back of the hard drive. Your adapter should come with a SATA interface cable.
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Connect the USB end of the adapter to a USB port on your new computer. The hard drive will appear as an external storage device in your drive list, allowing you to drag and drop files to and from your desktop.
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Tips & Warnings
You can use your adapter to connect any external hard drive to the USB port of any computer. Instead of getting rid of old hard drives, you can use them as external drives to back up or transfer data.
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Resources
- Photo Credit SATA connector. A close up. Isolated on a white background. image by Andrey Khritin from Fotolia.com
