Accessing files on old pc without a monitor...

one-non-blonde

OK, so I've just bought a shiny new Dell and given it to the kids (goodness knows why cos it's about 10 times superior to the machine I use :rolleyes:). Is there any way (in words of one syllable please!) I can hook up their old pc to mine to access the files on it and use it as an external hard drive to backup some stuff? Does this have to be done by rummaging around internally (have no idea what the hard drive even looks like, ha ha! ). I can't access the files any other way as I gave away the old crt that I used with it and it doesn't support the resolution of my other LCD monitors.

Also, as my machine only has 256mb memory (yeah, it's an antique), can I just pinch the memory card from the old one and slot it into mine (and expect it to work! )?

dubaiscot

Hi,

In short, you probably will have to open it up and have a rummage inside. You would need to remove the hard drive, and plug it into your new PC.

The alternative is to boot up the old PC (borrow a monitor from a friend?), plug in a USB Hard Drive (you can get them really cheap and they are good for backups) and copy the data that way.

Sorry - but it will be a bot of a fiddle.

rash.m2k

Just hook up the new Monitor to the old one and write the files to a CD (or USB as above) depending on how much data you have. and then just copy it over to the new PC.

Wombat

If you decide to instal the old hard drive as a slave drive in your new computer these may be helpful:

http://www.fonerbooks.com/r_hard.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_6030_install-second-hard.html

http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading/install-hard-drive.htm

http://lifehacker.com/software/feature/how-to-install-a-hard-drive-137179.php

albertross_2

When you attach it to your lcd screen, hit f8 at bootup, go into safe mode, then lower the screen resolution, and reboot, then you should be able to see it on the screens

one-non-blonde

Right... before coming on to check replies (thanks everybody!) I took both machines apart and took the hard drive out of the old one and have plugged it in using the ribbony-cabley thingymajig (to give it its technical term ) and white plug with the red, black and yellow wires that were both connected previously to the cdrom drive. It's now appearing as Local Disk D and (having first run a virus scan) it appears to work! :T Though not quite being on the ball I didn't quite expect the whole operating system to be there :rolleyes: (can this all be wiped after I've shifted the docs I want to the main drive??). So, is what I've done ok? Is the cabling interchangeable with different drives like that (ie rated the same)? At the moment it's just lying loose in the casing as I've not screwed it in yet as obviously not having the cdrom drive in use isn't ideal. I could forego the floppy drive but that uses a different sized white plug so not quite sure what to plug it into. I only seem to have 3 slots for the ribbon cable to plug into on the motherboard so something has to go... :cool:

Also, I seem to recall this drive being about 10gb (it really was an ancient computer!) but only 6gb is appearing when I explore it.

I know it seems an awful lot of hassle to go to considering the price of a reasonably sized external drive! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

one-non-blonde

albertross wrote: »

When you attach it to your lcd screen, hit f8 at bootup, go into safe mode, then lower the screen resolution, and reboot, then you should be able to see it on the screens

I tried this loads of times but couldn't get it to work (nothing ever appeared on the screen apart from 'no signal'). Which is why I ended up forking out £300 on a new pc to go with the new monitor I'd bought and not the other way round! :rolleyes:

albertross_2

one-non-blonde wrote: »

I can't access the files any other way as I gave away the old crt that I used with it and it doesn't support the resolution of my other LCD monitors.

?

If the above were true, then safe mode would work, it sounds more likely that you have a graphics card or motherboard problem, leading to the nosignal, rather than a resolution issue.

Wombat

one-non-blonde wrote: »

Right... before coming on to check replies (thanks everybody!) I took both machines apart and took the hard drive out of the old one and have plugged it in using the ribbony-cabley thingymajig (to give it its technical term ) and white plug with the red, black and yellow wires that were both connected previously to the cdrom drive. It's now appearing as Local Disk D and (having first run a virus scan) it appears to work! :T Though not quite being on the ball I didn't quite expect the whole operating system to be there :rolleyes: (can this all be wiped after I've shifted the docs I want to the main drive??).

Yes.

one-non-blonde wrote: »

So, is what I've done ok? Is the cabling interchangeable with different drives like that (ie rated the same)?

Yes.

one-non-blonde wrote: »

At the moment it's just lying loose in the casing as I've not screwed it in yet as obviously not having the cdrom drive in use isn't ideal. I could forego the floppy drive but that uses a different sized white plug so not quite sure what to plug it into. I only seem to have 3 slots for the ribbon cable to plug into on the motherboard so something has to go... :cool:

The ribbony cable thingy that is plugged into your main hard drive will sometimes have a spare plug half way along it which can be plugged into your old hard drive. If it hasn't, you can buy or scrounge one. Then plug your other ribbony cable thingy back into your CD-ROM.

one-non-blonde wrote: »

Also, I seem to recall this drive being about 10gb (it really was an ancient computer!) but only 6gb is appearing when I explore it.

I know it seems an awful lot of hassle to go to considering the price of a reasonably sized external drive! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Hmmmm. Not sure why that should happen. Very often it tells you on the label on top of the hard drive how many GB it is. Check that first to confirm your memory is correct.