Getting info from old HDD when it's in new computer??

General Questions
#1

To keep it short and non-confusing,

Computer #1 = DOA. Probably PSU.

Took HDD from #1 and installed in Computer #2 as main drive, wouldn’t boot, repair, or work in general. (Both have Windows 7 x64 installed and activated)

Put HDD from #2 back into main position, put #1 as second. Computer #2 boots just fine, finds HDD from computer #1 just fine and I browse around, all info is correct and there.

How can I transfer the settings from #1 HDD to #2 HDD?

Ideal would be to transfer all the settings and programs for just one account, I did try to get FF to open, hoping to export the bookmarks etc, but it opens as if I just installed it.

Could anybody help me here??
Thanks

#2

You need to slave the second drive it wont boot because its from a different computer and all the drivers and the like wont match.

These are IDE drives? Make the main one master and the other one slave 1 by moving the jumpbers and install in the pc. you should have at least two ide plugs you may have to undo your cd drive though.

#3

A/ HDD 1 won’t work in computer #2 as it sees a different architecture to that computer the OS was installed upon.

B/ Since it works as a secondary drive on computer #2, and you can copy/paste [ I would log in on computer #2 as administrator for this ] copy your earlier user account to a safe place on HDD2, then either create a new virgin account and overwrite that with the older profile files, or if you are adventurous you could copy over your present profile — but I wouldn’t do that in Windows ( which I don’t use ). In linux this works on the main user account, since everything is just a [ replaceable ] file; but Windows is idiosyncratic.

*Open Explorer > Organize > Folder and Search Options > View tab > check Show hidden files and folders box > OK to save settings.

Now navigate to your C:\Users(Old Username) folder and copy all the files and folders in the C:\Users(Old Username) folder to the C:\Users(New Username) folder. To copy all these files and folders easily, use Ctrl+A, and then Ctrl+C. To paste them use Ctrl+V.*

WinVista Club

#4

The old hard drive is sata, and is happily readable right now, I just don’t know how to pull the info I want and transfer it into the working operating system that is booted up and working fine.

#5

You put both drives in at once and just drag and drop the files. plug both drives in the computer.

#6

Well I did that, created an account, dragged and dropped all the files from her old user account onto the new user account.

Restarted the computer and tried to log in, it just logs off and goes back to the sign in screen.

#7

New tactic, I just copied her entire user profile and pasted over her new account user profile.

Says it will take 30 min to complete.

Could be worse, same kind of action in XP got me the notation that it would be finished in 1 year 7 minutes.

#8

Nope, didn’t work

#9

Well, Wifey just got home.
She kicked me outta the chair, complained I didn’t get it all set up. She is doing it manually now.
(( She is tired and grumpy, just wanted her chair back.)) Wish I could have gotten her set up though.

Why doesn’t the easy way ever work for [del]me[/del] us?

#10

You know, if you are right that the problem with computer #1 is the PSU, you can probably replace that quite cheaply, and have computer #1, with its original, apparently intact hard drive back in it, back in working order. Then you would have have two good, working computers.

#11

Wow. You said you wanted settings, while I think most people were answering how to get files. With settings, you would have used the settings transfer wizard. I’d explain it, but since it’s too late now, I won’t bother.

And I still don’t think that would have gotten all the programs. The only way to do that would be to have cloned the drive onto the new one. And that would have broken the activation. They really don’t want to make it easy to do this sort of thing.

#12

Went over to the local computer graveyard and picked up a psu. Put all the pieces back together again. Everything is working now as it had been before.

So I tried to download the files and settings wizard, it says it isn’t applicable to this computer.
would still like to make a duplicate of her files and settings for a separate computer so I can put her profile on another so she has a backup profile with all her settings, bookmarks, and files. I can handle adding all her programs.

She is still mad that I didn’t just get a psu to begin with, what is she going to do if that old clunker really blows up next time??