# Transferring Info From Old Hard Drive

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transferring-info-from-old-hard-drive/518664>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 23, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transferring-info-from-old-hard-drive/518664 "2009-11-23T18:11:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transferring-info-from-old-hard-drive/518664/1 "2009-11-23T18:11:28Z")

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I have some old hard drives lying around that used to be installed in old computers. For whatever reason I didn’t bother capturing all the programs and files before removing them (mostly because those computers did not write to CDs and had no USB slots, and capturing it all on diskettes was tedious).

What I’m wondering now is if there’s some sort of connecter that has a USB connector on one side and matches up to the hard drive’s connection on the other, such that I might be able to hook it up to a newer computer and simply transfer all the files?

Barring that, is there another way to access the files other than reinstalling them in a computer?

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**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transferring-info-from-old-hard-drive/518664/2 "2009-11-23T18:16:47Z")

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You can buy an external case for your hard drive and install it in that. It will then connect to your computer via USB.

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transferring-info-from-old-hard-drive/518664/3 "2009-11-23T18:34:51Z")

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> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#):
>
> What I’m wondering now is if there’s some sort of connecter that has a USB connector on one side and matches up to the hard drive’s connection on the other, such that I might be able to hook it up to a newer computer and simply transfer all the files?

[Try this. Works like a charm](http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2477926&csid=_25).

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**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transferring-info-from-old-hard-drive/518664/4 "2009-11-23T18:57:22Z")

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Thanks a lot, guys (or gals) 🙂

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**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transferring-info-from-old-hard-drive/518664/5 "2009-11-23T19:58:59Z")

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I’ve used an external drive bay and they’re wonderful things. I had a slight problem, and I don’t remember exactly what it was (something with permissions), but five minutes googling gave me a solution.

Get one, it’s a great thing to have.