switching hard drives

tmcg38 · Dec 13, 2009

I have a Dell Inspiron that no longer powers up.I have a Compaq that has a compatible hard drive. Is it possible to put the Dell into the Compaq to retrieve data? They both are Windows Vista. My daughter has a finals project on the broken Dell and we need to get it off! Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You
Terry McG.

Cobra · Dec 13, 2009

Yes, you can take the hard drive out of the Dell and put it in the Compaq. It should show up as a second drive when you boot the Compaq and you'll be able to copy data from it.

plodr · Dec 13, 2009

Just to clarify, you can not switch the hard drives. The Compaq will not boot with a Dell hard drive because the hardware is different. You can put the Dell hd into the Compaq but keep the Compaq hard drive in too.
If you don't wish to open the Compaq up, you can buy an adapter to attach an internal hard drive to another computer through a USB port.

Here's an example of an adapter
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...re=ide_to_usb_adapters-_-12-232-002-_-Product

Note: If both of the computers in question are laptops, you need to get an adapter for a 2.5" hard drive, NOT the one I gave as an example.

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switching hard drives

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