Transfer files from old hd to new hd

[r4m]

My computer is down. Trying to transfer all files from old computer to newer one.
PAIN!!!
Old one has a 40 gig HD
Newer one has 160 gig
Put old hard drive in new computer as slave but can't access the files!!!
Go to: Documents and settings/ Owner
Get the message: Owner not accessible. Access denied.

Any ideas?
Thanks
Bill

[canuk62]

Hi Bill, not sure if you checked the other thread, as there is (supposedly) an easy foolproof software for that..has here tried it ? Worth $40?(will need to figure this out as well...help! ..watching this thread!

Thanks in advance!
http://www.laplink.com/pcmover/

[Paulo]

Bill,
I know that's not a great help but, i've done that some times and I just don't understand why the new computer can't read the old drive unless if it is not propely configured or damadged.

Check both hard drives configuration... Maybe the new hard drive is configured wrongly too...

One has to be master and the other slave.

[r4m]

Thanks guys,
I think I got it figured out now. I had to put the old drive back in my old computer and move everything to shared documents. Then I put the old drive back in as slave in new computer. Now I am able to access the files in shared documents.
Once I get everything transferred to new drive I will format the old and have another 40 gig backup drive that I can store files.

So I went from 40 gig to 200 gig. 

The 40 gig was so full it wouldn't function properly. 

Now I can also pull the ram out of the old computer to make 1 gig for new computer.

[r4m]

Well........got it all up and running and it died!!
Been working on it since. Up and down......etc
Prolly need a new computer but I want an amp too! Can't have both!
Be lucky to get one!!
So.....we'll see!

[j]

Bill, when you say "it died".. what's it doing exactly?

[r4m]

First off....my 4o gig hd was full. Video card on mother board was bad. So I put a cheapie in. Also been having problems with the computer acting weird. Just doing off the wall stuff, if you know what I mean? I figured it was from the hd being full.
So my son gave me another computer. I has a 160 gig hd. Couldn't get it to boot up though. So I messed with it and finally got it to boot up.
I formatted the hd and loaded windows xp on it. I then transferred the music files from my old computer to the new one. I hooked up my Layla 24/96 sound card on it. Gathered ram from both computers and put it in the new one. Started loading all my software. For no reason it would just shut off and reboot. So I continued loading softwqre. Then I started getting noise through my soundcard. (like a feedback) As I booted my outlook express mail program the noise went away. As my computer would sit idle the noise would start coming back. Then when I started working with a program it would go away.
Then the computer would shut off again in the middle of mixing a song.
Then the computer would shut of while browsing online.
Then the computer would shut of while doing another minor task.
So I backed all my music files up to the 40 gig hd that I formatted for storage.
Then I formatted the 160 gig hd again. The computer shut off again after I got it up. So I tried to put the 160 gig hd in the other computer box but it didn't recognize the hardware. (Prolly due to different computer)
Then I tried to format the 160 gig hd so I could load the operating system from that box which is a Dell. I had reason to believe the Dell had to have the software loaded from the Dell Disc. But it wouldn't let me format the hd.
So I said "FORGET IT!!!! I had to put it aside before I got the 16 lb sledge hammer out to fix it!!!! This thing has had me tied up for days of formatting and loading all my software and then shutting down. etc....
I have 2 cars broke down also. And a 3rd car needing attention as well. Do you feel my frustration yet!!!!
Not to mention, I found an amp I want to buy! I'm leaning heavily toward buying the amp!!
So right now I am letting my mind and temper settle down.
 

[j]

yeah, I feel you there.. it's always something.. the computer, the car, the plumbing, the air conditioner.. yep!!

well to start you gotta get it to a point to where it stays on. Could it be running hot? heat will cause that rebooting for no apparant reason.. if it happens enough it can corrupt your MBR and will cause it to freeze and reboot before windows loads. so I would start by cleaning out your fans and cooling fins on your heatsink (all this assuming you haven't done so yet)

or you may have bad memory. take out all peripheral cards and see if it goes through POST. Then pull out your ram completely and try one stick at a time..  if the rebooting is still random and you can't identify a bad memory stick, try swapping your power supply. The squeal or feedback could be a bad sound card or could be a short, possibly the motherboard.. that noise is definitely a hardware issue and a short can cause your pc to reboot.. you don't smell burning plastic do ya?

to tshoot you have to identify your hardware issues first, which you definitely have one. without the soundcard in, enable the onboard sound (assuming at this point you can get into your BIOS setuip) if it squeals, you will need a new motherboard. I had a similar problem once only to find a lost screw jammed up against the back side of the MoBo causing a short. There are a lot of possibilities especially when dealing with a combination of hardware/software problems.. it's just a matter of stripping it down and eliminating possibilities.

I've used Tiger Direct for many years, and just built a really nice AMD box for my son, with one of their barebones kits.. all for around $300.. you might just start with a new motherboard and proc (always a good time to treat yourself to an upgrade)

Once you get it to POST reliably and can get the thing to recognize your CD Drive, you should be able to use your XP cd to load windows. As a last resort you may have to format that drive as well. But just reinstalling windows without formatting will keep your files intact.

or you could always just buy that amp..     good luck!

[TallPaul]

If you have two sticks (or more) RAM in there, make sure they are compatible. For example, some motherboards use dual channel RAM and need to be in matched pairs of RAM. You can check your motherboards requirements at sites like Crucial.com and then get the specs of each RAM stick to see if it matches the motherboard requirements (via a Google search using the RAM part numbers).

I would also see if you can create an Ultimate Boot Disk. It takes a little to get there. But then I would run tests on the RAM and your hard drives as a minimum.

Also, the POST notes given below are good to follow. With all non-essential hardware removed (ie, all you have is RAM, hard drive, and video), can you get the PC to post and get into the BIOS? Will it stay in the BIOS or does it auto shut down? Is the CPU fan running?