Re: Can copied files work on another hard drive? by MtnLadyinBlackHills1986
MtnLadyinBlackHills1986
Sat Aug 23 19:56:01 PDT 2008
Thanks for trying to help. I will be the first to admit that I am a novice.
I won't be attempting the change-over. My hubby is much more computer
hardware literate than me and he's been too busy to discuss the whole process
with me. So I thought I'd ask questions here. Anyway, wish me luck.
If my computer does crash, I will probably refer back here to get
information about transferring my email over to Vista.
I remember the good old days when they said you could "never hurt a
computer"! LOL
"Richard in AZ" wrote:
>
> "MtnLadyinBlackHills1986" <MtnLadyinBlackHills1986@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:36E447E9-F496-47D5-9ADC-6D0BEDC7EA1D@microsoft.com...
> | Thank you for replying. I'm sorry I didn't make myself clear in this last
> | post. The other hard drive is an extra one, with all the files from my main
> | hard drive (C) copied onto it. My computer OS is Windows XP.
>
> Just copying files over to a new drive does not make it work as a system disk. There are "cloning"
> programs that will do this.
> The you have to switch places on the cable (ata drives) if the drives are jumpered for "cable
> select" identification, or you have to jumper the drives for "master" and "slave" as required. Not
> a difficult task, but not something for a real novice to try either.
>
> |
> | My husband has told me that when he bought me the additional hard drive, he
> | used software tools to make that drive a "system disk". But he has never
> | actually tried to convert the additional hard drive into the main drive. So
> | he doesn't know if it will work.
> |
> | The Vista I'm referring to is an entirely different computer (my hubby's
> | laptop) that I'm using to write to you, since my Internet won't work. I
> | considered using this computer for my email and that's why I brought up that
> | subject. I'm sorry if I made it sound confusing - like I have both XP and
> | Vista on my computer on different drives. I will not consider switching my
> | email over to this computer (with Vista) unless my own computer "crashes and
> | burns".
>
> Okay, but bringing your email messages, and address book, is not a big chore.
>
> |
> | Thank you again, Richard and Mark for trying to help me out of this mess. I
> | appreciate it! :-)
> |
> | "Richard in AZ" wrote:
> |
> | >
> | > "MtnLadyinBlackHills1986" <MtnLadyinBlackHills1986@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> | > news:1DAC94B3-3C14-4154-8F5D-C67E15FE6699@microsoft.com...
> | > |I posted about my problem below (cannot get Internet or Help to work, etc.)
> | > | I'm a novice, so please forgive my lack of knowledge. I have all the files
> | > | on my main hard drive (C) copied onto another hard drive in my computer. I
> | > | know I should have done a backup - "famous last words".
> | > |
> | > | It has been suggested that I swap the cables on my hard drives and in
> | > | effect, make the other hard drive the main one. Could this work? The other
> | > | programs (Word, Excel, Windows Explorer, etc.) still work on the computer. I
> | > | would use Internet on this computer but I can't save my email files, as I
> | > | have Outlook Express on that computer and this one has Windows Mail (Vista
> | > | operating system).
> | > |
> | > | Sorry for the long post. If anyone can suggest anything, I would really
> | > | appreciate the help.
> | >
> | > If your word "files" means your personal documents that you created, then yes you can get these
> to
> | > work on a new computer, assuming you have the same program (that you used to create these files)
> | > installed on the new computer.
> | >
> | > If you mean the program files (like Word, Excel, etc.) then no these programs will not run from
> the
> | > other disk.
> | >
> | > Swapping cables most likely will not work either. (However, you don't provide enough
> information to
> | > accurately say.)
> | > The "other hard drive" would have to have been setup as a "System Disk" in this computer.
> | >
> | > It sounds like you had Windows XP on the computer, and then upgraded to Vista. Did you have XP
> | > operating off the "other hard drive"? Or did you install Vista onto the existing hard drive
> and
> | > the other drive is just a spare?
> | >
> | > You can transfer your Outlook Express mail over to Windows Mail if you saved the complete
> folder
> | > where Outlook Express had been saving your email. On XP, this folder was typically a hidden
> folder
> | > located on the C drive, then inside the "Documents and Settings" folder, then inside the
> "User's"
> | > (that could be your name) folder, then in the "local settings" folder, then inside the
> "applications
> | > data" folder, then inside the "identities" folder, then inside the "{long number} folder, then
> | > inside the "Microsoft" folder. The final folder you want is named "outlook express".
> | >
> | > If you have this folder saved, and can see it in the Vista Explorer, you can import these
> messages
> | > using Windows Mail.
> | > Let us know if you have this folder and we will tell you how to import them.
> | >
> | >
> | >
>
>
>