Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org.
QUESTION: We have an old XP PC that won’t boot up so we just bought a new Windows 7 PC. How can we retrieve our files from the old PC?
PC CLUB: Based on my experience, when a PC fails to boot, it’s still possible to retrieve the files from the hard drive. There are several ways to do this and they’re all fairly easy. The main factor is having a few tools on hand which are all inexpensive. The first step in the process is to remove the hard drive. This may require the use of a small screwdriver, usually a Phillips head. You can watch a video of the process at http://bit.ly/removehd. The first drive that is removed in the video is an IDE drive and the second one is a SATA drive. If you have difficulty removing the drive you may be able to connect to it as described below. Also, you may be able to have the drive removed by a local computer store for a small fee. These stores include most Staples and Office Depot locations.
The next step is to acquire one of two devices, an external hard drive enclosure or USB to SATA/IDE Combo kit. They’re referred to as a Bridge Adapter kit and are available on line from many places including USB Gear at www.usbgear.com. The advantage of the adapter kit is that it works with SATA or IDE drives and is less expensive than an enclosure. Enclosures, especially ones that can handle both drive types can cost up to $69. The other advantage of the adapter kit is that you may be able to connect to the hard drive without removing it from the case.
Once you’re connected to the drive you can connect the USB cable to your new PC and access your old drive like any other drive. Using the tools built into Windows is not the best way to transfer files since there is only a single drive panel in Windows Explorer. This makes it difficult to copy files by dragging and dropping. I prefer to use a file manager with dual file panels so I can show the old drive in one panel and the new PC’s drive in the other. The Free Commander at http://www.freecommander.com/ is a good way to go. Frequently, you have to start out using My Computer or Computer in Windows 7 to access the old drive to modify all of the file and folder permissions. It’s really quite easy, just navigate to the user files on the old drive and double click the folder to open it and the rest is virtually automatic. If the old drive is from an XP PC, the user files will be located at c:/documents and settings/user name/My Documents. Under this folder are the picture, video and music folders.
There’s a different way to retrieve files from a PC’s hard drive without having direct access to the drive. It’s accomplished by booting the PC from a bootable CD. You can create the CD by following the instructions below if you have three items, a blank CD, a CD burner and a program that you can download from the Internet. Of course you’ll have to be able to boot your PC from this CD that you create. You can read the article at http://bit.ly/bootfromcd or search Google for instructions. You should create this CD before your PC dies or use a friend’s PC to do this.
1. Plug in an external hard drive to your PC. This is where you will save your data files.
2. Go to www.livecd.com, click the Download tab at the top, and click one of the download links to download the Active Boot Disk software. The Demo version will allow you to retrieve your files.
3. Save the file titled BootDiskDemo to your hard drive.
4. Run it to install the program.
5. Create a bootable CD.
6. Boot from the CD.
7. After the program loads click the Start button and click Utilities.
8. Select Explore my Computer.
9. From here you can explore your hard drive and Copy and Paste files to save them onto your external drive.
The web site has a link to the Active Boot Disk Users Guide. For example, it has instructions on burning files to a CD or DVD. Once the program is loaded, you can remove the CD you booted with and substitute a blank CD or DVD. I’ve tried this and it works.
Ed Schwartz is a member of the North Orange County Computer Club. To send in a question, go to edwardns.com and click the Contact Me menu. Archives of previous columns are also on the website.