Hey.

I just bought a new computer and wanted to intall my old hd in the new computer,i connected it and it shows in windows and in administrate and i marked it as active.
But when i tried to access it it says 'You have to format the hd to use it'.
Is there anything i can do to access it without formatting and loose all my data?

Fletch19.

I use an external USB HD enclosure for that. That way I can use the HD that came with the PC for the system drive and I can still have access to whatever data is on the old drive.

Thanks for the quick reply :)

But i don't really get what you mean.

Btw. i forgot to say,i Only have my new computer now,my old computer is dead.
And the only thing i have left is my HD from the old computer and it won't work in the new one.
Btw.it says it's a RAW drive in administrate,don't know if that means anything?

Fletch19.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...

I use one of those to read old drives. You put the drive in it and connect it to a USB port. Windows will give it a drive letter.

If the drive is IDE, make sure you buy an IDE enclosure. If it's SATA, buy SATA.

Thanks again for the quick replies :)
I have an external HD but the one that dont work in my new computer is an internal HD,and since it don't work in my new computer i can't transfer the data to my external drive.

Fletch19.

No. not an external HD, an external HD ENCLOSURE. That's a box that holds the old HD. Then you connect it to a USB port and boot the machine. Put the new HD back in your PC.

The point is that the drive shows in windows but is not detected correctly. Putting it in a USB enclosure does not mean it will detect correctly.

1. Do not do anything to activate a format of the drive.
2. What was the problem with the old computer?
3. Has the hard drive been tested?
4. How are you connecting the drive, is it the only drive on the cable?

Richard

It's detected but it won't run because all the drivers are different. That won't matter with the HD enclosure. I do it all the time.