new laptop - can't copy/paste files from old HD using external USB enclosure

Question

ok, here's my problem:   my inspiron 5150 is out of commission - some kind of power issues that made the computer unusable. dell sent me a replacement inspiron e1705.  i have the hard drive of my old laptop in a USB 2.0 external enclosure. my new laptop recognizes the old hard drive as an 'E:' drive, and i can view and navigate through all of my files from my old hard drive. however, when i try to copy/paste files onto my new hard drive, i am unable to do so. the message i get says: 'Cannot copy - access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.' the files i'm trying to transfer are not in use. neither hard drive is full nor write-protected.   why am i having this problem? i need to get a bunch of stuff off my old drive, including documents, outlook express messages/address books, and mp3s.   thanks for any help with this.

dutchstarr · Answer

just to be clear - i'm not trying to copy my ENTIRE hard drive, just those things on it that i still need, i'd like to be able to pick and choose which files/folders to copy & paste. thanks.

Entropy42 · Answer

Is the external drive formatted as NTFS? Are you logged in as a user with Administrator privileges?

It's sounding like it might be some sort of file permissions problem. (for example, the files are marked as readable only by a certain user, which existed on the old system but not the new one)

BBraxton · Answer

I agree about permissions. Furthermore, my hunch is that the new computer is Windows XP Media Edition and the older one was Windows XP Home.

dutchstarr · Answer

thanks for the input.   i don't know what NTFS is/means. how can i find out if it is?   on my old laptop i did run windows xp home, and this one is Media edition, you are right about that.   on my old one, i didnt ever have to log in a password or anything like that to access my stuff, it was always accessible.   given the above, how should i proceed?   thanks for your help.

BBraxton · Answer

You could try using F8 during boot-up to access the options menu (black and white, not graphics, screen) and choose something like 'Safe mode with networking' or 'Safe Mode' which should give you the option of ADMINISTRATOR login. This might clear up the permissions problem. This other suggestion should make no difference but what if you drag and drop what you want to copy rather than COPY and PASTE ?

jec4312 · Answer

or if nothing else works cut and paste instead of copy paste?

dutchstarr · Answer

the above suggestions didnt work, here's what did, from a friend of mine:

Go to My computer, right click on the E: or external drive, select
Properties, select the Security tab, click the Advanced button near the
bottom, select the Owner tab, in the "Change Owner to:" box, select your
user, check the box "Replace owner on...", click Apply, then OK to leave
all the windows. You should then have access.

NOTE: on my computer, however, i didn't have a "Security" tab under E: Properties, and i found the solution to that one on Gladiator Security Forums. i don't remember how i did it, but i definitely found it there, it took about a minute for me to search for the solution there.

good luck!

E1705guy · Answer

Have you solved your problem yet? I had the same problem and it was because the external drive was not formated NTFS. Both drives must be the same format. After changing my external drive formate to NTFS (same as my laptop) I had no problem transfering files.

E1705guy · Answer

Have you solved your problem yet? I had the same problem and it was because the external drive was not formated NTFS. Both drives must be the same format. After changing my external drive formate to NTFS (same as my laptop) I had no problem transferring files.

Storage, Drives & Media

new laptop - can't copy/paste files from old HD using external USB enclosure

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