Hard drive problems

Question

I have a new E520 purchased 6 months ago. When I boot up, all I get is the is the Windows XP logo with the little loading squares moving left to right and it stays that way. I was on the phone with Dell for about an hour and the guy told me I would have to recover the files I want from the hard drive, restore system and reload files.   So, I bought a new Seagate sata 300 hard drive at Best Buy, put it in the original HD slot, attached the cables, loaded XP onto it from the disk that came with my E520. New Hard drive works OK.   Now the question;   My original hard drive is now in the additional slot next to the new one but no cables hooked to it yet. What is the procedure for getting the files I want to keep and putting them on the new Hard drive? I would then format original HD and use for storage and back-up.   Thanks, Jeff

ejn63 · Answer

Attach the drive to the system, power up, go into setup and enable the corresponding SATA port. Boot into Windows and take ownership of the files you wish to copy (you'll need to do this in Safe Mode if it's XP Home; Pro can adjust permissions in protected mode).

Taking ownership:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

Then copy your data.

The Thinker · Answer

Thank you very much. I am hoping I will not have to bother you again.   Jeff

The Thinker · Answer

ejn63   Thanks for the rapid reply.    Once I am in setup, I understand what I am suppose to do. Once I assign the new hard drive, how do I get to safe mode from there? Also, both hard drives have XP on them. Will that be a problem?   Forgive me but I know enough to get me into trouble.   Thanks, Jeff

ejn63 · Answer

F8 will get you into safe mode. The system should boot from your new install of Windows.

neilmark · Answer

Dont forget to set the Original Hard Drive to "Slave" by selecting the right jumper settings. You may also unable to access the other drive's file because of security issues.

http://www.waterwheel.com/Guides/how_to/magnetic_drives/magnetic_drives.htm

shesagordie · Answer

@neilmark wrote:
Dont forget to set the Original Hard Drive to "Slave" by selecting the right jumper settings. You may also unable to access the other drive's file because of security issues.

http://www.waterwheel.com/Guides/how_to/magnetic_drives/magnetic_drives.htm

Please note: SATA hard drives do not have 'jumpers' or 'jumper settings' same as IDE drives.

The hard drive connected to the motherboard SATA port-0, is the Master.

Bev.

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