moving important files

I have a 2 TB HDD with all of my good stuff on it. Unfortunately, as I have complained here a few times, my WIN 7 OS is shot. It can no longer process updates and has 32 stacked up now. I have gone through all of the usual crap to try and address this problem to no avail. I am sure that I have a couple of seriously corrupted files that are unrepairable.

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Now I have gone to a new drive - a 500 GB solid state HDD and installed a fresh new copy of WIN 7 on that. It has done all of the usual Microsoft update stuff and now appears to be stable. My problem is this: I cannot access the stuff on my old drive any more and that is precisely what I want to do.

It would be just fine if I could get to my pictures and games etc resident on that drive. It would equally acceptable if they were all on the new drive and I could access them. I cannot use the new drives migration software as it will not work if there is an operating system on the new drive OR if there is NOT an operating system on the old drive. I DO NOT want to keep the copy of WIN 7 that is resident on the old drive as it is shot, ruined, non-functional and useless. I have spent way too much time doinking around with it, have the OS on the new drive and am ready to move on myself.

Questions:

1) Is there any way that I can get the OS on the new HDD to list, display & allow me access to my programs and data resident on the old drive?

failing that...

2) Is there any way that I can migrate my programs and data but NOT the bad copy of WIN 7 from that drive to the new one?

I have tried a simple standard copy and paste, but that did not work. I do not want to use the proprietary migration software as that will just move my current problem to the new drive. I could try a restore from the back up drive but am afraid that it will also write my bad OS over the new good one.

Any thoughts/suggestions beyond starting over and installing everything on the new drive piece by piece?

 

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i'm confused.
did you buy a new machine and now want all of your stuff from the old drive?
if so then it should be a simple matter of connecting the old drive to an existing IDE connector.
you might need to reconfigure your BIOS on the new machine but most will automatically reconfigure themselves with new drives.
the old drive must be set as slave if your machine has only one IDE cable.
if you have only one IDE port and both connectors are used then unplug the one that isn't the new drive (probably the cd/dvd drive).
the only problem will be with using cable select.

the same might also apply to a SATA drive.

USB drives will be picked up as soon as you plug them in ( or should ).

 

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Are you sure that you have the permission to access those files. Seems like to me you need to go into properties of that usb drive, and goto security and goto permissions, and grant access to your new user account on your new os install.

I think from what you wrote thats all you need.

What you should do in future if you get your problems sorted is make a back up of your c drive as soon as you have everything you need installed. Thats way you can go back and start afresh without installing everything again.

 

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Try:

Accessories:

System tools

Windows easy transfer

 

That looks like it might do the trick, though it didn't open like that on this system...I will have to get Easy Transfer to run on the old hard drive first so I can get a transfer key. May have to exterior mount it or something weird like that. Haven't quit figured that out yet, will look some more tomorrow.

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Andy:

I have a computer with a hard drive running Windows 7 home professional.

Windows 7 has developed corrupted files and cannot run properly any more. It cannot load & install updates any more and cannot be fixed with any available tools. The data on that hard drive is very important to me.

I bought and installed a new hard drive in my computer. I also installed a new motherboard. When I did that I installed a new copy of Windows 7 home professional on the new drive and the new motherboard chipset drivers (also very important).

Now the old drive is still in the computer and I want to access the data on it. It would be fine if I could move it to the new drive without ruining the new operating system or chipset drivers. That way I can access my data without dealing with a faulty, unrepairable copy of windows 7.

While I can look at the data, what I want to do is to open say, Steam, and play Skyrim. When I open up the Steam folder there are perhaps 50 folders and none of them do that. I want the Steam login icon back on my desktop so I can just click on it to bring up Steam then click on Skyrim to play that. I do not want to spend 70 hours trying to find the right folder to click to do that. I also want to access the 3 - 4000 or so pictures on that drive so I can go back to working with them because I sell those to help me make a living.

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I have not found the pix yet either....

I will try to get Easy Transfer working, thanks brother Buddha. I will let you know what happens.....

 

Good luck and no problem in giving you the way it might be done.

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LOL set boot jumper to slave, confirm in bios, show up in My Computer. CtrlC CtrlV. LMFAO

 

Yeah, that would have worked a few years ago with a more primitive machine and OS, congrats. :golf clap:

SATA means no 'master - slave' relations between HDD's. Instead they are just SATA 1 - SATA 6, though you get to choose boot priority in BIOS. (If you try to boot from a drive that does not have the MB chipset drivers resident it will crash, however) There is no longer any place to plug in those wide old IDE master/slave cables either on the MB or the HDD.

Things have changed since the last time you opened a case, Rotflmfaofkkr.

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Yes, I can get access to the old drive by configuring it as the boot drive on the old motherboard as the chipset drivers are resident for that MB, but the solid state HDD is on the new motherboard and it has the chipset drivers on it. The copy of WIN 7 on the old drive has a corrupted file that disallows the installation of any new software, including the new motherboard chipset drivers.

I have acquired a new case and power supply and assembled a new system built around the old HDD so I can fire up 'easy transfer' and try to do what Buddha suggested by cabling the new setup to the old setup in its new case. You need 2 complete systems to use that program as someone as klever as you should know.

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LMAO . ur filez might mak it accross the wire but not the appz. since u'd need to merge regisstries LOL. if u want the old OS to list on new machine, u need to add it to the MBR (or UEFI) table http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee851681.aspx. THEN U CAN DO BOTH! But Ill also add, you could launch virtualizer vmware or vbox directly boot from unmounted block device (your broken HD). Then you can initiate fil transfer over network bridge

 

Thnxz, wl ck it.

 

Hmmm, here is another option I was unaware of:

http://www.zinstall.com/products/zinstall-winwin

Any thoughts on this product?

 

I would not spend 120.00 on that program because you only use it one time then you won't need it again. Try the other suggestions first and if they fail just take your HD to a professional to let them do the work, it will cost you something but less than 120.00 I'm sure.

 

you can't run this product if your old OS doesn't boot.
you also apparently need an ethernet card and its drivers installed.

 

If WinWin transfers the program files/programs from the HDD disc to the solid state HDD it is worth the $120 as I have a lot of expensive programs that I do not want to rebuy for the SSHDD, such as Adobe CS, Bryce, Carara and other such. Additionally, the drive across the big city to take it to a professional, then go back and get it when it is repaired would cost me more than that out of my work time. I suspect that a pro would merely chuck both drives into a drive transfer setup and fire it up. To all appearances the old HDD is just fine...until you shut the system down and it attempts to install 33 updates....every time you shut it down. :bugeye: I can see multiple trips to the computer place if I go that route, having been in similar straits before vis a vis the 'professionals'.

The old HDD is now resident in a new case and is the core of a new system. It boots OK and all of my stuff runs. The problem is that WIN 7 cannot install updates any more and could not install other software. The motherboard network connection works fine as does the MB network connection on the new solid state drive/Sabertooth MB system.

If I can get all of my goodies from the old HDD to the new SSHDD I can try a complete reinstall of WIN 7 on the old HDD as it won't matter if I lose my stuff as long as I have a copy on the new SSHDD. I really don't want to lose those programs and photos though. Ideally, I could have got WIN 7 to repair itself and skipped all of this hassle, bit it couldn't do that despite much effort.

If I try Windows Easy Transfer I will need to buy a special transfer cable that will run me $20 - $30 and won't transfer my program files. If I try a complete restore from one of my backup drives to the new SSHDD I am afraid it will corrupt the copy of WIN 7 that is resident on that drive now. Then I will end up in the same space as I already am, but the problem will be on the new SSHDD as well as the old HDD. There is no rush and I can afford a few bucks to fix this. If I learn something on the way more the better.

My hope is that a serious discussion of my issue here at Sciforums will show me a clear path and illuminate the possible solutions strengths and weaknesses before I jump.

 

if you go the route outlined in post 2 you can preserve everything from the old drive, but . . .
you will need to either:
1. merge the old registry with the new one.
screwing with the registry can make your OS unusable at worse and unstable at best.
proceed at your own risk.
2. manually reinstall all the old stuff.
some apps don't need installed, just create a desktop shortcut and you're done.

invest in an external storage medium of large capacity, steer clear of USB drives because of intermittents.

 

Yes, I have been considering setting up a home server for mass storage, that would address these issues more effectively by way of a solid backup.

 

OK, an update.

I decided to try Zinstall Winwin which promises to completely move everything (photos, pictures, video, programs applications etc) from your old computer to a new one for $120 US. It took about 5 hours to do its thing. When the new computer booted up, the screen background was similar to what it should be, but not quite right.

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The system did not recognize my top end Radeon video card, my top end sound card, my 24 inch professional grade NEC monitor...and none of my software worked...including Steam with my 40 some - odd games.

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uke: After several hours of dicking around with it I shut it down and went for a complete reinstall of WIN 7. I accept that I will have none of my stuff at all on the new system and will have to re-buy and reinstall all of it. That means thousands of USD.

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I have emailed Zinstall and told them of my displeasure, also that I am reversing the charges due to their inability to deliver product as advertized. It flat out does not work - period.

The photos are still on the old drive, I will copy and paste them to the new drive when it is functional again, despite that it will be long and tedious. I accept that there is currently no technical solution to this issue and it must be addressed with the "brute force" method. That means a "new system" is just that - a new system that must be completely built from the ground up. I will just have to C & P anything I want on that new system as I go along, which sucks IMHO.

Further, my old WIN 7 system cannot be connected to the Internet as it tries and fails to load updates on every shutdown. If I can shut off the update manager I will do so. Unfortunately winwin forced me to uninstall Norton so I have no protection on either the new or the old systems now, at an out-of-pocket cost of about $100 USD. To say that I am displeased is an understatement.

I consider this to be one of my contributions to the Sciforums knowledge base. :huh:

 

Update:

It appears that Zinstall had not considered that I was transferring my system to a Solid State drive (SS HDD) so they have offered to assist me in the transfer using another of their products in real time. I will need to set up a time frame for this and give it a shot. The engineering department assures me that this product will transfer my system completely to the new SS HDD from the old HDD.

How does Zinstall work? Glad you asked.

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You download their software onto the old computer and run it, then you download the software to the new system and run it. Both computers need to be hooked up to the same router or to each other directly with an ethernet cable. The first try took about 4 & 1/2 hours, but it failed due to the drive incompatibility. The support staff has been helpful thus far. I will report back after I have tried the other software and the live migration.

 

Update:

The Zinstall staff failed to send me the emailed link to do the live session so I ran their "Computer Rescue" program after reinstalling the old drive on the new system further down the SATA chain than the new boot and storage HDD's. They credited me for the wrong first choice and directed me to this product so I bought it and have tried it yesterday. I am working from the new platform right now, it appears to be OK overall. I will likely have to re-buy some stuff, like CS and Norton, but everything else seems to be here and functional now. It will likely take a few days of messing around with the system to work out all of the bugs. I had to reinstall some of the motherboard drivers, sound and video card drivers and deal with some pesky requester boxes but those seem to have gone away now.

 

Epilogue:

The Zinstall migration from the old hard drive to the new SSD, while it appeared fine at first, turned out to be severely compromised. None of my drivers made the transition, all of my applications had corrupted files that caused them to lock, crash and fail to load properly. I have had to wipe the drive clean and start over from scratch. I have asked Zinstall for a full refund and will go ahead and do this the hard way, one piece at a time. :huh: