Hard drive - Vista...Please help :)

**Fetusaurus Rex** · 12-08-2007, 09:35 PM

Ill try to explain this the best that I can...

I got a new computer, I want to save my data from my old computer, so I take the hard drive out of it and put it in my new computer that is running Vista...

The hard drive that came with the computer is hooked up with a SATA cable and is my primary drive...

Im trying to hook up my other hard drive which uses and IDE cable, with nothing else connected to the cable ...the mother board has slots for two IDE cables to connect, so one slot is using the IDE cable that has 2 cd/dvd rom drives, and the other is only hooked up to one hard drive as stated...

Vista will not read the hard drive no matter what I have tried....I have tried hooking the hard drive up as a slave, as a master (since nothing else is using that IDE cable I thought it could be set to master without being the primary hard drive)

I tried disconnecting my cd drives and using that IDE cable....

nothing at all that I have tried will get Vista to read this hard drive...

I am using a Y-adapter from the power supply, Im not sure if that could have anything to do with it, but anything could be a problem in my mind right now...maybe its not getting power to it?

Ive read other people having problems like this with Vista, but they can see the drive in the Device Manager, just not in 'Computer' and can not access the drive...

for me, it just isnt being read period...

This hard drive was my master drive in my old computer and has XP loaded on it..I dont know if that is a problem or not?

I just want to at least get the data off of it...

**Fetusaurus Rex** · 12-08-2007, 10:09 PM

Vista/Hard Drive issue... - Windows Vista

maybe this will explain it better, seems to be the exact problem I am having

**danzik17** · 12-08-2007, 10:10 PM

Your first mistake was in buying Vista

I would cut out the Y adaptor to make sure that it isn't bad and/or the power rail isn't providing enough power to the HD, but that's probably not too likely.

Is the HD showing up in the bios? If it is, then you can download a linux based bootCD with NTFS support like the Insert Boot CD that you can get from INSERT (english pages) and use those utilities to copy the files if you know how to use Linux.

**Fetusaurus Rex** · 12-08-2007, 10:17 PM

Originally Posted by danzik17

Your first mistake was in buying Vista

I would cut out the Y adaptor to make sure that it isn't bad and/or the power rail isn't providing enough power to the HD, but that's probably not too likely.

Is the HD showing up in the bios? If it is, then you can download a linux based bootCD with NTFS support like the Insert Boot CD that you can get from INSERT (english pages) and use those utilities to copy the files if you know how to use Linux.

Vista came pre-installed, not easy to get around that now days, I dont think it is showing in Bios, I only checked once, Im about to check again to see if I can get it to show in Bios

**Prince** · 12-08-2007, 10:35 PM

your first step is to make sure it is found in CMOS, if not Windows will not be able to see it.

**Fetusaurus Rex** · 12-08-2007, 10:35 PM

what should I have the jumpers set to?

is cable select ok?

being it is the only thing using the IDE cable

It isnt showing up in BIOS btw... :/

**Fetusaurus Rex** · 12-08-2007, 10:43 PM

Thanks for the help too btw guys, I have a backup hard drive and knew I should have backed EVERYTHING up, but I only backed up a few important things, I didnt even get my porn backed up nooooo!!! Itll take forever to rebuild that collection! hahah

I didnt think I would run into a problem like this :/

**danzik17** · 12-08-2007, 11:17 PM

Cable select should be fine - is the drive spinning up at all when you turn the PC on?

I would definitely try changing power rails (connectors). If it's an old style IDE drive, make sure the jumpers are set to cable select.

**Fetusaurus Rex** · 12-08-2007, 11:42 PM

Originally Posted by danzik17

Cable select should be fine - is the drive spinning up at all when you turn the PC on?

I would definitely try changing power rails (connectors). If it's an old style IDE drive, make sure the jumpers are set to cable select.

Im not sure if it is spinning, how can I tell?

Im not familiar with the term 'power rail', not that computer saavy lol, thanks for the help though, Ill have to mess with it...I really hope something works...

**danzik17** · 12-09-2007, 10:34 AM

Put your hand on it - if it's vibrating, then it's spinning.

Power rail is just another word for the combined cables and connector. Just use a different power connector.

**Prince** · 12-09-2007, 10:37 AM

If you're not seeing it in CMOS it will never work in Windows.

Try changing the jumper to Master, make it the only drive on the channel, and see if it is found in CMOS.

**BoneCrusher** · 12-09-2007, 11:11 AM

Plan B:

Get an external enclosure and use the drive as an external portable. Just don't drop it like I did one of mine recently. As an external it can run through a USB port. This comp came with vista home and still read the old XP drives just fine that way. This allowes you to have large portable storage ... videos and perm program storage blah blah blah.

RTFD on the enclosure and all will be well Fetus.

**Prince** · 12-09-2007, 11:13 AM

there is nothing wrong with Vista, I am running it on two desktops and my laptop, no problems, in a business environment I don't recommend it though, stick with XP Pro for now, but for home use Vista is fine.

**BoneCrusher** · 12-09-2007, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by Prince

there is nothing wrong with Vista, I am running it on two desktops and my laptop, no problems, in a business environment I don't recommend it though, stick with XP Pro for now, but for home use Vista is fine.

I know a few people that use it and are happy ... no problems at all for them. For me I had too many programs (plus an old printer) that wouldn't run on it so I'm back on xp pro. Eventually we will all be on vista ... but for now I'll stay where I am 'til all my issues are worked out.

You know a lot about computers and can work through stuff that many can't.

**Fetusaurus Rex** · 12-09-2007, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by BoneCrusher

Plan B:

Get an external enclosure and use the drive as an external portable. Just don't drop it like I did one of mine recently. As an external it can run through a USB port. This comp came with vista home and still read the old XP drives just fine that way. This allowes you to have large portable storage ... videos and perm program storage blah blah blah.

RTFD on the enclosure and all will be well Fetus.

I have just read this is a good solution last night, I may have to give that a try for the long run, almost thinking of pitching it at this point....

I was talking with Kelju and I eventually got a temporary solution worked out...I disconnected my cd/dvd rom drives and used that IDE cable for the hard drive and that worked actually, I copied what I could and switched back...now what Id like to do is try and boot off of that drive so I can unregister Photoshop CS2 and install it on the new hard drive as it wouldnt work just to copy it over, and it only allows two license activations, and I have a laptop I would like to put it on at some point...

Thanks for the help all, I really appreciate it

**danzik17** · 12-09-2007, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by BoneCrusher

I know a few people that use it and are happy ... no problems at all for them. For me I had too many programs (plus an old printer) that wouldn't run on it so I'm back on xp pro. Eventually we will all be on vista ... but for now I'll stay where I am 'til all my issues are worked out.

You know a lot about computers and can work through stuff that many can't.

XP is the last Windows version I'm personally using. With the development of ReactOS, there's a chance that win32 applications might be able to run natively on specialized distros of linux soon

**BoneCrusher** · 12-09-2007, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by danzik17

XP is the last Windows version I'm personally using. With the development of ReactOS, there's a chance that win32 applications might be able to run natively on specialized distros of linux soon

Microsux is just letting that happen?

Have you ran ReactOS yet?

**danzik17** · 12-09-2007, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by BoneCrusher

Microsux is just letting that happen?

Have you ran ReactOS yet?

I have ran it, but it is still obviously very unstable since it's still in the alpha stages. It starts up faster than ANY OS I have ever seen though, that was my first impression. I started booting it in VMWare and alt-tabbed for literally 5 seconds, tabbed back and it was started. I had to restart it to see it/believe it.

**danzik17** · 12-09-2007, 12:35 PM

I am concerned about the idea that it is still using the registry though. I understand the purpose of it since this OS is designed for win32 compatibility, but the registry is the source of a lot of the suck with Windows. Guess we'll just have to wait and see how they handle that.

**Prince** · 12-09-2007, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by BoneCrusher

I know a few people that use it and are happy ... no problems at all for them. For me I had too many programs (plus an old printer) that wouldn't run on it so I'm back on xp pro. Eventually we will all be on vista ... but for now I'll stay where I am 'til all my issues are worked out.

You know a lot about computers and can work through stuff that many can't.

Yes, this is the biggest problem with Vista, it's a new OS and requires a new driver for most hardware, and updates for most software. This can be troublesome for many, even more so for a business. I just get tired of everyone saying Vista sucks and they don't know what they're talking about, as of yet it has never locked up or caused me to reboot on any of my 3 machines running it. I do think it's a resource hog, but new hardware with at least 1gig of RAM runs it just fine.

**Fetusaurus Rex** · 12-09-2007, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by Prince

Yes, this is the biggest problem with Vista, it's a new OS and requires a new driver for most hardware, and updates for most software. This can be troublesome for many, even more so for a business. I just get tired of everyone saying Vista sucks and they don't know what they're talking about, as of yet it has never locked up or caused me to reboot on any of my 3 machines running it. I do think it's a resource hog, but new hardware with at least 1gig of RAM runs it just fine.

Yea I actually like Vista for the most part, this hard drive issue is the only thing I am upset about...but all in all it seems pretty solid...Also I hear there will be a service pack out early next year, Jan - Feb...which should tie up some loose ends Im sure

**Prince** · 12-09-2007, 01:19 PM

I don't think this hard drive issue is related to Vista.

Yes, they say Vista service pack 1 will be put our first quarter of 2008.

**Gazhole** · 12-09-2007, 04:19 PM

Originally Posted by danzik17

XP is the last Windows version I'm personally using. With the development of ReactOS, there's a chance that win32 applications might be able to run natively on specialized distros of linux soon

If that happens i will be incredibly fucking happy.

**Fetusaurus Rex** · 12-10-2007, 06:45 PM

one more quick question...

I would like to get my old bookmarks back

Im using Firefox and I found on my old hard drive the bookmarks.html file and I copied that over, where do I put that to over ride the bookmarks I have now?

**maniclion** · 12-10-2007, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by Fetusaurus Rex

one more quick question...

I would like to get my old bookmarks back

Im using Firefox and I found on my old hard drive the bookmarks.html file and I copied that over, where do I put that to over ride the bookmarks I have now?

C:\Documents and Settings\Fetus\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\

**Fetusaurus Rex** · 12-10-2007, 09:06 PM

Originally Posted by maniclion

C:\Documents and Settings\Fetus\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\

I dont see documents and settings, should I see that in Vista?

I know I had that folder in XP

thanks for the help though, Im still lost with this OS and finding my way around

**maniclion** · 12-11-2007, 03:36 AM

Originally Posted by Fetusaurus Rex

I dont see documents and settings, should I see that in Vista?

I know I had that folder in XP

thanks for the help though, Im still lost with this OS and finding my way around

Wow why would they fuck with that.....try c:\users or c:\Program Data

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