My dell desktop stopped turning on because of dead power supply so I bought a new one. My videos and stuff were not backed up. Is there any way I can salvage the hard drive from it and connect it to my new computer by a USB Cable and copy the old files over? I know the hard drive is still working

9/18/2012 2:58:59 PM

when you said "so I bought a new one", that was referring to a whole new desktop pc and not just a new power supply? how old was your computer?

you can pull the hard drive out of your old one, and install it in your new one, and just have 2 hard drives

9/18/2012 3:09:43 PM

^this

Just install it internally for a little while (or forever). You can copy everything over that way.

9/18/2012 3:28:28 PM

I bought a new desktop (tower). I think the parts from the old one are still working just the computer doesn't power on. I dont need to install the old hard drive on the new one. I want to take the old hard drive out and connect it to the new computer by a USB port like an external hard drive to copy things over. I was just wondering if that was possible? My old comp was 3 years old. thanks

9/18/2012 3:34:06 PM

https://www.google.com/search?q=hard+drive+enclosure&aq=f&sugexp=chrome,mod=5&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=hard+drive+enclosure&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N&tbs=p_ord:p&tbm=shop&ei=rM1YUI23E8jJ0QGHhICwBg&ved=0CHEQuw0oAg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=4db589e8f3b48af&biw=1597&bih=768

9/18/2012 3:38:32 PM

Rather than connecting via USB, install it internally as a second HD. It's really easy to do and will work better all-around. That is what people are saying.

9/18/2012 3:39:44 PM

It will save you a lot of time as well to install it in the new computer to copy the files over. There really is no reason not to do it.

9/18/2012 6:43:08 PM

There may even be an adapter you can buy, in case you're trying to install a PATA (IDE) drive into a newer desktop with only SATA.

9/19/2012 3:20:48 AM

Post pictures of the connectors on the old drive and the model of your new computer. Forget about using a USB adapter for this unless there's just no way to hook it up internally. It's way simpler and doesn't require any special hardware.

9/23/2012 6:28:04 AM

Why didn't you just have the power supply replaced? I don't think dell uses any type of special power supply unit, which meant you could have bought a replacement off of new egg for like $50. Then you cold have found someone to replace it for you.

9/23/2012 12:37:40 PM

Dell is NOTORIOUS for using non-standard power supply connectors. what the fuck are you smoking?

9/23/2012 7:11:56 PM

Since when? I remember having no problems with my old Dimension 8300 and old-school Molex connectors...

9/23/2012 9:07:29 PM