How can I obtain my data off a hard drive without reformatting the drive?

Question

My laptop recently began doing some weird stuff and I am unable to do system restore or even access any of my files before the whole computer freezes and must be shut down. So, I bought a SATA to USB connector to obtain the data off of my hard drive before i do a complete wipe of the system and start over. The laptop (and hard drive in question) are running on Windows Vista. The second computer I'm trying to transfer data TO is on Windows 7. When i plug in my HD, it says that i need to reformat it to access files. I don't want to do this because the whole goal is to keep my data and simply transfer it. Any suggestions on how I could do this? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

just saving to USB flash drive

Answer 2

I could think of a few ways around this, although they are a pain in the ****. You could get a high storage USB thumb drive and transfer the files through another windows 7 computer. You could track down a Windows 7 OS disc and install windows 7 to your new computer, therefore bypassing the need to reformat your HD. You could also try e-maling the files and retrieving them on the new computer, but that's the absolute last resort (since I'm assuming that it's more than 200 MB of data, and would take hours to e-mail to yourself.)



I can't think of anything free, but look for deals on eBay and craigslist, and you may be able to get either a large capacity USB drive (250-500GB) or a Windows 7 disc for cheaper than you would've originally thought.



Hope that helped!



P.S. I spelled "A.R.S.E." to avoid censorship, but for some reason that word's just too extreme for the internet.

Answer 3

Nicole I am not sure Vista files are going to run on Windows 7. In that case you will be wasting your time. The best way if you can afford it is to copy the files to an external hard drive and just try them after.

Answer 4

particular you may installation homestead windows 7 on your new tension that would be the grasp tension C:/ and function the previous grasp tension had E:/ and you should installation the previous information disk (photos) as F:/. The CD/DVD tension may well be D:/ counting on the way you place it up