Vista - accessing a hard drive..

I have a laptop with windows XP on it and windows failed to load on me one
day...so now I have a new laptop because we couldn't figure out what was
wrong with it. There was no indication that the hard drive was damaged, so I
was told I could access the hard drive on my old laptop by using a 2 way USB
cord and plug it into another, working computer. It would then act just like
an external hard drive. Only when I did this, nothing happened. I thought
maybe the old laptop had to be turned on for it to work, but when I tried the
same thing with my home computer, which was on, it didn't work either. Does
anybody know what's wrong or how else to access the hard drive from my old
laptop?
thanks.
-Camille

You do realize that this has nothing to do with Vista, and this is a Vista
newsgroup? And buying a new computer because Windows failed to load is like
buying a new car because your old one refused to start one day. For all you
know, the HD on your old computer is toast, and you'll never be able to plug
it in again. Or you've got a virus on the old drive, and as soon as you
start accessing stuff on the new one, you'll be in the same situation.

In any case, I'd suggest getting an external 2.5" hard drive enclosure.
Something like http://tinyurl.com/yhttpv, if you like dealing on eBay. You
could also buy one in a local store, and probably get the staff there to put
in your old drive for you. But you'll have to find out if your old
laptop/hd is SATA or PATA because it will make a difference. A make and
model number would help in assisting you with that.

From there, you can plug the external drive into one of your USB ports, and
access it like any other drive.

Clint

"CMKUbLU304" <CMKUbLU304@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CD6AD480-4126-437A-914B-C4428EF35441@microsoft.com...
>I have a laptop with windows XP on it and windows failed to load on me one
> day...so now I have a new laptop because we couldn't figure out what was
> wrong with it. There was no indication that the hard drive was damaged, so
> I
> was told I could access the hard drive on my old laptop by using a 2 way
> USB
> cord and plug it into another, working computer. It would then act just
> like
> an external hard drive. Only when I did this, nothing happened. I thought
> maybe the old laptop had to be turned on for it to work, but when I tried
> the
> same thing with my home computer, which was on, it didn't work either.
> Does
> anybody know what's wrong or how else to access the hard drive from my old
> laptop?
> thanks.
> -Camille

I would suggest consulting with someone locally (a repair shop or similar)
with hardware troubleshooting experience.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] rgharper@gmail.com
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
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"CMKUbLU304" <CMKUbLU304@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CD6AD480-4126-437A-914B-C4428EF35441@microsoft.com...
>I have a laptop with windows XP on it and windows failed to load on me one
> day...so now I have a new laptop because we couldn't figure out what was
> wrong with it. There was no indication that the hard drive was damaged, so
> I
> was told I could access the hard drive on my old laptop by using a 2 way
> USB
> cord and plug it into another, working computer. It would then act just
> like
> an external hard drive. Only when I did this, nothing happened. I thought
> maybe the old laptop had to be turned on for it to work, but when I tried
> the
> same thing with my home computer, which was on, it didn't work either.
> Does
> anybody know what's wrong or how else to access the hard drive from my old
> laptop?
> thanks.
> -Camille

"Clint" <cneufeld@mysocks.shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:3146676E-70E2-4A6C-91E9-CECEDE59638F@microsoft.com...
> You do realize that this has nothing to do with Vista, and this is a Vista
> newsgroup? And buying a new computer because Windows failed to load is
> like buying a new car because your old one refused to start one day. For
> all you know, the HD on your old computer is toast, and you'll never be
> able to plug it in again. Or you've got a virus on the old drive, and as
> soon as you start accessing stuff on the new one, you'll be in the same
> situation.
>

Gee, thanks for the lecture, dad.

You're welcome.

Clint

"Roscoe" <me@home.net> wrote in message
news:F31D423E-1F17-42EA-90F1-82596FDBB96D@microsoft.com...
>
> "Clint" <cneufeld@mysocks.shaw.ca> wrote in message
> news:3146676E-70E2-4A6C-91E9-CECEDE59638F@microsoft.com...
>> You do realize that this has nothing to do with Vista, and this is a
>> Vista newsgroup? And buying a new computer because Windows failed to
>> load is like buying a new car because your old one refused to start one
>> day. For all you know, the HD on your old computer is toast, and you'll
>> never be able to plug it in again. Or you've got a virus on the old
>> drive, and as soon as you start accessing stuff on the new one, you'll be
>> in the same situation.
>>
>
> Gee, thanks for the lecture, dad.