I need help connecting my laptop harddrive to my desktop.

beethoven24680 · Joined: Sep 27, 2009 Posts: 5

I laptop died. The hard drive is ok. I bought a 2.5" IDE adapter. I plugged everything in correctly to my computer. (the power and data cables) I set it as a slave. My bios recognizes the hard drive. (Hitachi Travelstar 5K100). However, the OS doesn't recognize it. I am plugging in my harddrive to a Dell Dimension XPS T500 running on WIndows 98. Please someone help me!

Sorry if I may have posted in the wrong section. I'm a newbie.

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2636

First, all the enclosures I put hard drives into, say to set it as master. So try to set it as master. Your computer is old enough that it will not try to oot from the attached drive, even if it is set to master.

Second, since windows 98 is not plug and play, you might have a difficult time getting it recognized. Does the adapter have any drivers? (even though it may say plug and play, this doesn't apply to 98 because drivers have to be loaded for each USB device).

Dee101 · Joined: Dec 09, 2007 Posts: 36

If you need to move files, but do not necessarily plan to keep it connected all the time, consider a cable that will let you connect it via a USB port. One I've found that works great is at geeks.com here http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=2020-OTB&cpc=SCH. This handles IDE, EIDE, and SATA drives.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 1546 Location: Central FL, USA

Windows 98 has very limited USB usage compatibility.
Most USB devices, even flash drives, require special drivers.
Sandisk makes such a driver for it's Cruiser and Micro-Cruiser drives, for Windows 98/SE.
No such drivers are required for Windows XP (any version).

The upgrade to Windows 98/SE does somewhat improve the USB thing, but not by much. Some USB drivers for 98 do require the SE upgrade in order to work.
However, an upgrade to Windows ME, greatly improved USB and printer driver compatibility.

I avoid trying to use any USB device on a '98 machine, whenever possible.

The Doctor Cool

zzron357 · Joined: Oct 14, 2004 Posts: 43

Hi Beethoven,
The laptop drive is formatted NTFS.
Maybe the laptop ran XP or Vista?
Win98 will not see it with ide connection,
but should see it with usb connection.
There is a universal usb driver for win98SE.
Otherwise get a bootable linux distro.
Puppy is my favorite. Easy to copy to
other drive internal or external or burn to
cd or cdrw on pc. Puppy shows all drives.
Not all linux distros do this so easily.
Best wishes, zzron

beethoven24680 · Joined: Sep 27, 2009 Posts: 5

I am downloading "Puppy" at the moment. So it will work on Windows 98 (not SE)?

beethoven24680 · Joined: Sep 27, 2009 Posts: 5

I am trying to transfer the files with Puppy. I try to transfer them to a flashdrive, but it just shrinks the files and renders them useless. What do I do?

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 924

What commands / mouse clicks are you using under PUPPY?

You should be able to just mount the drives (from - to) & copy - paste to transfer files, folders, pictures or whatever.

beethoven24680 · Joined: Sep 27, 2009 Posts: 5

I left click while holding "shift" and drag it over to the flashdrive. Then I click "Move". The files show up, but they have shrunk from like a video file that was 803 MG to 4 MG.

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 924

1st, not sure why you are using shift as I don't see it getting you anything useful*** & I really don't see a "move" as you stated. (using default settings)

So I'd try the following;
Make sure all the drives you are using are mounted correctly. (specify if you need help with this)

I'm going to have you copy instead of move as then you will still have the originals in case something goes wrong. plus I don't readily see a move (by default).

To copy you can left click, hold & drag individual files & folders.
To copy a group, left click an open space & drag a box around what you want then do the above.

See if this doesn't get you started & we can go from there.

I normally use fedora & it works more like M$'s stuff in regards to this. I also found puppy's default setting on this to be a bit weird but I think the above is probably the easiest of the default settings methods, so I gave you that.

*** it appears to open an (HTML) editor, which MAY explain the size difference in what SEEMS to be the same file - I'm assuming that if it IS an "editor", it may be "stealing" the filename.

zzron357 · Joined: Oct 14, 2004 Posts: 43

Hi Beethoven,
You are on the right track. Puppy as live cd does not care
what os on system. It runs in ram. It can be installed
(frugal install) into win98 partition, to save ram and gain
speed, but not needed for what you are doing.
PS: If you do not have win98SE, this could explain some
usb issues. Borrow an upgrade disk, 98 to SE for better
results, in future.
For now, Puppy is one click os, and drag and drop a bit
different from windows. Open the flash drive (Mount it)
and open the laptop drive, so you have a window for each.
Yes, for now, just copy, don't move, as advised above.
Left button, drag object from laptop drive to flash drive
then select copy. You can create folders in flash. A little
practice and this becomes easier, as you learn to get around
in the drives. Objects copied should be full size as before
if done correctly. Best wishes, zzron

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2636

USB works on 98SE, with drivers or a universal driver but 98 and USB don't work well. Are you sure the 98 computer sees the USB device?

I found a download for a universal USB driver for 98 first edition. Until today, I didn't know one existed. I have the more common 98SE universal USB driver archived in case I need it.
http://www.technical-assistance.co.uk/kb/win98fe-usb-mass-storage-drivers.php

As far as moving/copying please play it safe. Right click and choose COPY, not move. Why? If something goes wrong, you will still have the file on the hd to try again. If you simply select move and something happens during the move, you have lost everything.
Also since the USB stick is formatted FAT or FAT32, there is a limit on the size of files it can move. The limit is 4GB so do not attempt to move anything pushing 4 gigs or it will error on you.

I just had another thought. How large is the notebook hard drive? It may be too large for a 98FE computer to ever see. A computer that old had a limitation and it could be either 20GB or 37GB or even smaller. (I don't remember what limits go with what OSes and BIOses).

beethoven24680 · Joined: Sep 27, 2009 Posts: 5

My laptop harddirve is a about 30 GB, maybe a little more. My usb stick is 8 gb.

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2636

98FE may have a 32 GB barrier
http://www.dewassoc.com/kbase/hard_drives/hard_drive_size_barriers.htm

zzron357 · Joined: Oct 14, 2004 Posts: 43

Hi Beethoven,
As I read this, the adapter is an ide adapter, not a usb adapter.
A drive formatted in ntfs cannot be seen by win98.
It is the bios that has size issues, but this pc should not.
A usb adapter should work. Also Linux. Puppy should see all the
drives, and allow copying of need files to a flash drive or to the
win98 C:\ drive. All this with the ide adapter, laptop drive set
for slave. (Could be master if on secondary ide and cdrom as slave.)
Just fire up Puppy live cd, get used to how drive mouning and drag
and drop work and start copying. PS: Puppy will show hidden partitions
as well. Win98 drive will be sda1, laptop sdb1 if normal partitions.
Sounds like any easy one. Best wishes, zzron