Can I remove a drive from eMachine add/switch to HP or Dell?

[realtorkim]

HI All,
You have to love to answer the newbie silly questions?

I wasn't sure which thread to post,

My emachines power supply.model bestec model atx-250-12e went out.
All info I read in reference to,
my motherboard most likely went with it.....

Why purchase power supply not knowing how to check if motherboard bad?

My question is, one drive on my emachine with most all of my important info
Can I take out and add/switch it to a HP or Dell pc?

Do I have to delete windows os etc from HP or Dell before replacing
Or is it even compatible or possible, or would it be best to just buy used emachine of the same?

When looking on ebay there are very few emachines.....but all kinds of dell and hp
deals.

Any links to or info greatly appreciated, I have searched and read too many hours.

Thanks everyone.....

 

[raybay]

Typically of that model, the motherboard failed, and took the power supply with it. It is commonly assumed the reverse occurs. We have tested 700 of these machines in preparation for suit against Mfg.

The hard drive and memory are good, as is the CPU and fan...

You can rescue the data on that hard drive by putting it in an expernal USB enclosure and copying it to another drive.
However you will find it difficult to use it as is in another system.
I would save the data to another drive or to a couple of DVD's, then reformat the drive using a Windows XP that is NOT from an eMachine install. Some eMachine disks works, mysteriouslyl, but not many.

Better, methinks, is to use a new system, then install the eMachines hard drive as a "Slave" drive, then copy over everything you need.

The eMachine models that used that Bestec power supply are mostly four years old, or more. That means the hard drive is also older than you would want to have in a news sytem.
A new hard drive from 160GB to 320 GB can be purchased new for $50 if you shop around. That is cheaper than messing with what you have.
You can buy a new motherboard for the eMachine case for $40, and use all the components, but the eMachines install disk likely will not work to install your new system.

 

[raybay]

The problem is not the hard drive, but the Windows XP installation... that makes your changeover difficult.

 

[realtorkim]

Thank you a bunch Raybay for answering so quickly...
any help or sign up needed for your suit I'm glad to help.

The data rescue on drive most concen,
I'm definitely a newbie into pc tech...

Most tech for me is adding a dvd or cdrw to pc slave ?
I changed power supply on another pc once...... lol....

I'm sure I can, I will have to search for exact instructions though.

Your suggestion of putting drive on external USB
enclosure ..and copying it to another drive sounds to be the most safe
for a newbie.. Is there link explaining, I will look


The Windows XP installation making change over difficult
you answered perfect
What if I purchased a emachine without operating system?
Would drive work if I plugged into another emachine.?

My bad for not backing up data to online site or to many dvds...... ghee.
A learning lesson for sure.....

Thank you for all of your info. Raybay

 

[LookinAround]

You can also try using a bootable CD to boot your machine and copy the files before you even remove it (if you prefer). See [post=766270]How to recover your folders/files when Windows won’t boot[/post]

 

[realtorkim]

Hi Lookin Around,
Thanks for your post..
My emachine power supply is out and most likely motherboard, one drive on my emachine I must save copy transfer info, or hook up to another PC I have not purchased yet..
Thank goodness for my
old old hp... 128mb lol...... 1.3ghz or I would be lost. So so slow..... but it still works.....lol
Thank-you for info link I will check it out now thanks

 

[realtorkim]

Thanks for link,.

 

[LookinAround]

My emachine power supply is out and most likely motherboard,

Ooops. Oh yea. I forgot!

 

[raybay]

This will cost you a little, but it is worth the cost, and gives you a tool for use of other external drives from here on... you have to buy the enclosure... found on Directron.com, newegg.com, Frys.com, techDepot.com... costs $19 to $29... depending on the day... But comes with the power adapter, usb cable, and enclosure along with screws... we use Acomdata, Vantec, and Nextar3 which all work about the same. They are good if you are not yet acustomed to doing this...
The enclosures are DIFFERENT for SATA drives and EIDE drives... but I assume your eMachine hard drive is an EiIDE or IDE.

 

[kol_indian]

in a very simple way you can use the drive as a secondary drive on the other machine .... you just need to make sure that in the bios the hdd from the host machine is set for as boot drive... then you should see the hdd from the other machine in your windows exlorer as another drive ... the drive lettering would be changed.

this is entirely under the assumption that the drive supports the interface used on the other machine ... assuming that its sata and that the dell machine supports sata port....

 

[realtorkim]

Thank-You, All a bunch for your help,

I will be sure to post back results.

Kim