Please! HD experts-need quick answer re: switching HD's! 2

[Cijebi]

I apologize if this seems like a stupid question but I've never had this problem before. I will provide as much info as possible so that someone can answer as quickly as possible - I'm working on a deadline!!

My computer: custom built P4 w/Windows 98SE - 2 WD HD's (master 10GB has W98SE & ISP - secondary 40GB has misc software & data files).

My husband's computer: HP P2 w/Windows 98 - 1 HD (original to computer w/Windows 98, misc software & data).

The problem is my husband's power supply has died so his HD is inaccessible - he is having a new computer built so that's not the problem. The problem is that I just realized a file I absolutely MUST have by Friday morning is on his HD.

Question - would it be possible for me to disconnect my 2nd HD and connect his (as my secondary) in order to retrieve the file and then reconnect my 2nd HD back? Before I would even consider doing it I need to be absolutely sure that doing this will not mess up my current 2nd HD and that I will be able to reconnect it and access my files with no problem.

So my questions actually are:
A) Could I replace my 2nd WD HD with his on a temporary basis? If so, would my computer recognize it or what else would I have to do to access the files on it?
B) Once I'm done retrieving the needed file, will I be able to just reconnect my 2nd HD and access everything on it or will I have to do anything else?

I cannot afford to lose access to my 2nd HD (everything I have is on that one!!), so I need to be absolutely sure that switching HD's temporarily will not cause me any problems when I reconnect mine back.

I truly apologize for the length of this - as you can see, I am really in a panic and totally confused as to what effect switching HD's might have. A great big THANK YOU to anyone who might be able to help me!!

 

[SESaskDFC]

Howdy:

In a nutshell, all you would need to do is change the jumper on his hdd to "slave" and then install it on your system.. As long as you change nothing on your d: drive, everything should be hunky-dory when you put yours back in.

Murray

 

[cdogg]

A) Yes, there should be no problem there. Your husband's drive will be listed as D: if installed as the slave, because it has a primary boot partition. So, you may notice some differences in the drive letter structure for your other drives (CD, DVD, secondary partitions, etc)

B) Nope. When you disconnect a drive, nothing changes on it. After reconnecting, it'll be like nothing happened.



~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[edfair]

I would suggest that you try it with a floppy boot disk with the drives switched as described.

There are always possibilities that a normal 98 boot up might want to access something on a non-existant drive and corrupt something else. Dos would just accept what it finds. This is more a protection for your setup, your husbands shouldn't be affected.

If you are booting from DOS, you could disconnect both of yours and access his from the floppy.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[Mouldy13]

When concecting from the floppy boot disk to get another file you have to know how to use DOS commands. Which in these days of Windows not a lot of people know. Plus if you don't hook up one of the drives when using DOS you can't save the file you're after. "The Mouldy One"

 

[rclarke250]

The safest way to do this is to have his hdd slaved off your cd-rom or what ever is primary on you second ide chain.

This is assuming that your machine is setup in a standard primary-slave of your hdd's on channel 1. This way you don't have to remove either of your drives and risk windows problems. Or replacing the power supply is viable too Even those anoying little cases have standard connectors. so any ATX power supply will work. remove the old one then place the HP on it's side, place the other power supply so the cables will reach inside without laying on the system board,tough but I have done it.

Rich

 

[Cijebi]

First, thanks to all who answered - I really appreciated it! I was able to access the file I needed from my husband's HD and my computer is just fine.

Rich, your suggestion about the dead power supply in my husband's computer has intrigued me. If I understood correctly, you mean we could buy any ATX power supply and just replace the dead one? I was under the impression (from what HP had told us) that we could only replace the power supply with one identical to it (which only HP can provide). This is an old HP computer and the dead power supply is only 250W (the motherboard is an Asus built for HP but no way to tell what model) do you think I might be able to use a 300W PS or might that damage the MB?

I'd really appreciate a response from you.

 

[rclarke250]

Well, Hp likes to make people think are the only ones to have there power supplies, not true. Older smaller HP cases used either a micro ATX power supply found here:

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=LP6100A

or a
PS3 power supply which can be found here:

http://www.affordablesurplus.com/

Also some very few used standard ATX power supplies. And of course you could always try ebay. Easiest way to tell what type of power supply it has is: does it mount with 3 or 4 screws? and is the fan mounted inside flush,or stick out from the power supply. but it is an easy fix,and should cost less then $30.for the replacement, now you could go with a higher rated power supply also,just make sure it has the same configuration to the old one or the screws won't mount.

Rich

 

[wpfaff]

If your HP has been built in the last 3 years then a standard power supply won't work. But go to this link and enter your model number .

http://www.affordablesurplus.com/ps-selector-hp.asp

I found one for mine and it was only 39.99.

Be sure that the power supply is bad because there are components on the motherboard which may look like the power supply is bad. I even had a cpu cooler that shorted out and I had a dead computer until I disconnected it.

Good Luck

 

[Cijebi]

Thanks a lot guys - I'll certainly look into the links you both provided.