Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
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The good news is that a working hard disk that was formatted for use by Windows 98 can certainly be read by Windows XP.
The bad news is that you'll have to open the box and install the drive. That's not for everyone.
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It's actually a common approach used by computer geeks ... take an old hard drive from an old computer, and install it as the second drive in a new one. Everything that used to appear on drive "C:" on the old computer might now appear as drive "D:" on the new one. Once it's set up, copying files from old to new is both easy and fast.
And this approach comes with a bonus. Once you're done copying the files you want to keep, you can leave the old hard drive in the new machine, reformat it if you like, and have that much extra disk space to use as you like.
The down side is that you need to be somewhat computer hardware literate to install the drive. It does mean opening up your PC, connecting the old drive in the right way in the right place. There's no "one way" to do it, otherwise I'd tell you here. It can vary based on the type of computer you have, and the type of hard disk.
So unless you're already relatively comfortable cracking open your machine and dealing with the gooey guts inside, I'd leave the installation to a pro. It's typically a fairly quick and easy install for someone that knows what they're doing.
Article C2424 - September 19, 2005
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
I have a toshiba laptop that died, but all internal stuff is good. It just won't turn on. I got a new Dell laptop latitude D610. The older toshiba satellite A75-S2292 was a better, more expensive Laptop. Can I just switch the better stuff from the toshiba to the Dell? The toshiba won't turn on. Can I hook the two computers up and transfer data firing up the Dell only? I have no problem ripping either computer apart (the toshiba is already apart). I, of course, have no idea what I am doing here, but they don't call me Jack-the-hack for nothing (back in the DOS days before the last Ice age). Help me computer lord!--Jimmyjack
17-May-2011
Posted by: Jimmyjack at May 16, 2011 5:37 AM
So as long as i have windows on my old hard drive and my new computer I can just plug in the power and data cord and my computer will reconize it?
17-May-2011
Posted by: Nick at May 17, 2011 8:30 AM
Good afternoon, Leo
You said in this article that the new hard drive would be called 'D:' - but how is this possible when my CD-ROM drive is already on D: ?
Also, will my CD-ROM not be affected?
Thanks for the help
20-Jun-2011
Posted by: Joey at June 19, 2011 6:02 AM
@Joey
Posted by: Mark J at June 19, 2011 8:54 AMGood point. This won't change your CD-ROM. It will always be D:. The computer will assign the next available letter to your new drive.
My laptop has been out of commission for a couple years now. My problem: its motherboard is shot. I can't afford a new motherboard or a new laptop, and there are a few important files on it that I need to save. Can I somehow transfer those files to a regular PC? I've been everywhere, and can't seem to get a straight answer to this question.
07-Sep-2011
Posted by: James at September 6, 2011 3:56 PM