I just bought a new computer (it was caper than upgrading my old one ) So how do I get all my stuff from my hard drives? I have a outboard hd that I transfered all my stuff on but when I plug it in it doesnt show up? any ideas?

I tried the outboard and it did not reconize it. So I took it out and put it inside the cpu and a window popped up for a second saying new hd but when i went into my computer nothing was there. I then check it in manage and it is not listed in the hd section. I unpluged and plugged twice but still not reconizing. Now after we figure out this part will I be able to transfer my files to the new hd without reformatting (I thought that if u reformat you lose everything on this drive so im a little confused I found some articles saying you can just plug it in and cut and paste I dont know a little confused I'll leave it to you guys. You've always done a great job in helping me and I greatly thank everyone who has and will help me

I'd strongly suggest reading both tutorials before you get started. Let me know how it goes.

http://www.pcmech.com/show/harddrive/43/
http://lifehacker.com/software/feature/how...rive-137179.php

Then let me know if you have questions before you actually proceed.

I already know how to install a hard drive. I read both tut and didnt learn anything I didnt already do but yet I stil have my initial problem of it not showing up on my pc also my main question is if i do get it to work will it be compatible with my new pc so I can transfer everything on it to my new pc.

The reason it doesn't show up is,

1. You have not partitioned or reformatted the NEW drive yet. (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348)
2. It is not plugged in correctly or the jumpers are not set correctly.

Does it show up in BIOS? If it shows up in BIOS it is more option 1. If it doesn't show in BIOS it is more likely option 2.

if i reformat it wont i loose all data on it?

Ohhh.. your talking about the old drive. Yea, that has data on it. We don't want to reformat it. It has to be the jumpers. Make sure that the jumper is on SLAVE, if it is hooked on the same IDE as the new hard drive. If it is hooked on its own IDE2, make sure it is set to master. (Please let me know more about your hookup in the computer).

Does it show up in BIOS like I said?

ok well I got fed up with it so I rigged up a half cpu and transfered everything through my network it was a pain in the butt! It got the job done though. the new cpu has a different hard drive than my old different connections it doesnt use a ribbon cable like my old hard drives do but I did have a spare ribbon that fit on the new mother board and to my old hard drive, but it is used for my dvd burner (I'm not that great with all the tech words for these things yet! but I have learned enough to build my own cpu?) I think that was the reason it would not read the drive. Because it was for a floppy hook up although the cables did plug in fine. A couple more questions if u dont mind though? I had three hd on my old cpu one was a outboard this one does not seem to be working on this cpu either (it connects through a usb port) It should read it through a usb port right? but its not . Second is there a way to transfer all of my bookmarks from my old cpu? (I have like 150 of them) and last, my old cpu I had about everything you could think of as far as virus and spyware goes (adaware,spybot,hijackthis,mcgafee site advisor, AboutBuster,FireTune,Ewido,avg,cc cleaner, boot safe,and I cant remember the rest of them there was about 4 more, now wich of these should I reinstall on my new one? hijackthis is a givein. But are all these necesary? I am running mcgaffe on this one I wasnt on my old one just the site advisor

1. The hard drive that connects through a USB port may not be working for a few reasons. It may not be getting power. Some front panel ports on new computers don't contain power. Try plugging it into the back USB ports. If it does power on and still isn't showing up, make sure that you have installed the drivers for the USB hard drive case.

2. To export and import your favorites, you just need to copy and paste them. They are located in C:\Documents and Settings\<Your user name>\Favorites. Copy them and paste them in the same location on the new hard drive.

3. This one is a hard one. I always recommend one firewall, one antivirus, and one antispyware application. The rest is up to the user. AboutBuster you definetely will not need. CCleaner is highly recommended and so is SiteAdvisor. The rest is up to you.

Well thanks again for all your help. I'm going to mess with the outboard hd later I need a break and need to start setting up my pc the way I want it and don't get me started on how long it's gonna take me to organize my 7,000 mp3's

No problem, have fun. Also, you may be able to find some favorites backup programs online if you dig around. It will make the job a bit more easy.