[SOLVED] accessing files on now 'external' hard drive - formerly original HD

[hondochica]

Greetings;

So my old hard drive was failing (hp elitebook)- or at least developed bad sectors somewhere in Win 7 such that I could only run it in Safe Mode. Finally got a new HD, installed in my laptop -, reinstalled win7 (64 bit pro) - got all updates - so far so good.

So I bought an external case for my original hard drive - hoping to be able to pull files from it (seems I forgot to copy some old stuff). the file directory looks very different. I tried to access my old files via 'users/(my old file name) but the computer says I don't have access. Clicked the button to try to get access but the hard drive just spins and spins and spins and spins and . . . I waited about 15-20 minutes but the file folder never opened. I could not 'eject' the external hard drive. task manager said the disk was 'running' - don't remember the exact process but it was COM .... (something).

I tried to boot this hard drive from the usb - but I subsequently read somewhere here that windows won't boot from a usb device. the laptop just booted from the new installed HD.

so . . . do I have to put the old HD back in the laptop and change permissions etc; or is there some way I can get to my old files as an external HD (via usb)?

thanks so much
Kelly

 

[woutervdg629]

If you're an admin on your new computer you should have the ability to allow permission to the old drive. Now after you do that it may take a while to allow you to access the files since it has to go through some process similar to re-indexing the drive I think. I used the same step on a previous NVME drive of mine and even on that incredibly fast drive it took like a minute or two for full access. Idk how big your old drive was but you might just have to let it sit for a while.

 

[hondochica]

Thanks @woutervdg629 I've been hesitant to plug the external back in but I'll give it a try and check permissions before I try to open the folder with all my data. I did wait easily 15 minutes or more the first time as it looked like the drive was 'sorting through things' (so to speak) and I was sure it was going to list files any minute . . but then . . I got nervous and shut it all down. Will let you know how the 2nd attempt goes.

Kelly

 

[hondochica]

Hey @woutervdg629 - thanks for your help. Didn't do anything different - but I now have access to my files. the permissions were already there - and I was able to open all folders and access all data. I didn't realize how much stuff I had on that drive - 28G of data! I guess I just didn't wait long enough the first time.

Enjoy your day

Kelly