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brett38655

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 26, 2008
2
0
Hello all, I recently switched over to a mac pro. There are a lot of files that need from my old computer but the mobo fried and all i have is the HD's. I have Parallels and Boot camp. Can I just drop the old HD in and use one of those programs to access it?
 
I wouldn't think so as it would have all of your old drivers in the installation
 
If you just want to get to the files (like a thumb drive) then just plug the drive into the MacPro and you should be able to copy files off of the drive. Macs can read/write (get and put files to and from) to FAT formatted HDs. If the drive is formatted NTFS, then you can only read (get the file off the drive).

YES, I know one could install programs to make NTFS drives fully accessible, but I don't want to go into it unless the OP asks.
 
So long as you don't intend to boot from it, yes. While booting would be possible, windows xp barks at you if you change your hardware significantly. You will have to re-enter your serial number to continue using it (you have 30 days to put it in) or just use it without if you're done with it. (One note, it is, I believe, illegal to use a copy of xp that is oem to another computer.)
 
I'd put the drive in a USB/firewire enclosure and drag the critical data over. Use Fusion to set up a virtual machine, and then drag your data into it.
 
well depends on what you specifically want to o with it, you can "drop it in" but from there what do you want to do?

if you built the PC system yourself you may be able to boot from it, justb oot up in safe mode remove the old drivers (grphics, sound, hardware/mobo drivers) install the bootcamp/leopard drivers

and you should be good to go.
 
i would grab the data u need off of it thru parralells then reformat it and use bootcamp to make it a strictly XP drive.
I did
 
how about this

ok, i just found another 120G SATA. If i drop it in and format it with bootcamp, i should be able to use it and access the other drive just like i did in my old pc right?
 
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