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Move internal NTFS IDE drive to external USB
I have a standard IDE HD that is currently the D: drive on a Windows XP SP2 box, and I want to take it out of that box and attach it to another computer via a USB cable. I have a proper enclosure, but every time I try to hook it up to a computer, I've tried XP and 2003, it reports an error with the USB device. I know the hard drive is fine, and I know the hard drive is compatible with the USB enclosure I have because I have an identical drive in an identical USB enclosure. I also tried swapping the enclosures with no change in results. I'm guessing the problem is that it is currently signatured as an internal drive and that it isn't being recognized as a USB storage device because of the NT signature.
I want to move it with the data intact (none is compressed or encrypted) and both machines are part of the same NT domain of which I am an enterprise admin so permissions won't be an issue. Removing the partitions and reformatting would surely solve the problem, but I need to keep the data intact.
Any thoughts?
I want to move it with the data intact (none is compressed or encrypted) and both machines are part of the same NT domain of which I am an enterprise admin so permissions won't be an issue. Removing the partitions and reformatting would surely solve the problem, but I need to keep the data intact.
Any thoughts?
If both the PC's are on the same domain why don't you just map a drive from the PC you want to copy that DATA onto to the other ones D drive, and copy the DATA across? Or do you need the HDD attached to the other PC for some reason?
Smudge
Smudge
ASKER
Speed of transfer is the problem. I have 8 GB that I need to keep available as much as possible, and I can move it from internal IDE to External USB and have it available in less than 5 minutes, copying 8GB of files will take hours during which time the files will not be usable.
There is an option that allows you to mark a Hard Drive as "Removable". Check the Policies Tab, on your Disk present in the device manager. See if you can change it !
Maybe that works !
Best Regards !
Maybe that works !
Best Regards !
If both PCs are at the same location, just use a crossover cable attached to the network cards. Much faster! Even if the PC is in another room or on a different floor, WLAN will still give you much faster transfers.
ASKER
Can't change the option on the policies tab, both radio buttons are greyed out.
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ASKER
Kode99, you were close enough that I was able to finish on my own. Thanks!
Make sure you have backups of you 'system state' so you can restore your registry if needed.
You can clear the registry's drive letter table and then let XP rebuild it the next time it boots. To clear the table of partitions and drive letter assignments, use regedit to navigate to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM