I have a 60 gb HDD that i was using with a computer, that computer is at the moment unworkable. when i try to use the HDD with an older computer it doesnt access the HDD and it says that "windows did not start successfully because of a possible hardware conflict", or some crap like that. when i try to start in safe mode or last known configuration, it just restarts the computer and eventually goes into the same "windows did not start..." screen. apparently i cannot use the current operating system with the current hardware configuration on the old computer without formating it, which i do not want to do being as the 60 gig HDD has a bunch of stuff on it that i want to retrieve.

is it possible to still access the HDD somehow and copy the files?

What version of Windows are you using? If it's XP, then it could be the authenication protocols kicking in because Windows knows that it's not the same computer; hence, it thinks that it's an illegal copy.

IMO, the easiest way to do this is get a Linux LiveCD and boot off the CD. The LiveCD won't use the HD so there will be no problem with that, but you should be able to read from the HD (since it bypasses Windows) and copy the information onto something else.

Of course, if you can't get online then that's a problem. Another option is to install Windows on another HD in this computer and make your 60BG drive into a slave, then try to pull the data off it that way.

how do i make the 60 gig one the slave? the setup screen? will it then only load the OS from the 15 GB HDD? (i have a bunch of HDDs and i already have one with XP on it)

thank you again crystalattic. you are most superiorly knowledged in the makings of computers. it is good to have someone such as yourself monitoring this site.

if you have the chance, please read the new thread i have posted on this board.

To make it a slave, you'll have to move the jumpers on the drive itself; look at the back of the HD near where the IDE ribbon cable plugs in. There should be a sticker on the drive showing you the proper jumper position for master/slave; if not, you'll have to go to the manufacturer's web site.

Once you've made it a slave, just plug it onto the IDE cable w/ your other HD and make sure everything is detected correctly in CMOS when you boot. If it is, then your computer should boot off the 15GB drive. You might get some problems because you'll have Windows on both drives but it shouldn't be a big deal. Once you've booted, you should be able to access your 60GB drive and copy the files off it. Then reformat it to fix any problems it may have.