I have three old computers, that I do not use any more,

[pennylane100]

However. the hard drives contain lots of old photo that I would like to keep. Is there anyway that I could just copy the hard drive without fixing up the computers and updating all the many things in windows. I know that sounds almost impossible but I thought it was worth asking.

[arcane1]

1. You could remove the hard drives, and place them in external enclosures.

I've had to do that a few times myself. It's technically not hard to do but it's also much easier if you are somewhat familiar with the innards of a computer.

Here's an example of the case enclosure:
http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-ProBox-K32-SU3-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B0065DUJ0C/ref=sr_1_18?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1405380595&sr=1-18&keywords=external+hard+drive+case

However, if the computers will boot up, you should be able to transfer the files to an external drive w/no problem.

[lpbk2713]

2. You could get an external enclosure.

Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008040%20600006254%20600006268&IsNodeId=1&name=IDE&Order=PRICE&Pagesize=20

... and browse for what you want to keep.

For your older HDD's you'll probably want one that will accomodate
a 3.5" IDE (as opposed to SATA) type hard drive. Don't plug it in to
your new PC's USB port until it has booted up.



ETA: GMTA ... sorry for the dupe.

[Pharaoh]

3. take out the hard drives

goodwill will recycle the rest............

[eppur_se_muova]

4. You could also boot from a live CD and copy all the files to a USB drive ...

Just google "Linux live CD" for instructions. Or if you prefer Mini Windows, google "Hiren's Boot Disk". Alternatively, you can boot from a USB drive -- either a HD or a flash drive. Puppy Linux, for example, includes full instructions for creating a bootable flash drive: http://puppylinux.org/wikka/BootFlash and is designed to use minimal resources, so no need for upgrades. Puppy Linux even loads into RAM, allowing you to remove the boot disk(!) and replace it with another drive before copying your pix over.

Of course, if you don't have USB on these older computers, that's a bit harder.

You didn't say what kinds of computers -- it helps to know whether you have SCSI, IDE, ATA or SATA drives. If your newer computer can use the same kind of drives it's not that hard to install the old drive in the new computer as a second drive. Depending on the type of drive, you may have to change ID's (usually with jumpers), designate one as master and one as slave, etc. Depends a lot on your hardware as to how easy it is, but once you've done it, it seems pretty routine. I've swapped hard drives in almost every computer I've ever had, including laptops.

[pennylane100]

5. thanks for all the suggestions. I now have some great choices.