Removing an HDD from one Dell and installing in another?

[JohnJSal]

My parents' old Dell failed (most likely the fan or PSU) and I'd like to remove the HDD and put it in their new Dell. Is this a simple matter of unconnecting and reconnecting the cables? Is there anything weird I need to know, since apparently Dell uses a proprietary BTX format?

Thanks.

Edit: Ah yes, and since both the old drive and new drive will have Windows on them, how do I deal with this at boot time? All I really need to do is get some files off the old drive, and then I could format it and they could just have the extra space if needed. The old drive has XP and the new one has Vista.

 

[schw32m]

you shouldn't have a problem with installing the old drive in the new machine.. it is either an IDE (flat ribbon cable) or SATA. Put it on a secondary port, make sure the BIOS picks it up and you should be good to go. Vista isn't going to care what is on that drive at boot and will read it as a slave drive.

 

[JohnJSal]

you shouldn't have a problem with installing the old drive in the new machine.. it is either an IDE (flat ribbon cable) or SATA. Put it on a secondary port, make sure the BIOS picks it up and you should be good to go. Vista isn't going to care what is on that drive at boot and will read it as a slave drive.

Excellent, thanks!