How to get files off your old PC before you move

However sentimental you consciousness astir that aged machine (or seven) you’re hanging connected to, possibly you’ve decided you can’t instrumentality it with you the adjacent clip you move. Maybe it doesn’t boot. Maybe it’s truthful old, it doesn’t link to the internet. If you privation to prevention immoderate is connected the hard drive, you don’t request your aged PC to enactment oregon link to the internet. All you request is simply a screwdriver and a compatible plug-and-play retention thrust dock oregon adapter.

The process is simple: region the thrust from your aged computer, look astatine its size and connector type, and past bargain the due adapter. You mightiness request to probe however to region the retention thrust from your circumstantial device, but the older the device, the easier it should beryllium — and it’s astir surely a batch easier than a unreality transfer. 

I can’t transportation my files to the cloud?!

You can usage the cloud, but it’s an unnecessary hassle, and the older your computer, the bigger the hassle. Bandwidth, Wi-Fi, bundle compatibility, and much each go unavoidable obstacles.

Wi-Fi 5 and up is backward-compatible, but your wireless upload velocity volition lone beryllium arsenic accelerated arsenic your oldest device. You tin usage ethernet if your aged machine has it, but the aforesaid contented applies. Google Drive, OneDrive, and different unreality retention desktop applications are lone compatible with Windows 10 oregon macOS Catalina 10.15.7 and up. Same woody with web browsers. (Dropbox, surprisingly, supports all the mode backmost to Windows 7.)

Even if those issues didn’t exist, you’ll inactive walk the equivalent of a bully adapter oregon outer thrust conscionable connected unreality retention successful respective months oregon little — and you’ll support paying oregon other get locked retired of your data. If your machine has a moving USB larboard (USB 2.0 oregon newer), transferring everything to an outer thrust mightiness marque the astir sense. But again, outgo is simply a factor. So usage a dock oregon adapter; they’re the ibuprofen of preventing information transportation headaches. 

How bash I get the retention retired of my aged computer?

Desktops usually person a straightforward mode to entree storage, adjacent crossed generations and brands. Laptops are wherever things tin beryllium tricky, truthful I urge searching iFixit’s repair guide to find circumstantial steps for your computer. However, determination are a mates of things to look for that tin archer you however casual it volition beryllium to entree and region a retention drive.

Drive bays

On a desktop, look for what lucifer tiny metallic cubby holes, either stacked vertically connected 1 broadside oregon laying broadside by broadside connected the bottom. You’ll request to region the full ammunition casing, oregon conscionable a sheet oregon two, to get to your drive. But erstwhile you’re there, unscrew the thrust from its cubby (if needed), unplug each the attached cables, and propulsion it out.

For my IBM PS/Valuepoint 433DX/D, I slid the full ammunition casing off, removed the halfway support, and past unplugged the retention thrust earlier I unscrewed it from the bay. The full process took maine little than 5 minutes.

Access panels

Some older laptops person tiny removable panels that screen the retention drive, a fantastic DIY diagnostic from the “old days.” If you spot 1 of those screwed into the bottommost of your laptop, unscrew it, region it, disconnect the cablegram from the retention drive, and propulsion it out.

There’s 1 connected my Asus UL80J laptop, and it took maine fractional the magnitude of clip to region the thrust from that laptop compared to my aged IBM.

What if I person a Mac?

It takes a batch much clip to region a retention thrust from a Mac successful general, but it tin beryllium done. Again, I recommend looking to iFixit for your model’s nonstop steps. The process isn’t arsenic cut-and-dried arsenic a PC and tin alteration wide betwixt generations.

What retention is successful my aged laptop oregon desktop?

You tin archer what benignant of retention thrust you person conscionable by looking astatine its size, shape, and connector pins. (They are each casual to archer apart.) What follows is simply a rundown of the benignant of retention drives your aged machine volition astir apt person based connected erstwhile the machine itself was released.

Note: the day ranges beneath are based mostly connected erstwhile each modular was introduced and erstwhile it fell retired of popularity oregon became obsolete. It’s perfectly imaginable for idiosyncratic to person a machine from, say, 2017 that has a SATA HDD. (My aged Lenovo Legion Y720 gaming laptop had one.)

HDD (PATA): 1986–2003

Originally called AT Attachment, Parallel ATA (PATA) lasted from the mid-1980s to the aboriginal 2000s. If you person an aged IBM, it’s astir apt going to person a PATA larboard and a 2.5-inch oregon 3.5-inch hard disk thrust (HDD) with the aforesaid benignant of connector. While determination were plentifulness of hard drives of each antithetic sizes during those eras, those 2 were the astir commonly utilized HDD sizes successful desktops.

PATA is besides known arsenic IDE, oregon Integrated Drive Electronics. It was Western Digital’s sanction for its HDD connector, and a batch of ’80s and ’90s Compaq computers utilized its IDE drives, but they were compatible with IBM PCs due to the fact that their connectors were precisely the same. The 2 presumption are inactive utilized interchangeably.

HDD (SATA): 2003–2010

This transportation modular was introduced successful 2003, and 5 years later, PATA / IDE was obsolete. If your machine came retired betwixt 2003 and 2010, it astir apt has an HDD with a Serial AT Attachment (SATA) connection. Laptops got the 2.5-inch HDD versions portion desktops got the 3.5-inch versions, though the 2.5-inch drives were compatible with some owed to their size.

Like PATA, the 3.5-inch SATA HDD volition request its ain powerfulness source. All you request for a 2.5-inch thrust is simply a elemental USB adapter, but plentifulness of hard thrust docks are compatible with that smaller signifier factor.

SSD (SATA): 2010–2014

The 2.5-inch SATA solid-state drives (SSD) were commonly utilized successful laptops and desktops during this time. The much modern ones person sleek lawsuit housing, truthful they look cooler. Some modern desktop cases inactive travel with dedicated bays for these drives, too.

But astir important: SSDs usage NAND flash, oregon nonvolatile flash memory, which made them susceptible of moving overmuch faster than HDDs. And until M.2 SSDs became much communal (see the adjacent section), SATA SSDs were cheaper. For a abbreviated play of time, determination was a azygous benignant of standardized retention instrumentality that worked successful astir consumer-focused desktops and laptops.

There was besides the Mini-SATA (mSATA) drive, introduced successful 2009. It was a amended prime for laptops based connected its size, but by the mid-2010s, it was superseded by M.2 SSDs.

SSD (M.2): 2014–present

Originally dubbed Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF), M.2 SSDs are the existent modular for laptops and desktops. They slot into a circumstantial PCI explicit (PCIe) larboard connected the motherboard, and the astir communal size is the 2280, which is the size of a instrumentality of gum. M.2 SSDs didn’t commencement showing up successful laptops and desktops until 2014, but the ones we person contiguous are doubly arsenic fast. 

But I person a Mac…

If you person a Mac that predates 2010, you’ll person the easiest clip uncovering a compatible dock oregon adapter; Apple utilized the aforesaid retention standards arsenic Windows machines. But starting with the precocious 2010 MacBook Air, Apple began putting its “blade” SSD drives with proprietary pin connectors successful its computers. It besides didn’t evenly sync the rollout betwixt each of its Macs.

In all, Apple created 4 proprietary pin connections that were utilized crossed its laptops and desktops. That’s wherefore immoderate Mac-specific retention adapters, similar the OWC Envoy Pro, are lone compatible with circumstantial Mac devices from circumstantial years. iFixit sells an outer enclosure for mid-2013 done mid-2015 Macs, but it’s $100.

If you person a Mac, I urge researching what circumstantial drive it has — and if an adapter really exists — earlier you region the storage.

Should I get a dock oregon an adapter?

If you person a 2.5-inch SATA HDD oregon SSD, you tin usage a elemental USB adapter. Those from Sabrent, StarTech, and Vantec are large affordable options. If you person a 3.5-inch PATA oregon SATA HDD, you tin usage either an adapter oregon dock, but the second indispensable person a powerfulness cablegram since these types of drives request their ain powerfulness root to crook on.

Some adapters and docks tin accommodate some thrust sizes, similar these Sabrent, Insignia, and Thermaltake docks. This adapter from Unitek has its ain powerfulness root and supports some PATA / SATA and HDD / SSD retention types. (Some PATA adapters and docks usage the IDE acronym alternatively of PATA successful their online listings, truthful conscionable beryllium mindful of that erstwhile you are looking for 1 to buy.)

What if my HDD oregon SSD is encrypted?

If you cognize the property of your machine and its operating system, decrypting your retention thrust could either beryllium an casual process oregon it could marque you weep into your keyboard. Start by figuring retired which mentation of Windows oregon macOS you have, and that volition usually archer you if the retention thrust is software- oregon hardware-encrypted.

Software encryption

If you person a machine with oregon anterior to Windows XP (2001) oregon Mac OS X 10.2 (2002), the encryption is astir apt bundle based. If you cognize what third-party bundle was utilized — and you cognize the cardinal oregon password — you tin decrypt the thrust connected the archetypal machine if it inactive works and has the archetypal bundle installed. Some fashionable programs astatine the clip were TrueCrypt, SafeGuard PrivateDisk, and BitLocker To Go. (There is an extensive list connected Wikipedia if nary of those ringing a bell.)

BitLocker To Go Reader came to Windows XP with Service Pack 2, which eliminated the request for third-party software. If you encrypted the thrust with BitLocker, the scholar bundle should person been automatically installed connected the thrust itself. If you forgot your password, you’ll request your BitLocker betterment key.

Hardware encryption

Hardware-based encryption, oregon TPM (Trusted Platform Module) for Windows and FileVault for macOS, was archetypal introduced successful the mid-2000s; if you person Windows Vista oregon OS X 10.3, oregon immoderate aboriginal version, the retention encryption is astir apt hardware based.

For Windows Vista done Windows 8.1 with TPM 1.2, the decryption process should beryllium simple: crook disconnected BitLocker Drive Encryption successful the OS settings, and it volition automatically commencement decrypting the retention drive. Then restart your machine and cheque to spot if you tin entree the files. The process is the aforesaid for TPM 2.0-enabled computers with Windows 8.1 and later.

For Macs with FileVault oregon FileVault 2, the process is the same: crook disconnected FileVault successful the information and privateness settings, participate your head password (if needed), and the decryption process volition begin. Restart your machine and past cheque to spot if the process worked.

What if I don’t person the archetypal machine to decrypt the drive?

You tin inactive plug the thrust into your existent machine and decrypt from there. The aforesaid accusation and processes I mentioned supra inactive apply: cheque for the indispensable bundle oregon hardware and level compatibility and availability, person your head password oregon betterment cardinal handy, and marque definite you person head privileges connected your computer.

Photography by Joanna Nelius / The Verge