Ask A Geek

Q: How do I transfer files from my old computer to my new one when my old one can’t turn on anymore?

A: You have two choices when it comes to transferring your files from a computer that does not work to your new computer.

The cheapest solution is to take the hard drive out of your old computer and put it in your new computer. This usually requires knowing a little bit about computers and possibly about jumpers on your hard drive.

If you do not mind spending the money and doing it yourself is not something you want to deal with or do not think you can then you can always bring the two computers to your local computer shop and for a nominal fee they should be more than happy to move the drive from the dead computer to the new computer.

The other solution is to buy a USB hard drive enclosure that you would install your old hard drive into. So you would take your drive out of the old computer and put it in the USB hard drive enclosure. The process is pretty simple and this solution would actually be more cost effective than bringing both computers to a computer shop. Also, once you are done, you have an external USB hard drive that you can use for backups (once, of course, you get all the data off the drive that you need).