Computer died - how can i resurrect project from HD?

[Shepdog1]

My old Inspiron 546 (Windows 7) just wore out. What is the best way to retrieve (assuming HD is O.K.) a VS project that is on the HD? Can a new computer (it will be Win 10) run both its own HD stuff and the old 546 as an external HD?

My main goal is to not lose the VS project.

Thanks very much!
Bill

[Ken Berry]

Welcome to the forum.

I don't see why you can't do what you want to with the old HDD, assuming, as you say, it is still viable and you have the means to connect it to your new computer. I do most of my projects using external HDDs, with both the project file and related video on the external drive. I've had no failures. So if your 'old' HDD still works, I can't see why you can't do the same.

[Shepdog1]

Thank you, Ken! I think I've been getting some bum info from the people who sell computers. They said that since the old HD is Win 7 and a new computer would be Win 10, it would be a no-go.

Another question, if I may: what would be the best way to transfer a complete project file (photos, video clips, music, and some Effects, total 6 minutes) to a new computer, on which I have installed a fresh version of VS 8? I'd want to be able to edit the project on the new machine.

[Ken Berry]

Are we talking about the project that is on your old HDD or a separate one on another computer? If it's on the old HDD, you don't need to transfer it to the new computer. You just plug in the old HDD to the new computer via USB. Then when you open VS you browse to the old HDD to find the project file and select it. You will probably get a message saying it can't find the files included in the project and asking if you can Relink them. Usually you only have to relink the first clip in the project and VS then finds the others.

If you are talking about another project on a separate computer which has VS on it, then open the project and go to File and select Smart Package. That will create a package which includes the project file and all associated files included in it. That can be stored on a USB with sufficient space on it and opened in VS on your main computer.

[BrianCee]

Thank you, Ken! I think I've been getting some bum info from the people who sell computers. They said that since the old HD is Win 7 and a new computer would be Win 10, it would be a no-go.

If you put the hard drive from the old computer into a "caddy" - widely available - see e-bay - it converts it to a standard USB connected hard drive - no matter what operating system the old computer used - just wait until the new computer starts up before plugging the the USB drive in -- I have done this with laptops using the small drive caddies and the operating system on the external hard dive is completely ignored and once you have plugged it into you latest computer you can easily delete all reference to the old operating system leaving only your data - which you can then use as a standard external USB HDD


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[Shepdog1]

Excellent. Onward!