i have recently had a new HDD put in my laptop, however i didnt have a chance to backup all my files and documents from my old HDD.

is it possible to physically remove the "new" HDD and place the "old" HDD back in the laptop- backup my files and then swap the "old" with the "new" again?

obviously it can be done, but will it affect settings and so on?

cheers, nadia

The only settings that will be affected are those in the BIOS as it sees the drive specifications are different. This "should" not cause any lasting affects, and once the new drive is put back in, they should simply change back. All the significant settings are saved on the hard drive(s).

However, there are a couple alternatives to consider:

1. A Laptop to IDE HD Adapter will allow you to attach your old drive to a desktop PC without digging into your laptop. Then you can copy files at will.

2. An External Enclosure will allow you to simply put your old drive in the enclosure, then connect to your laptop via USB - it will just appear as a second drive in Windows and you can then drag and drop to your new drive. I prefer enclosures with separate power supplies, but for infrequent use, this type is fine if no other USB devices are connected. If you think this is something you might use often, get a better quality enclosure that has its own power supply.

thanks sooo much for your help.
you answered my other question too.
cheers, nads

You're welcome.