Accessing old hard drive without formatting

[MakerNekoMizuki]

So I'm trying to use my old OS hard drive in a USB dock to transfer files from my old computer to my new computer, it initially was letting me in the file system but upon trying to get access to my user folder from my old PC, it decided it wasn't liking it and wants me to format it to use it (and considering moving data is the whole point that's obviously not an option), is there some solution to bypass 7 wanting me to format my vista drive so I can get all my music and stuff back over here?

 

[RchUncleSkeleton]

There is some software that I used to retrieve data of off an old hard drive that wasn't getting recognized in windows called "GetDataBack". There is an NTFS and a FAT version so get the one for whichever format your drive is/was.

Also, if it is a desktop PC I would recommend connecting the drive directly to a SATA port on the motherboard.

 

[Rydian]

If it's telling you it needs to be formatted, then there's corruption going on somewhere. Either the drive itself is dying, the filesystem got damaged (or at least the key parts), the cable isn't plugged in all the way or damaged, the adapter is dying, etc.

You could also try this, but make sure it's not a physical issue first.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

 

[MakerNekoMizuki]

Seems like a damaged windows filesystem was the problem, elsewhere someone recommended I try a USB booting linux and I can access my old files that way, transfered my music but haven't gotten around to everything else yet

 

[trumpet-205]

Seems like a damaged windows filesystem was the problem, elsewhere someone recommended I try a USB booting linux and I can access my old files that way, transfered my music but haven't gotten around to everything else yet

Well if the file system/partition is damaged, chances are some files on the drive are corrupted. Do you have anyway to verify each file's integrity?

 

[MakerNekoMizuki]

Not sure how I'd do that besides manually checking everything, all my songs I tried seem to be fine though so that's hopefully a good sign

 

[trumpet-205]

Not sure how I'd do that besides manually checking everything, all my songs I tried seem to be fine though so that's hopefully a good sign

A good practice on files you care about is to generate a list of checksum (MD5 minimum preferably SHA1 or above). Whenever you suspect file corruption rerun checksum and compare it with the list. If it matches then file is intact; mismatch then file is corrupted.