Can old hard drive contents be viewed on new computer?

I have a hard drive from a laptop that became unusable several years ago. The display gave out, but the HDD was fine, so I removed it and kept it. Now I purchased a hard drive enclosure to be able to use it with my current laptop as a backup external hard drive to back up my computer. I'll have to wait 11 days before it comes in the mail.

I was just wondering if I'll be able to view the items on it that existed when I had my old computer. I had everything backed up when the computer stopped working, but have deleted quite a bit since then and was thinking I might want some of those items back. I had Windows 7 at the time. I'm also unsure of what my old computer's password was. My current laptop has Windows 10.

bro67 said:

You just have to take ownership of the folders under Security in File Explorer when you mount the drive.

Thank you! I just googled what that means to take ownership of the folders. There are a lot of steps. I wouldn't mind doing it for really important files and folders, but would I have to go through all those steps for each and every file? That would be thousands of files! How to take ownership of files and folders on Windows 10 | Windows Central

Is it possible to just select all the files and folders on the drive at one time and do the process of taking ownership just once?

Add Take Ownership to Context Menu in Windows 10

I've done this with an old laptop drive and didn't need to take ownership of files

bro67 said:

Not that many steps as you believe. When you take ownership of the drive, it allows you at the same time to take ownership of all files and folders with a couple of clicks. Change Owner of File, Folder, Drive, or Registry Key in Windows 10

No need to go out and search, we have an extensive tutorial section on here.

That's very helpful! I'll use that when I get the chance--and the HDD enclosure I ordered.

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FreeBooter said:

Add Take Ownership to Context Menu in Windows 10

Thank you! I'll use this and am sure I'll have no problem.

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Steve C said:

I've done this with an old laptop drive and didn't need to take ownership of files

It will be great if it works that way with what I have. Hopefully my old drive still works. I put it in a zip-lock bag and kept it in a kitchen cabinet for the past few years to keep it safe.

Berton said:

I just copied files from an old 1GHz Notebook with a whopping 30GB HDD. I got it back about 15 years ago and gave it to my son around 2003. He wanted some old pictures from it and I only had to click once to gain access to the Folders he wanted, not a big issue. I also put it in a pockable/portable case for the task.

Then I'll probably have no problems. If I do, I'll follow the steps outlined by bro67 and Freebooter.