Trying to use install disk , after putting in new hard drive

Thank you Rany, this is my very first time attempting this. I find it very empowering to learn about computers and fixing it myself. Of course I would not have gotten so far without this site. I noticed I can buy what I need here as well.

I did buy an external hard drive to try and restore the info from the old hard drive. Would I first format and partition the new one and then plug in the old one? Thanks

I'm happy to say... We did it. I just went for it, somehow I got it right!

Now I'm hoping to get some insight on how to use the external drive to restore some info from my old drive. I'm a Jeweler and have some very important info. on my old drive. Sales receipts, I put together some info. for students amongst other important things I need.

I plugged in the external drive and it just made a funny noise, I'm thinking I have it set up wrong..any help will be much appreciated.

I notice there is a kit for replacing the front of an IPad. I have a crack all the way across. Grandkids!!!!! My husband is a writer and this is his baby!

Thanks again to all that helped!

Glad you could do it. Thrilling indeed to be able to take control of your own stuff, specially these days when so much money and reliance go into those pesky machines.

As for repairing iPad glass, it is a real pain but doable none the less.

Finally regarding the recovery of old info, let us first know how it is now:

the old hard drive that was in you computer is now installed in an enclosure and sitting outside your computer?

Yes that's right

Great. Plug it in using an enclosure (basically a small interface board and a USB cable, with or without a case). You should see the disk appear in the left column of your Finder window or as an icon on your desktop. Click on it, look for a folder named Home Folder, or User, or whatever the user was named in the old system / on the old hard drive. To be on the safe side, copy all that folder from the old drive and paste it on your new/current desktop, then dig in it to look for all the info that you need to recover.