Transferring files from broken laptop to another computer?

Javery

Javery

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My wife dropped the family laptop and the screen cracked open in about 7 or 8 spots and all the liquid is oozing everywhere behind the glass. There is no picture at all. The screen lights up I guess but you can't make anything out. I am fortunately covered under Dell's warranty for such incidents so I am sending it in for repairs (similarly to how MS handles 360 repairs). The problem is that ALL of my family pictures are on the hard drive (among other stuff) and if I send it into Dell I can't take even the remote chance that I won't get those files back.

Anyway, I'm wondering if there is a cable or something I can hook up my laptop hard drive (I guess it's a 2.5" one but I'm not sure) once I get it out of there that will enable me to hook it up to another computer and pull some of the files off of it... Any help would be great...
 
Couldn't you hook up the laptop to an external monitor and then maybe burn the files you need onto a dvd, or maybe move it to an external drive?
 
You can purchase an external enclosure or adapter to convert the drive into a USB drive to connect to another PC. Just make sure to get one for a 2.5" notebook hard drive, and also ensure it uses the same interface as your hard drive: either IDE/EIDE/PATA or SATA. The notebook HDD will draw less power than a 3.5", so it will be powered from just the adapter/enclosure.

Though I also agree with the idea to hook it up to an external monitor. You may have to hit a key combination to let the computer know you want to output to an external display, but that's a cheaper and faster route than needing to purchase additional hardware.
 
VGA out is the cheapest solution, look for a key near "ctrl" and "alt" called "Fn" and press the key that's highlighted in blue called "lcd" or if it's symbols, 2 rectangular shapes seperated by a vertical line (it's usually F5)
 
You could either take he HD out and put it in an external enclosure or attach a separate monitor/display onto your laptop.
 
Thanks guys. I hooked up the computer last night to an external monitor and the screen says "system error" when I try to boot it. It says a startup file for windows cannot be found or is corrupt. It asks me to insert the setup disc and press 'r' but when I do that nothing happens. I don't know what to do if the hard drive is damaged - I really need those files.

It's a Dell Inspiron 5160 which I bought in 2003. Any ideas whether it's SATA or IDE?
 
If a laptop is dropped, two things that'll almost always break are the screen and the HD. I hate to say it but your chances might not be very good that it survived.

Was the laptop on or off when it was dropped?

Can you boot in safe mode? It might work and you might be able to pull the files out of there.

Also, make sure that you can open it without voiding your warranty. If you open it and it voids your warranty then you'll lose out in any replacement plans you purchased.
 
[quote name='Vinny']If a laptop is dropped, two things that'll almost always break are the screen and the HD. I hate to say it but your chances might not be very good that it survived.

Was the laptop on or off when it was dropped?

Can you boot in safe mode? It might work and you might be able to pull the files out of there.

Also, make sure that you can open it without voiding your warranty. If you open it and it voids your warranty then you'll lose out in any replacement plans you purchased.[/quote]

I believe it was on when it was dropped. How do I boot in safe mode? I'll try anything at this point. I guess if that doesn't work I need to call Dell or take it to a computer repair specialist before sending it in. I can't take the chance that Dell ignores whatever note I put in the box with my broken laptop and I end up losing the files.
 
[quote name='javeryh']I believe it was on when it was dropped. How do I boot in safe mode? I'll try anything at this point. I guess if that doesn't work I need to call Dell or take it to a computer repair specialist before sending it in. I can't take the chance that Dell ignores whatever note I put in the box with my broken laptop and I end up losing the files.[/QUOTE]
To get to Safe Mode, as soon as you turn on the computer, start tapping F8, and in a few moments, if the OS isn't totally FUBAR, it will give you a few boot options. There will be three different Safe Mode options. Choose either the first or second depending on if you need network access.

Also, sometimes just because the OS became corrupt, it doesn't mean files are now completely inaccessible. Hooking it up as an external drive should still allow you to peruse the files. If that doesn't work, then, yes, yo' drive be broke.
 
If safe mode doesn't work, I would try accessing your BIOS. (Press the delete key as you try to boot up.) Don't make any changes and save them - just hit escape whenever you're ready to get out. See if it still recognizes your hard drive. (One of the options would probably show its serial number and size.) If it shows no hard drive is detected, I would say it is most likely damaged.

The only other possibility would be if the cable itself connecting the drive to the motherboard is damaged. And hopefully an enclosure would provide a new cable so you can still power it up. I've had a damaged cable before, but I think the possibility of that being the cause is rather slim.
 
I can get to an access menu by holding down F8 when I power on. I still get the same error when trying to boot in Safe Mode. I was able to run a diagnostic on my hard drive and it failed the "read" test (it passed everything else and even passed the quick random test where is just tested random sectors and not the entire drive). Anyway, is there such a way to boot a computer to NOT go straight to Windows? The file that is missing or corrupt is a "windows system file" - all I want to do is access the info on the drive. I don't care about getting it to work again.
 
Its an IDE drive. So what you need to buy is a ide to usb converter. Then take out the drive and connect it to your computer. Your computer will recognize it and then copy what you need off the thing. Thats what I did to fix my problem.
 
Don't spend any money until you try these suggestions...


You might try just pulling the HD and then reseating it back in the laptop. The fall might have jarred the connection loose.

If that doesn't work, see if you can boot from a Live CD like Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is a free, complete Linux installation on a bootable CD. Get it here:

www.ubuntu.com

Download the ISO file and burn it to a CD. Put it in your laptop drive and set your laptop to boot from the CD. When (if) the laptop boots Ubuntu, just take the default boot. After a bit, the Ubuntu desktop will come up. Remember, this is running completely off of the CD and your RAM, so it will be a little slower than normal.

Once booted, your HD should appear as a drive on the desktop and you should be able to browse the filesystem if the drive isn't totally shot. You might have to right click and "mount" the drive before you can see the files. If you can see the files, great. Maybe the USB port will work and you can transfer the files to a keydrive (your CD-RW is being used to run Ubuntu)

If you can't see the drive or files, then you've got problems. If the files are super-critical and/or valuable, you might want to just pay a reputable data-recovery service to get what they can off of the drive. If you muck around with it yourself, you risk messing up your data even more.

If you decide to do-it-yourself, a USB enclosure _might_ work, but if you end up having to run any kind of data recovery software (www.pcinspector.de is a decent free one) then you are much better off having a full IDE connection to the drive. (BTW did I mention that I recommend paying a reputable data recovery service if the files are super-critical?)

This means mounting the laptop HD as a slave drive in a regular PC and then running the recovery software from there. To do this, you need an adapter like this:

http://www.amazon.com/QVS-CC2200-2-5-Drive-Adaptor/dp/B0000C0SCD

You also need to know how to jumper your laptop drive to Slave.

Note that your laptop drive is probably mounted in some kind of "sled" for easy insertion and removal from your laptop. You'll have to pull it from the sled in order to use the above adapter.
 
Thanks for all of the great info! I'm going to give this a try. The data recovery service I called says it will be $1,500 to recover the HDD. I don't want to spend it but all of the pictures of my newborn son are on there. I usually back everything up to an external drive but hadn't done so in a few weeks and I got burned (too busy changing diapers I guess) otherwise I'd just say screw it and junk the HDD.
 
Maybe they're charging more because it's a 2.5" drive, but I used such a service before (for a 3.5" drive) at half the price. Incidentally, I only needed to learn that expensive lesson once. I now regularly clone my drive using Acronis True Image. The backups I create have saved me quite a number of times in the last two years, so I'm very glad I now do that at least once a month. I truly feel your pain on this!
 
I did it! The USB - IDE cable works!! I borrowed one from a friend and I can see all of the folders on the hard drive after plugging it into my work computer. Now all I have to do is hook up my external drive and copy the files over!!!
 
[quote name='rennervision']Awesome!:applause: You, sir, are very lucky![/quote]

I know. To think I was ready to pay $1,500 to get the data back. Everything copied over to my external drive just fine - I'm going to burn a back-up CD asap too just to be extra safe.
 
[quote name='javeryh']I know. To think I was ready to pay $1,500 to get the data back. Everything copied over to my external drive just fine - I'm going to burn a back-up CD asap too just to be extra safe.[/QUOTE]

Wooh! Bullet dodged right there...:)
 
That would've been pretty outrageous if they really charged you $1500 just to connect a hard drive to a PC and freakin' copy/paste!!!
 
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