Computer hard drive help

[king nothing]

I have the hard drive out of my old laptop sitting in a drawer. I'd like to retrieve some files off of it that I couldn't get to because the computer stopped working. How would I go about that? I'm pretty computer-dumb so simple terms please lol

 

[zak88lx]

Purchase a 2.5" portable USB hard drive enclosure.
Mount your laptop drive into it, and plug usb into a working PC.
The laptop drive will now be visible in windows explorer.

http://m.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7664392&CatId=2781

 

[Proto]

If you have a desktop, it will usually have an available SATA/Serial ATA extension for an additional HDD if its fairly new (last 5 years). If it's older it may have IDE with 4 pin connector Pull the side door off, find the proper cables, plug in. Boot, retrieve your porn....errr i mean "files", then power off and discard HDD. Otherwise, zak88lx's reply will work too.

There are countless videos on youtube of how to do this.

 

[SeanUSAF]

If you have a desktop, it will usually have an available SATA/Serial ATA extension for an additional HDD if its fairly new (last 5 years). If it's older it may have IDE with 4 pin connector Pull the side door off, find the proper cables, plug in. Boot, retrieve your porn....errr i mean "files", then power off and discard HDD. Otherwise, zak88lx's reply will work too.

There are countless videos on youtube of how to do this.

Just what he said, it's very simple just make sure the desktop is powered down and unplugged before you do this.

 

[CobraBob]

Do you know why your laptop stopped working? I hope it wasn't because the hard drive failed. Assuming the drive didn't fail, recovering the data should be relatively easy as you can see.

 

[ViciousJay]

https://www.google.com/shopping/pro....5&ei=FYv7U9KCCsfNsQShyoHYDQ&ved=0CI8EEKYrMAE

buy this, there is a chance you can still save some of the files

 

[king nothing]

Thanks guys. Great info. The charger port on the laptop was broken and I couldn't power it up. It was pretty old and wasn't working well so I just bought a new one and pulled the hard drive out of the old one. I have a bunch of woodworking magazine and plans on the old drive that I'd like to retrieve. I'll order the 15 dollar case and hope for the best. Definitely worth 15 bucks to get that stuff back