How can I connect a laptop hard drive to a desktop computer so I can recover, transfer files?
Yesterday my laptop failed to boot. Everything appears to be normal but each time I turn it on it hangs on Windows screen with a running bar. I cannot boot my laptop to the desktop. I tested the hard drive and it passed the test. I think that my hard drive is fine and the operating system is corrupted. I have very important files in my documents and I need to recover, transfer them to the desktop computer as soon as possible. How can I connect the laptop hard drive to a desktop computer?
It is nice that your hard drive passed the test. I think you have very good chances that your data is still good and you would be able to transfer it to the desktop computer. Here are some tips for connecting a laptop hard drive to a desktop computer:
1. You can use 2.5” hard drive adapter and connect the laptop hard drive directly to a desktop computer through the IDE connector on the system board. The desktop hard drive would be connected to IDE1 so you can connect the laptop hard drive to IDE2. After you boot the desktop computer the second hard drive would be detected and you can access it as a regular HDD. Now you can recover, transfer all needed files from the laptop hard drive to the desktop hard drive. Here are detailed instructions with pictures.
2. You can use an external USB enclosure for laptop hard drives. I think that would be the easiest and fastest way to access your data. You can find an external USB enclosure in any computer shop and it would cost you about $20-$30 or buy it here for $10. After you remove the laptop hard drive, place it inside the enclosure and connect to the desktop or another laptop computer via the USB cable. It is not necessary to install any drivers for the enclosure if the desktop PC runs Winodws 2000 or Windows XP. If the desktop PC runs Windows 98, then most likely you’ll have to install a driver for the enclosure before you can access the hard drive. The USB cable and the driver usually supplies with the external enclosure. Now you can access the laptop hard drive as a regular drive on your desktop/laptop computer.
September 30th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Cat,
I think there is a chance to recover personal data from the hard dive by using data recovery software (something like GetDataBack by Runtime Software).
I think it this case you’ll have to scan the hard drive for raw data. This is just a guess but if the data is important it’s worth trying.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
I got my old laptop harddrive connected to my new computer alright (using a usb connection) and I see it in the “My computer” menu but when I try to open it up to get my old files it tells me I need to format my drive. Is there any hope to get my stuff or should I just format it and all is lost?
September 2nd, 2007 at 1:47 pm
I had connected a usb cable from my laptop to desktop inorder to try and transfer files from the laptop to the desktop. The desktop immediately quit working as soon as the usb connection was made. Now the only thing working on the desktop are the fan and light. Can’t shut power on/off.
Does anyone know if the motherboard is fried?
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:26 am
Julian,
If it is a brand new hard drive then you’ll have to partition and format it. I think it could be your problem.
Go to Control Panel – Administrative Tools – Computer Management – Disk Management. Can you see your external hard drive in there?
You’ll have to initialize the hard drive, then partition and format it.
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:05 am
Hello I have a problem wih my external case.
I have a ATA 80 gb 2.5″ and when I connect it to my laptop it does not appear in My PC, but it does appear the little green logo on the left hand side of the windows tool bar.
What should I do? I have a Windows XP home edition
Thanks
July 11th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Hi,
My IBM T40 Windows XP operating system crashed and then kept on going into the blue screen. The hard drive is in the early stages of dying and has corrupted the operating system beyond repair. I was able to get a new hard drive, use the recovery CDs, and transfer my files using a 2.5″ USB adaptor. However, I am wondering if there is a way to transfer the wireless network settings from the old hard drive to the new one? Thanks.
February 7th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
HI,
Milton’s suggestion (22) does not work for me as the complete laptop, now accessible via USB, does not allow me to share the my documents. Any other suggestions?
Scott
January 7th, 2007 at 9:13 am
Yoski,
You cannot run programs from the external hard drive, you actually have to install them on your new PC.
Do you get any messages when you try accessing My Documents folder? Check out comments 21 and 22. Milton posted a possible solution in the comment 22, may be that’s your problem?
January 6th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Hi all,
I figured out a solution to my problem! I simply had to take “Ownership” of the files on the removed Hard Drive. This Microsoft KB article describes the process: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421
Good luck…
Milton
January 5th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Hello,
I downloaded a virus recently and had problems with XP. So I bought an enclosure and followed the steps above to pull my files off my hard drive onto another computer. The problem now is that all folders are visible except “\documents and settings\milton…” where all my music and pictures are. I attempted to run the File Transfer wizard and it lists the subfolders “My Music, My Pictures”, etc. But, when I try to access them via Explorer it says “F:\Documents and Settings\Milton… is not accessible. Access Denied.”
What do you think is going on?
Milton
January 4th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
My laptop died, so I salvaged the HD and stuck it in an external enclosure. I see the HD on my new PC now, but I can’t access the My Documents folder. I also can’t run some of my programs because they say they haven’t been installed on my computer. How do I fix this? Thanks in advance!
December 29th, 2006 at 8:18 am
You’re the greatest. You just saved me $650 on a new laptop.
December 29th, 2006 at 12:29 am
Helen,
If you connect the hard drive enclosure to a computer with Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you don’t need to load any drivers. The hard drive should be detected automatically. Here’s how it usually works:
1. You connect the external hard drive enclosure to a working computer. The balloon will pop up in the lower right corner and it should say “A new hard drive is detected… Blah-blah”.
2. The second balloon will appear “New hard ware is installed…Restart the computer”
3. You restart the computer, go to My Computer and you should see the external drive in there. Access this hard drive like a regular drive and transfer all needed files.
If the external hard dive will not appear in My Computer, then either the hard drive has been damaged or you got a bad enclosure. I got one of these “bad” enclosures. When I connect it to my desktop computer it bluescreens and reboots, but the same enclosure works perfectly with my laptops.
December 28th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
hi there,my laptop was smashed up but i managed to retrieve the harddrive as well as few other parts here and there,the problem i have now is i bought a 2.5 enclosure so i could transer files from the drive onto my desktop or my new laptop but i cant find the drive anywhere on either computer.
it came with a little driver disk but when i click setup it comes up with an error saying some file is missing,then it says all drivers are fully installed.
the external drive i brought is a blueye Xeasy portable hard drive model:U225 usb2.0
both my desktop and laptop recognise the new hardware but i cant find the drive to access my files.
is there something im missing?
December 19th, 2006 at 6:58 am
Hi again.. I’m sorry I did not come back here since last post. No, they are not encrypted, the names are black.
I don’t have a clue of what to do anymore with this. I still have a hope that someone would know and maybe post something here. A friend of a friend might take a look at the C-Drive in a couple of weeks, if he has a chance.. I slowly started to get over the lost files, but it’s not easy seeing them there and not being able to access them.. very weird. No programs out there to retreive a previous version of a file? They all seem to say that they were modified the day that I connected the C-Drive (as posted above in more details). Either way.. thank you for your time, please let me know if you can think of anything else.
Ella
December 13th, 2006 at 11:48 pm
Sorry Ella,
I’m not really sure what is going on. I don’t know why you can copy files but cannot open them. Are you positive that files are not encrypted? The file name letters are black (not encrypted) or green (encrypted)? When you encrypt a file, the filename changes to green.
December 12th, 2006 at 6:28 am
They all say they were modified on Saturday (the day I connected C Drive). Besides this folder all other folders are fine. Is there a way to retrieve a prior version of files? lol.. I must sound not very smart.. I just spent countless hours since then trying to figure this out.. If i try to open for example any music files, they can’t. I get the message that they can not open, the file might be corrupted. Any text files open, but they are “blank”.. if my move my mouse over them, there is something there, but nothing visible, .. but like I said, they are not empty, they still have the same file size as they had before. System restore would not help, since it’s “my documents” folder. I was lucky enough that my mom has the same laptop model, and so I put it in my mom’s laptop, worked just like mine, all programs, etc. I am not sure if I the folder did not work from the beginning.. it actually maybe did work, that’s why I mentioned that I was going to copy that folder to CD that was too small in the size and then deleted those temporary files that were waiting to be written to the CD. I also was trying to do the “file transfer wizard”, but it did not let me put it to the CD’s as well. After that I opened one of the files and from that point on I know that the files are “bad”
December 12th, 2006 at 6:13 am
Hello.
Yes, I can copy them, drag them, no error message. Do you think They are corrupted?
I do remember that I was going to copy them to the CD, but they were big in file, and the CD was not (only 700 MB), so I deleted the temporary files that were going to be written to the CD. (which was the whole “my documents” folder copy… I don’t think that should damage anything, but just in case I thought I should say it.
So right now I have these files, pictures, music, but I can’t do anything with them. Yesterday I tried to upload a file from the folder, just a simple notepad file to the web and it said “invalid file”.
Any thoughts? Thank you very much.
Ella
December 11th, 2006 at 11:28 pm
Michael,
In order to connect the laptop and PC directly, it’s necessary to set up a network. It’s not as simple as just connecting both computers via a USB cable.
The easiest way to connect the laptop to TV is via S-video port using S-video cable.
December 11th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
Ella,
Can you copy files from the laptop hard drive to the other computer? Do you get any error messages when you try drag-and-drop or open a file in My Documents?
December 11th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
Mara,
You cannot transfer data just using a regular USB cable. You have to use a crossover Ethernet cable and setup a network in order to access files on one PC directly from another PC. If you don’t know how to do that, then I would go with an external USB enclosure.
December 11th, 2006 at 5:16 pm
i want to transfer movies for my regular computer to my laptop, but i dont know how to connect them directly. I also wanted to know how to connect the laptop to the tv, is there a usb wire with 3 imports, is that what i need.
December 11th, 2006 at 10:50 am
Hello,
My laptop crushed, but the C Drive survived. I connected it to another computer via USB. I am able to view and access all the folders. I was first unable to access “My documents”, but found way to do it by taking ownership of the folder.
HOWEVER here is my problem, .. even though I can access “my documents” folder, and see all the files in there, including the size, etc, when I double click to open any of them, they do not work. It does not matter if it’s a picture, a notepad file, or other documents, music, etc. .. as if though they were encrypted or corrupted (i did not have a setting for them to be encrypted)
Any help would be great.. thank you.
Ella
December 6th, 2006 at 8:03 am
Can I use a plain ol’ USB cable to connect my laptop to my desktop to transfer files? My CD-ROM died, so until I get a new one I need to transfer large amounts of data somehow. I also don’t have means to make a wireless network or LAN metwork or whatever it’s called… So, I was just wondering if data transfer is possible with just a USB cable. I tried just pluging them together, but I don’t get anything popping up, so I need help.
December 4th, 2006 at 12:36 am
Brad,
Regarding the error “Page Fault in Nonpaged Area”. I think you might have a faulty RAM. According to the maintenance and service guide for HP Pavilion ze5385us notebooks, you can access both memory slots from the bottom of the laptop. Here’s what you can try. If you have two RAM modules installed, remove them one by one and test the laptop after each removed module. If you have only one RAM module, move it from the slot A to the slot B. See if playing with RAM modules can help you successfully boot the laptop. Download Memtest 86+ utility (Link on the right side) and run the memory test to find out if you have a faulty RAM modules.
To test the hard drive you can use Hitachi’s drive fitness test (link on the right side) utility. It’s a free HDD test utility that works on most hard drives.
You mentioned that the laptop cannot pass Windows logo, so I assume the Hitachi drive is not completely dead and it spins when you install it into the external enclosure, right? I don’t know why Windows cannot detect the Hitachi drive; there shouldn’t be any compatibility issue. I have an external enclosure that I use with many different drives and never seen a problem. Take a look at the Hitachi drive, may be pins have a jumper (allows to set master/slave/cable select manually)? A generic USB enclosure usually has 2 USB connectors on the end that goes to a PC, so the hard drive gets enough power. What about your enclosure? If it has 2 USB connectors on one end, make sure both are connected to the PC. For some laptop hard drives getting power from 1 USB port would be enough, for some you must connect both USB connectors.
December 3rd, 2006 at 7:10 am
My laptop recently crashed and I can no longr boot it up. I have an external 2.5″ harddrive (Firelite) that I use for storage. I took out the existing Toshiba harddrive and replaced it with my laptop harddrive (A Hitachi) and tried to connect it to my PC to transfer the files and recover my documents. But Windows is not detecting the harddrive, so I can’t transfer anything. It should be noted that the original external harddrive (Firelite/Toshiba) is driverless, so that could be a reason why it is not picking it up.
If it’s any use, the error i’m having with my laptop(HP Pavilion Ze5385US) is that it wont continue the boot past the Windows logo and instead gets stuck in an infinite rebooting loop. Here’s the error that flashes on screen for about half a second before it reboots:
“Page Fault in Nonpaged Area”
December 2nd, 2006 at 7:06 pm
Bob,
It depends. If the old hard drive is dead and will not spin at all then you cannot recover data yourself. You’ll have to use a clean room recovery service – very expensive service. If the old drive doesn’t work because it has bad sectors or corrupted OS, you can attempt accessing the drive via an external USB enclosure.
Remove the hard drive from the old desktop computer and install it into an external USB enclosure for 3.5” hard drives. After that connect the enclosure to your laptop and see if the laptop can recognize the drive. If you can access the hard drive, transfer all needed data to your laptop.
You can find a 3.5” USB enclosure in any local computer store or on the internet.
December 1st, 2006 at 12:51 pm
I have a compaq series 5000 desk top that had a problem with the hard drive. Someone told me i need a new operating system and it is better to get a new computer. So i bought a compaq laptop. Now i wonder if i can remove the hard drive and transfer the data to my laptop. I am not sure if it will connect or work.
November 15th, 2006 at 8:57 pm
Dave,
You mentioned that you have an external hard drive for the laptop. Do you know if it has a laptop 2.5” hard drive inside or a desktop 3.5” hard drive? If the enclosure has a 3.5” HDD, then you can remove the hard drive from the desktop and install it inside the enclosure. Otherwise, you’ll probable have to wait for a new desktop and then attach the old drive as a slave and recover all personal files.
November 15th, 2006 at 2:51 am
I have the opposite problem (sort of). The screen for my desktop, which is now several years old and in need of replacement, is broken. Rather than buy a new screen I am thinking of getting a new computer.
I was wondering whether it is possible to access the old harddrive to recover music and pictures without having to wait until I can get a new desktop / new screen. I have a laptop and have just purchased an external harddrive for my laptop – can either of these be used?