Comments on: How can I connect a laptop hard drive to a desktop computer so I can recover, transfer files?

By: Michael S.

Michael S. — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:32:40 +0000

Hi, Does external USB enclosure for laptop hard drives need computer admin rights to work? I’m asking because The motherboard on my laptop died so I was thinking I will buy a external USB enclosure for laptop hard drives so I can access my HD at College but the computers at college need admin rights to install programs and etc.

I don’t want to waste money on a external USB enclosure for laptop hard drives if it/you do need admin rights for it to work.

Thank you!

Michael S

By: vincent

vincent — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:25:35 +0000

i have a note book and the screen is broken i don’t want to take it apart for now, but i need to recover files from it. I don’t have a network hub,can i hook up a cable between it and the desk top to get in the hard drive? I thought about using the either ports to do this.

By: How do I recover software on Toshiba Satellite laptop? - Ask Laptop Freak

How do I recover software on Toshiba Satellite laptop? - Ask Laptop Freak — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:05:17 +0000

[...] In order to backup all personal files, you’ll have to remove the hard drive and connect it to another working computer using an external USB enclosure. [...]

By: Caessy Cunanan

Caessy Cunanan — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:26:48 +0000

I hope you can help me with this, i have a desktop computer built by a friend with os windows xp that is now freezing and having a lot of errors and i tried so many fixing errors using suggestion i got from the internet to fix it and it ends up making it worst and i think it needs formatting. because i dont have the xp CD someone told me that i can use my laptop to format it, is that possible? is so how can i do that? my laptop has windows vista. i hope you can help me.

By: brandon

brandon — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:28:05 +0000

my 12 inch powerbook laptop body was no good, but the hard drive was. I had a powermac g4 tower with a bad harddrive. After researching, I found this site and I mounted the laptop harddrive into the desktop and boom! my old laptop drive booted up on the desktop powermac. here is the link. a 3 yr old can install this it is way too easy
http://www.b2cshop24.com/en/hard-drive-ide-25-to-35-adapter-converter-for-laptop.html

By: Laptop Freak

Laptop Freak — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:43:47 +0000

Scott,

I have pulled this out, placed in external usb enclosure but there are files in specific user foolders that seem to be blocked. I know my passwords ect. but how do you enter these when you can only view hard drive as an external drive?

I think you'll have to take ownership over the folder and all files inside the folder.

By: Scott parsons

Scott parsons — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:01:08 +0000

Hi I flashed my bios recently, mother board died and I’m now replacing it. In the meantime I have files I need to access on my sata drive. I have pulled this out, placed in external usb enclosure but there are files in specific user foolders that seem to be blocked. I know my passwords ect. but how do you enter these when you can only view hard drive as an external drive?

Thanking you in advance for you help,

Cheers – Scott

By: laurie lynch

laurie lynch — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:17:34 +0000

I just got a Dell 1707fpt monitor flat screen from my friend and I have a gateway computer. I have the usb connected and power cord, but all that comes up is a screen that has a box with yellow, red, blue, white boxes in it and nothing else. What do I have to do to make it work?

By: merideath

merideath — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:32:59 +0000

Thanks for the response! Unfortunatly the computer itself was “tweaked” apart by a guy claiming to know what he was doing. With the enclosure, it showed the mass storage device in my computer but when I clicked on it it said “insert a disk into drive e”. In the taskbar it only showed an icon to safely remove hardware. I have come to the conclusion that the hard drive is damaged and I have to send it to a recovery clean room. I hope is doesnt cost me to much lol! Thanks again for the tips!

By: Laptop Freak

Laptop Freak — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 05:03:33 +0000

merideath,

my old laptop(xp) was dropped and the screen broke. i had no money to get it fixed so i just took out the hard drive in hopes to later recover it.

If the laptop has a broken scree, you can try starting it with an external monitor attached to the VGA port. If there is nothing wrong besides the broken screen, you should be able to start the laptop with video on the external monitor and recover your files.

i bought an enclosure and hooked it up properly. the computer recognized it as a mass storage in my taskbar but i was unable to access it at all.

Did you get any error messages? Can you see the external hard drive in My Computer? Can you see the hard drive in the disk management utility?

the company who made the enclosure told me it wouldnt work because the hard drive had an operating system on it..

This is not true. You should be able to access the hard drive even if it has an operating system. Of course if there is nothing wrong with the hard drive.

someone else told me that wasnt the case and that it was probably due to the 64bit vista. noting that many programs are not compatible with the 64bit.

This is not true. You should be able to access the hard drive even if you have 64bit Vista installed.

when i bought my old computer my sister got the same one so i figured i could just switch out my hard drive for hers but her computer wouldnt boot up from my hard drive and i wasnt technical enough to try and make it boot.

The laptop didn’t boot at all? Did you get any video on the screen, any error messages? It’s possible that your hard drive has been damaged.

im jumping through so many hoops with no luck and i really would love to have the 5yrs of pics and documents on my hard drive.

I would suggest taking the hard drive to a professional repair shop for diagnostics. Let them take a look at the drive.