My laptop suddenly went down the other day. Local guy said it was the actual mother board that was dead and it was probably gonna be cheaper to buy a new one. Since it was old, that was ok... So I bought a new one but, I have the old shell laying around. Since it was very sudden there was a lot of data on the hard drive I hadn't backed up yet (mainly pictures). It was easy as crap to pull out the hard drive so i was hoping there was some kind of USB connector or docking system where I could hook up the two and get the data off of the hard drive, kind of like an external drive, except I only wanna get the data off of it.
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Just get an external hard drive enclosure and put your old hard drive into that. I picked one up for about $13 and it came with everything you'd need. Fry's was where I got mine but I think places like Best Buy carry them too, if you want to pick one up rather than order online. -
Are they powered by themselves or need external power?
Also are the same things available for the CD drives? I'd love to turn the extra drive from the old laptop into an external one for her netbook.Comment
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Just install the old drive into the new computer as a 2nd drive. Even if it's IDE, new motherboards still usually have at least one IDE plug.
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Do laptops actually have space for a second drive?Originally posted by BigD View Post
You can probably get a case to turn your hard drive from the first laptop into an external, I'm not sure what kind of connections laptop drives use though as I'm only familiar with desktops. Yes using it as an external drive will require it to be plugged into a wall for power.Comment
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This is the one that I picked up http://www.frys.com/product/6074348?...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG and it does not require it's own power supply. It uses the laptop when it is plugged into the usb port. I'm not a computer whiz by any means but this is what I did when I had a similar problem to yours.Originally posted by AutoXinE30 View PostComment
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Michaels suggestion is your best bet.
Check newegg, frys, tigerdirect, zipzoomfly etc.My car eats bentley manuals.Comment
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That one from Frys is exactly what you need, plus you get to use it as a portable hard drive when your done getting the data off of it. You need to get the correct one for your hard drive though, so find out if you have a SATA or IDE drive.sigpicComment
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Sorry guys, skimmed the OP, missed the 'laptop' part. You can buy an adapter which lets you use desktop cables, so you can connect it to your desktop and get the data off that way. I've only done it with an IDE drive but I'm sure they have the same thing for SATA. Cost me like 5 bucks.Originally posted by LivingLegend06 View PostComment
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It uses a SATA drive for sure. I'll have to snag me up one of them enclosures.
Thanks fellas.
Anyone ever heard of taking these drives and tossing them into a desktop case to make a desktop from it? haha I've got a couple notebook optical drives and a couple hard drives I'd love to put to use in an OOOOOLD micro atx case I have...Comment
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You could totally throw a laptop SATA drive into a desktop, it actually uses the exact same plugs.Originally posted by AutoXinE30 View PostsigpicComment
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Nice. I was doing some research. Seems they already make cables for the Data and power plugs for the 2.5in hdds to be put onto a desktop mother board. And both CD drives are just standard SATA plugs so I think I'm going to try and do it :-)Comment
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