computer help?

macky_6 · Post by **macky_6** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 7:02 pm

hey all,

Just after a bit of computing advice/help. Normally i would just ask for some help on facebook but as this is job related i wanna keep this quiet

My laptop is goosed. Doesn't turn on at all. I have backed-up all my files on an external hard drive.

Specifically i want to retrieve my CV as i am looking for a new job but is there a way i can connect my hard drive to another PC and retrieve individual files? I would be using my folks PC so wouldn't want to copy all the files on to their PC. For obvious reasons....

Post by **Thebusofwoe** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 7:07 pm

U will have to get a sata to usb cable, or a hdd cable for such use. Remove the hdd out of the laptop and hook it up to a pc. Then you will access it as a remote storage device. They are available and it is totally doable. Providing the hdd is readable that is

Post by **SPYDOR** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 7:20 pm

You can run into small problems copying files from another computer's hard drive, depending on the way permissions were set-up. Just give us a shout if you do as it's easy to fix.

macky_6 · Post by **macky_6** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 7:46 pm

Thanks!

Will i be able to retrieve these files from the external hard drive that i backed-up the files to??

Scott560 · Post by **Scott560** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:06 pm

Your backup, how did you make it?

There is no reason why you can plug the USB harddisk into another machine, and get access to the files easily.

Otherwise, as mentioned, a USB sata dock is really useful tool for such circumstances (saves the ball ache of getting on your knees and opening up your pc etc)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cit-2-5-and-3 ... 460cd1410c

Ive got one of those and its fine, cheap and cheerful.

If your feeling a little flush and your PC has USB3 , pay a little extra for an USB3 one...

Post by **Kawa** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 9:15 pm

You say you backed up to an external harddrive, was that via USB? if so, you wont need the above ebay units and just plug it into your parents PC via USB.

You can also remove the harddrive from your foobar'd laptop and connect that into one of the units Scott mentioned.

I have one of those ebay units also, but I went for one that takes the older IDE connections as well as the newer SATA connections. Just check what type of the drive you have in your laptop. All depends on the age of it. If it's less than 5 or 6 years old, chances are it will be SATA.

Supermarine Blues · Post by **Supermarine Blues** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 12:06 am

If you've used a proper backup sw, you should have facsimile files on the external.

Microshit backup utility compresses it into something useless, AFAIAAware.

bb1boy · Post by **bb1boy** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 11:15 am

Long shot, but you could try plugging in an external monitor and then firing it up (as a last resort before you start pulling it apart) I had a laptop that wouldn't start either, plugged it in to my tv via HDMI and it worked.

LewisH · Post by **LewisH** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 11:22 am

Buy an external hard drive caddy.... there cheap (my place sell them for like £5-£10) fit the hard drive in and plug it into another machine. As long as the hard drive is in a good condition it should be fine........

macky_6 · Post by **macky_6** » Thu Sep 26, 2013 9:07 pm

Thanks again for everyones help

I backed-up all my files onto an external hard drive quite recently. This was a simple plug and play via USB. So i can just plug this in and be able to extract files individually? i was kinda frightened that it would automatically start copying files from my folks PC

Will give a try over the weekend then