Dead laptops

Middlers

I have a couple of dead laptops which I would like to get information from. I was wondering if this http://www.ebuyer.com/product/125132/alternatives is the correct item to use? Basically I want to take the HDD from these and use them as storage but I don't know if they are IDE or SATA etc. When I looked my current one says SCSI so would this product work with this or not?

devizes18193

Middlers wrote: »

I have a couple of dead laptops which I would like to get information from. I was wondering if this http://www.ebuyer.com/product/125132/alternatives is the correct item to use? Basically I want to take the HDD from these and use them as storage but I don't know if they are IDE or SATA etc. When I looked my current one says SCSI so would this product work with this or not?

whats the make model of the laptops

-TangleFoot-

Something like this would do the trick - it supports both IDE and SATA.

Middlers

Now I have the three HHDs removed I note that the one from the Acer is a Hitachi 5400rpm SATA but the one from the Toshiba does not say nor does the Seagate from the Mesh.

-TangleFoot-

What do the sockets on the back look like?

• IDE
• SATA

Middlers

Thank you both for that. I now have 2 x SATA drives and one IDE so need to find the best/cheapest way of converting these to storage devices and getting the current info off them.

-TangleFoot-

If you plan on keeping the drives, you'll probably need an enclosure for each of them. If not, you could use one of these instead.

Middlers

I was thinking of keeping the HDDs as storage but initially want to get the information off them and onto new HDD. The cables look a good idea but should I have an enclosure like the one in my first post? I probably wouldn't use too often once the info is retrieved and I don't think one is supposed to handle these things much? Any advice greatly recieved

Strider590

I have a USB cable that connects to SATA or IDE, 2.5" or 3.5" drives.
Basically any and every HDD.

It's a short cable with a mutli connector on the other end and a separate power supply for use with 3.5" drives.

You can get them on Ebay.

Middlers

OK, now I have bought a HDD enclosure and added my old laptop HDD, plugged it in and it shows drves E and F (why 2 drives?). However I cannot open these and find out what is on the HDD. It says I need to format disc E or F before use but then I would lose what is on there. Please help.

-TangleFoot-

Since the drive was formerly housed in a 'dead' laptop it may have been damaged in some way. You'll need to run a diagnostic utility or two to determine its fitness.

If it's just the filesystem that's borked you may still be able to get at the contents using freely available tools; otherwise, you're looking at either a hefty bill... or a doorstop.