DESPERATE - Hard Drive breaking down

[DontStealMyFish]

my laptops hard drive is starting to malfunction. there is data on there that is rather important such as school projects, personal records and documents i would like to save, the issue of getting a hew hard drive isnt the problem, since that hard drive has my OS loaded on it it has to attempt to first go through all that crap to boot, is there any way to connect my laptop hard drive to my desktop PC? or recover its data somehow before it fails completely. currently it wont start up windows. in in need of some help bad. thanks, and any response is welcome.

 

[Nubius]

If you have multiple computers at home it'll be no problem. All you'd have to do is make sure that both computers are on the same workgroup so they can see each other. Then on the computer you want to put the files on, you'll want to share out the folder you want to place all the contents from the laptop to. Right click on that folder and click share, don't use the wizard just click the 'SHARE IT!' and allow users to change contents. Now on the laptop you'll click 'My Network Places' then click 'Workgroup Computers' then you'll see the folder you created. You can then open that up, dump all your info in there and it's now on your other computer.

Alternatively you can get whats called a cross-over cable to directly connect the two like it was a network and transfer it the same way. I'm assuming you don't have a cd-burner or anything of that sort on the laptop eh? Otherwise you wouldn't need suggestions for moving HD data. Good luck

 

[DontStealMyFish]

If i could enter windows i would have done that, and the problem is even if i could i dont think i could do it fast enough before windows crashes. i just thought if there was a way to hook up the hard drive without needing to access the windows files i could copy the data directly to another hard drive

 

[Nubius]

If i could enter windows i would have done that,

If you're asking for help...don't sass back..it makes people less prone to want to help you. I simply didn't see that little line 'currently windows wont start up' if you look I'm helping in about 10 other threads at the moment so if you want help be nicer about it.

You can do whats called a windows Repair. What OS are you running on the laptop? You can reinstall over a previous version of windows and the method they allow you to do it in will save all the contents of your previous install on the drive. This is an option to think about

 

[DontStealMyFish]

sorry i wasnt trying to sass, im just still ticked since this crappy hp laptop had the same hard drive break twice in one year, so im a bit hi strung. im afraid the hard drive its physically breaking apart again. so i was HOPING that if i could get it connected as a secondary hd there may be a little time to copy those files directly if that portion of the hd was scraped up or anyhting yet. but since its a laptop hard drive.....and the fact my strategy is nothing short of a shot in the dark. i just wonder if its possible.

 

[Nubius]

I wouldn't give up hope and I know what you mean about being high strung. I screwed up my BIOS and hot flashed it about 10 times literally...if you don't know what hotflashing is, it's putting in a good BIOS chip, start up your computer to DOS prompt, remove the BIOS chip, and put in the corrupted one all while the system is running to repair it.

Anywho....I'm not sure about the internals of laptop regarding what kind of connectors it has. Have you taken out the laptop HD and does it at all have a normal IDE connector and power connector? If it has a normal IDE connector but not power, you'll be aright. Because as ghetto as this sounds, you could connect the IDE from your computer you want the files to go to and set the jumpers to SLAVE and put it on the SLAVE part of the IDE cable and then put the power cable from the laptop to the HD. You'd basically have to boot up the computers at the exact same time, but it could work.

If it's a normal IDE and power connector then you SHOULD just be able to put it in the other computer, set the jumper to SLAVE or CABLE SELECT and put it again on the Slave portion of the IDE cable. Trust me I've done a lot more ghetto stuff than this before so my motto is try EVERYTHING you can when it's important.

If you can't do any of that have you tried like I said and pop in the winXP CD,let it boot from that and use the windows repair and that should keep all your original files

 

[DontStealMyFish]

lol the ide sounds god..... but the connections a bit different.... i fear any extra writing....or extra hard drive transactions (if thats what they can be called) might just push it over the edge...and then itll scratch up the discs for sure. i found this one adapter thing online.... and blew 12 dollars for it... i can only hope that it helps. however i am still more then willing to except any other suggestions on retrieving the data. im guessing theres someplace out there that can repair the hard drive...and im hopinh against the odds...that it doesnt cost a whole lot...
this is what i purchased: http://www.startech.com/ststore/ItemDetail.cfm?ProductId=IDE4044
if i can only backup the important data, i could then get a new hard drive free because the laptop is on warranty. id like to know if this adapter and my theory have any chance. whats your opinion?

 

[ekÆsine]

If i could enter windows i would have done that, and the problem is even if i could i dont think i could do it fast enough before windows crashes. i just thought if there was a way to hook up the hard drive without needing to access the windows files i could copy the data directly to another hard drive

Nubius It doesn't sound like he was being disrespectful, he was just telling you that doing that was not a possibility.

DontStealMyFish you can do 2 things to get your data. You can do an OS overlay install which is installing windows over the previous windows installation without formatting or deleting any partitions. Another option is to buy a USB enclosure and put your laptop hard disk in it, connect it to your desktop, and copy the files over to it. here's some from newegg you can buy:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-145-329&depa=0

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-145-124&depa=0

 

[Harper]

Anywho....I'm not sure about the internals of laptop regarding what kind of connectors it has. Have you taken out the laptop HD and does it at all have a normal IDE connector and power connector? If it has a normal IDE connector but not power, you'll be aright. Because as ghetto as this sounds, you could connect the IDE from your computer you want the files to go to and set the jumpers to SLAVE and put it on the SLAVE part of the IDE cable and then put the power cable from the laptop to the HD. You'd basically have to boot up the computers at the exact same time, but it could work.

If you have about $20 to spare, you can go down to Tandy or Radio Shack (or any quality computer store) and purchase a NOTEBOOK 2.5"HDD to DESKTOP 3.5"HDD IDE ADAPTOR

Just take out the notebook hard drive,
put this apator on, make sure that you have plugged the correct way (ask the computer store guy to point out which is PIN 1).
Then connect this adaptor to and IDE cable.
Connect IDE Cable DESKTOP PC Motherboard.
Boot Desktop.
Make sure the BIOS detects the drive.
Get into Window and drag your data off while you still can.

If the hard drive is DYING on you. Exspecially if it's bad sectors that are growing ; Piorities your data. Get the most important stuff off first.