• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Can I Recover Data From A Laptop HDD?

Joined
Dec 9, 2009
Messages
646 (0.12/day)
Location
South East, United Kingdom
System Name Swag
Processor Intel Xeon E3110 4GHz
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L
Cooling Scythe Infinity I Push-Pull w/ AS5
Memory 2x2GB Transcend 800MHz DDR2 @ 890MHz 1.9v
Video Card(s) Palit nVIDIA GTX460 1GB 800/1600/2000
Storage Crucial M4 64GB
Display(s) LG Flatron M1917TM 1280x1024 @ 60Hz
Audio Device(s) Realtek HD Audio
Power Supply OCZ StealthXStream 2 600W
Software Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Basically I have a dead laptop and really wanna recover some data from it...

I think I've located the hard drive, but I haven't taken it out yet cos it's proving REALLY tricky to get out. It has some kind of clear plastic tab on it, about half the width of my hand. I don't wanna pull it too hard cos Ive tried hard already and the HDD won't budge.

Anyways, basic question is: once it's out, can I plug it into a Desktop PC? I'm unaware of what connection it takes atm but it's gotta either be SATA or IDE right?
 

95Viper

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
12,677 (2.23/day)
What make laptop?

And, yes, that plastic tab is what you pull and it can be a real tug fest to get the sucker out in some laptops.

Just an example; you can tell the guy is tugging it and hear it sorta pop out.
Steps for Removing and Replacing the Hard Disk Drive

EDIT:
Another variant; notice the two screws securing the drive in this one.
Steps for Removing and Replacing the Hard Drive

Anyways, basic question is: once it's out, can I plug it into a Desktop PC? I'm unaware of what connection it takes atm but it's gotta either be SATA or IDE right?

Yes and right.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Dec 9, 2009
Messages
646 (0.12/day)
Location
South East, United Kingdom
System Name Swag
Processor Intel Xeon E3110 4GHz
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L
Cooling Scythe Infinity I Push-Pull w/ AS5
Memory 2x2GB Transcend 800MHz DDR2 @ 890MHz 1.9v
Video Card(s) Palit nVIDIA GTX460 1GB 800/1600/2000
Storage Crucial M4 64GB
Display(s) LG Flatron M1917TM 1280x1024 @ 60Hz
Audio Device(s) Realtek HD Audio
Power Supply OCZ StealthXStream 2 600W
Software Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
hahaa i love how in the first one when he eventually gets it out it starts playin like some porn star music
 
Joined
Dec 9, 2009
Messages
646 (0.12/day)
Location
South East, United Kingdom
System Name Swag
Processor Intel Xeon E3110 4GHz
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L
Cooling Scythe Infinity I Push-Pull w/ AS5
Memory 2x2GB Transcend 800MHz DDR2 @ 890MHz 1.9v
Video Card(s) Palit nVIDIA GTX460 1GB 800/1600/2000
Storage Crucial M4 64GB
Display(s) LG Flatron M1917TM 1280x1024 @ 60Hz
Audio Device(s) Realtek HD Audio
Power Supply OCZ StealthXStream 2 600W
Software Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
but yea, thanks :)
 

dorsetknob

"YOUR RMA REQUEST IS CON-REFUSED"
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
9,105 (1.30/day)
Location
Dorset where else eh? >>> Thats ENGLAND<<<
Laptop ide drives have 44 pin connections
Desktop ide drives have 40 pin connections
your need either a 44 to 40 pin adaptor or my preference is a 2 1/2" external usb enclosure
just fit laptop hard drive to the enclosure plug the usb into your desktop system and recover your data.

ps afterwards you got yourself an external backup drive
 

Darkgundam111

New Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2009
Messages
626 (0.11/day)
Processor QuadCore AMD Phenom II X4 Black Edition 940, 3500 MHz
Motherboard Biostar TA790GX XE
Cooling fans and hs
Memory CORSAIR XMS2 DHX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 800mhz 4-4-4-12
Video Card(s) Galaxy GTX 460 [retired -> XFX 8600 GTS (931/1917/2300)
Storage OCZ Vertex LE
Display(s) Acer G235H
Case Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
Audio Device(s) motherboard built in
Power Supply CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W
Software windows 7 ultimate 64
maybe i'm reading it too fast, but can't it also be a sata hardrive? in that case you don't have to worry bout 44 pin or 40 pin.
 

theonedub

habe fidem
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
8,025 (1.47/day)
Location
Northern CA, USA
System Name Erakith || AsRock NUCS
Processor AMD ThreadRipper 2990WX ES (32c/64t 3.5ghz@1.02v) || Intel i7 1360P Raptor Lake-P
Motherboard MSI X399 MEG Creation || AsRock OE
Cooling EK Supremacy TR4 Full Nickel, D5 w/ EK Top, 2X EK-CoolStream XTX 360 & Photon 270 Res || OE
Memory 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance PRO RGB DDR4 3000|| 2x16GB Corsair DDR4
Video Card(s) Vega 64 EK FC|| Intel Iris Xe
Storage 250gb WD Black NVMe & (2) 2TB Intel 660p NVMe || 2TB Corsair MP600 Pro
Display(s) 34" Dell Ultrasharp U3415W
Case CaseLabs Merlin SM8 || Aluminum Unibody
Power Supply Corsair HX1000
Mouse Corsair Harpoon Wireless RGB
Keyboard Corsair Strafe RGB w/ Cherry MX Silent
Software Windows 10 Pro x64 || WIndows 11 Pro x64
Benchmark Scores WCG & F@H Only
maybe i'm reading it too fast, but can't it also be a sata hardrive? in that case you don't have to worry bout 44 pin or 40 pin.

It was covered that it could be SATA or IDE, but the other poster was explaining that 2.5" and 3.5" IDE drives use different amounts of pins which was not mentioned.
 
Top