ok to swap hdd ? - Techwatch Support Forums: Digital & Satellite TV, FTA, Cable, Computers, Mobile Phones, Apple and General Tech Forums

southpaw · 01-03-10, 10:25 AM

Hi All , a family member has given me his broken laptop and requested i recover the data from hdd , laptop has a broken screen and wont boot up .
Would i be able to take the hdd out and swap it with the one in my working laptop , to recover the hdd contents ,
I am able to swap them myself , just wondered is there any reason this wouldn`t be possible (software conflicts etc)

Any help appreciated
Many thanks

blakey_8 · 01-03-10, 10:45 AM

You could always put it in an external USB caddy and copy the information off it using Windows. You couldn't browse the HDD on your laptop as you cannot connect two internal HDDs at the same time.

Andy20 · 01-03-10, 10:52 AM

I have done this before so yu should be ok, just so long as the HDD in the broken laptop is ok.

Once you have it in, you have a choice of transfering data to an external HDD, USB stick or DVDs. Just depends on how much GB of stuff is on there that ou want to get off.

southpaw · 01-03-10, 05:45 PM

cheers andy , thats what i was hope-ing somebody would reply , didn`t fancy buying a caddy just for a one off Blakey but thanks anyhow , I have a nas drive so can copy data to that ,
many thanks for your replies guys

lambo · 01-03-10, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy20

I have done this before so yu should be ok, just so long as the HDD in the broken laptop is ok.

Once you have it in, you have a choice of transfering data to an external HDD, USB stick or DVDs. Just depends on how much GB of stuff is on there that ou want to get off.

were both laptops the same make and model ?

I think you will run into problems if you try this unless both laptops are the same make and model.
like blakey_8 said the best thing to do is put the hd into an external caddy and copy over the files you want to keep

southpaw · 01-03-10, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lambo

were both laptops the same make and model ?

I think you will run into problems if you try this unless both laptops are the same make and model.
like blakey_8 said the best thing to do is put the hd into an external caddy and copy over the files you want to keep

my 2 are different makes , one hp and one advent , is it worth trying , or are you sure this wont work lambo
many thanks

lambo · 01-03-10, 07:47 PM

If its only to retrive info from the drive then yes its worth trying, but windows will detect the hardware change, you may get a blue screen error due to driver errors, and If it does boot into windows it may ask you to reactivate it again because of the hardware change, and If its XP it will most likely log out and ask you to activate before it lets you log back in.

blakey_8 · 01-03-10, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lambo

and If its XP it will most likely log out and ask you to activate before it lets you log back in.

Booting into Safe Mode should prevent this from happening

.

southpaw · 01-03-10, 09:12 PM

both laptops are vista , would this likely cause issues ? thanks

tamglasgow · 01-03-10, 10:06 PM

Is it not possible to hook up a spare monitor to broken lappy and find out what error you get when trying to boot?

01-03-10, 10:25 AM	#1 (permalink)
southpaw Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 200 Thanks: 80 Thanked 86 Times in 59 Posts	ok to swap hdd ? Hi All , a family member has given me his broken laptop and requested i recover the data from hdd , laptop has a broken screen and wont boot up . Would i be able to take the hdd out and swap it with the one in my working laptop , to recover the hdd contents , I am able to swap them myself , just wondered is there any reason this wouldn`t be possible (software conflicts etc) Any help appreciated Many thanks

01-03-10, 10:45 AM	#2 (permalink)
blakey_8 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Colne, Lancashire Posts: 6,947 Thanks: 245 Thanked 1,312 Times in 1,205 Posts	Re: ok to swap hdd ? You could always put it in an external USB caddy and copy the information off it using Windows. You couldn't browse the HDD on your laptop as you cannot connect two internal HDDs at the same time.

01-03-10, 10:52 AM	#3 (permalink)
Andy20 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Manchester Posts: 309 Thanks: 63 Thanked 84 Times in 70 Posts	Re: ok to swap hdd ? I have done this before so yu should be ok, just so long as the HDD in the broken laptop is ok. Once you have it in, you have a choice of transfering data to an external HDD, USB stick or DVDs. Just depends on how much GB of stuff is on there that ou want to get off. __________________ Dogs aint just for christmas.............. there for everytime your drunk

01-03-10, 05:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
southpaw Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 200 Thanks: 80 Thanked 86 Times in 59 Posts	Re: ok to swap hdd ? cheers andy , thats what i was hope-ing somebody would reply , didn`t fancy buying a caddy just for a one off Blakey but thanks anyhow , I have a nas drive so can copy data to that , many thanks for your replies guys

01-03-10, 07:47 PM	#7 (permalink)
lambo Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Dublin, IRL Posts: 881 Thanks: 176 Thanked 89 Times in 83 Posts	Re: ok to swap hdd ? If its only to retrive info from the drive then yes its worth trying, but windows will detect the hardware change, you may get a blue screen error due to driver errors, and If it does boot into windows it may ask you to reactivate it again because of the hardware change, and If its XP it will most likely log out and ask you to activate before it lets you log back in.

01-03-10, 09:12 PM	#9 (permalink)
southpaw Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 200 Thanks: 80 Thanked 86 Times in 59 Posts	Re: ok to swap hdd ? both laptops are vista , would this likely cause issues ? thanks

01-03-10, 10:06 PM	#10 (permalink)
tamglasgow Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ooter Mongolia Posts: 61 Thanks: 11 Thanked 11 Times in 9 Posts	Re: ok to swap hdd ? Is it not possible to hook up a spare monitor to broken lappy and find out what error you get when trying to boot? __________________ Always happy to help

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