laptop data recovery

[driveljay]

So while tinkering...I killed my laptop. (it was dying a slow death anyway). I bought another laptop but want to retrieve some pics/files from the old one.

What is the best way to do this? I know there are SATA drive enclosures that I can put the old HD in and retrieve that way. However, I have also seen a USB to SATA cable.

The old laptop was running Vista and the new one is Windows 7. Which of the above will be the best way of dragging/dropping files over? Or is there yet a better way?

Thanks

[Nose Nuggets]

This is pretty much an external drive enclosure, without the enclosure.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&q=usb+to+sata+ide&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=8853652022075706232&sa=X&ei=jzN5TbCcFYbG0QGO6-XgAw&ved=0CGcQ8gIwBw#

i have like 3 of these things floating around the office, they are awesome. connect your drive to it, connect the external power (not in the picture) and then connect the USB cable to your new system. it will mount like any external drive, and you can drag and drop from one to the other.

[NorCal Einstein]

I just did this recently for a coworker, although I am NO expert on this data recovery business.

The laptop drive in question was IDE, so I rummaged through all my computers for one with IDE. Plugged the drive straight into the motherboard, booted the computer up, and copied the contents of the laptop drive to my computer's hard drive (copied the whole thing). Checked a few files for corruption, but everything was good. Then disconnected the laptop drive, and began the process of digging through the copied hard drive contents, deleting system files...and leaving behind docs, pics, vids, etc.

I was GOING to buy an enclosure or adapter, but decided to save a few bucks and just open up my computers instead. Same principal applies for 2.5 drives with SATA interface; I would personally just plug them straight into a desktop computer I have.

And regarding the actual copying process itself, I used the "XCOPY" function with:
/D /E /C /R /I /K /Y /H switches

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/xcopy.mspx?mfr=true

http://commandwindows.com/xcopy.htm

From a command prompt, I ran: XCOPY "Z:\" "V:\" /D /E /C /R /I /K /Y /H
Z:\ being the source
V:\ being the destination

[Coded-Dude]

the quickest option would be to get something like parted magic(linux on cd-rom).
boot linux on the laptop and plug in an external usb drive and copy the internal drive files over to the external drive.

[ldivinag]

Xcopy32 will maintain the.long.file name structure...

[Adehtla]

If you're anywhere near Fremont, CA I'll do it for you. If you're nice to me, I won't even charge you.

[mikehenry]

If the drive is still in a working state I would use a SATA to USB and use a free program called unstoppable copier. If that does not work you might need a recovery tool. I ran a data recovery company for 5 years and have some recovery tool still if you are near Carlsbad and need help.

[G1500]

Hopefully your old hard drive is SATA and not IDE or something else.

If it is a SATA, just find an enclosure or a HDD dock with USB/Firewire/eSATA whatever you have.

When it gets connected to your Windows 7 machine, you can drag and drop all of your files.

There is really no need for you to copy the whole drive, just the files you need.

All of this assuming your drive is still intact.

[pogie45]

So while tinkering...I killed my laptop. (it was dying a slow death anyway)...
What is the best way to do this?

What did you mean by I killed my laptop? What happened before it died? What was it doing that made you said that it is dead? If your hard drive is clicking, you may be out of luck.

The SATA\EIDE to USB adapter, that Nose Nuggets recommended, I think is a good option. You can choose & move the files you need.