need help with my hard drive!

[shanti]

i have a toshiba laptop that has a dead LCD screen. apparently, this could be a number of things, all of which can be very expensive to fix. i decided to buy a mac to replace it (used but doing great), but i desparately need the info on the toshiba hard drive!

what's the easiest way to transfer the data from the hard drive to my mac? i can't figure this out because i'm unable to see what's on my toshiba without the screen. alternatively, i could remove the hard drive from the toshiba and install it in another laptop, but i don't know if that would work, or what other laptops can use it.

any computer gurus out there willing to help a desparate person? i would really appreciate it!

[canetoad]

1. Is it possible

to plug another monitor into the Toshiba?

[shanti]

5. probably

i want to try that out too, but can't find the power cable for the old crt monitor to do this:( i may have to take it elsewhere.

[trotsky]

2. How much money can you spend?

This will let you hook up any drive externally. Handy device, I use mine a lot.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156102

[whistler162]

3. Actually if the internal drive is okay I would buy a

external enclosure and that way you have some extra storage space.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=enclosure

An array of choices depending on what type of connector the drive has.

[shanti]

6. thanks!

i'm going to do just that....(if i can just get those tiny screws unscrewed from the hard drive bay! it's like they're frozen on!)

[shanti]

4. this is what i did

i bought a 400gb external hard drive (for the future - go a great deal - $39.00!), but am planning to buy a case for the pc hd, remove the hd from it, and then attach to my mac and transfer the files that way. think that will work?

[ChromeFoundry]

7. If it is formatted as NTFS

I doubt that the MAC is going to be able to read it.

[trotsky]

8. Just make sure the case supports the kind of connection your laptop drive has.

If it's older than a couple of years, it will likely have a 2.5" IDE connector which may or may not work with the case.

[shanti]

9. update:

i bought a case and put the toshiba's hd into it and have copied many of my docs onto the mac. i just have a problem with the IE favorites. where can i find this file so that i can import it into firefox or safari? it's supposed to be an html file, but i can't seem to find it as i am still pretty new on this mac. when i copied the folder to the mac, it said it was locked (??)

thanks everyone, you've been great!

[DainBramaged]

11. (Favorites) Files, under user name (root), open the folder, copy and paste them

[DainBramaged]

10. There is a great tool I use for data transfer (Ebay, very inexpensive)

for testing drives, and scanning for virus/malware without going through gymnastics when I get a system to work on.

3-in-1 SATA / IDE USB Cable + Power Adapter for PC


Plug the drive into the adaptor, plug power to the drive, plug the drive into available USB port. Quick and simple. And since you are using external power on the drive, no strain on the USB port or notebook power supply.