Collecting files off a laptop without a functioning screen

gerrtt06 · 07-24-2008, 02:41 PM

Because of the frustration my current laptop has been causing me (three serious problems in under three years, none of which have been covered by warranty) I'm considering buying a new laptop.

My question is:

Is there a way I can get files off my old laptop without a working screen? You may have seen my other thread about how the graphics card does not work. Just so we know everything we can before making suggestions, here's what we've already established:

1) The display is working, but no images are coming up on it.
2) The plugged into a VGA or S-Video external monitor, the screen flickers briefly on power-up but nothing displays on it.
3) When the graphics card is removed, nothing flickers on the an external screen and onboard displays can-not function as they run through the graphics card.

As of right now I can't even tell if windows is loading, so I am having trouble thinking of any way I might be able to salvage anything that was on my laptop. But maybe that's where someone here can help out.

**TriggerFinger** · 07-24-2008, 02:43 PM

Hi,

Pull your hard drive out and place it in a USB external drive. Connect that external drive in another computer and copy your files from there.

gerrtt06 · 07-24-2008, 04:20 PM

That sounds easy. Glad to hear there is an option.

gerrtt06 · 10-01-2008, 11:21 AM

Hey there, kinda resurrecting this because now that I have my new computer I plan to do this.

I've taken the hard drive out of my old Dell, how am I supposed to connect it to the external drive?

That's what it looks like I'm working with.

**TriggerFinger** · 10-01-2008, 11:37 AM

Hey welcome back...

The HDD on the pics seem to be SATA. You need to have an external enclosure tha accepts sata drives. The external enclosures are usually connected via USB. Plug the USB enclosure on your laptop. Open My Computer and you should see the USB connected drive there. You can save/transfer your files from the enclosure HDD to a folder in your laptop or you can use cloning tools to do the job for you.

gerrtt06 · 10-01-2008, 12:45 PM

Great, thanks for all the help!

07-24-2008, 02:41 PM	#1 (permalink)
gerrtt06 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 38 OS: XP Pro SP2	Collecting files off a laptop without a functioning screen Because of the frustration my current laptop has been causing me (three serious problems in under three years, none of which have been covered by warranty) I'm considering buying a new laptop. My question is: Is there a way I can get files off my old laptop without a working screen? You may have seen my other thread about how the graphics card does not work. Just so we know everything we can before making suggestions, here's what we've already established: 1) The display is working, but no images are coming up on it. 2) The plugged into a VGA or S-Video external monitor, the screen flickers briefly on power-up but nothing displays on it. 3) When the graphics card is removed, nothing flickers on the an external screen and onboard displays can-not function as they run through the graphics card. As of right now I can't even tell if windows is loading, so I am having trouble thinking of any way I might be able to salvage anything that was on my laptop. But maybe that's where someone here can help out.

07-24-2008, 02:43 PM	#2 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: LV, NV, USA Posts: 5,326 OS: DOS 6.0	Re: Collecting files off a laptop without a functioning screen Hi, Pull your hard drive out and place it in a USB external drive. Connect that external drive in another computer and copy your files from there. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Everest Mark the THREAD as SOLVED

07-24-2008, 04:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
gerrtt06 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 38 OS: XP Pro SP2	Re: Collecting files off a laptop without a functioning screen That sounds easy. Glad to hear there is an option.

10-01-2008, 11:21 AM	#4 (permalink)
gerrtt06 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 38 OS: XP Pro SP2	Re: Collecting files off a laptop without a functioning screen Hey there, kinda resurrecting this because now that I have my new computer I plan to do this. I've taken the hard drive out of my old Dell, how am I supposed to connect it to the external drive? That's what it looks like I'm working with. Last edited by gerrtt06 : 10-01-2008 at 11:22 AM.

10-01-2008, 11:37 AM	#5 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: LV, NV, USA Posts: 5,326 OS: DOS 6.0	Re: Collecting files off a laptop without a functioning screen Hey welcome back... The HDD on the pics seem to be SATA. You need to have an external enclosure tha accepts sata drives. The external enclosures are usually connected via USB. Plug the USB enclosure on your laptop. Open My Computer and you should see the USB connected drive there. You can save/transfer your files from the enclosure HDD to a folder in your laptop or you can use cloning tools to do the job for you. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Everest Mark the THREAD as SOLVED Last edited by TriggerFinger : 10-01-2008 at 11:51 AM.

10-01-2008, 12:45 PM	#6 (permalink)
gerrtt06 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 38 OS: XP Pro SP2	Re: Collecting files off a laptop without a functioning screen Great, thanks for all the help!