Topic awaiting preservation: Laptop HD question (Page 1 of 1)

I have an old (about 3 yrs) laptop (Compaq Presario 1200) that I need to salvage a bunch of stuff from the HD. Well, it's not mine, but my neighbors.
Either way, I haven't done any salvaging or repair on a laptop before and am somewhat hesitant about just jumping in it like I would a desktop (especially since it's not mine). So,

1. Where should the HD be located? I was hoping it'd be nice and easy and slide out from one side, or maybe under one of the two panels on the bottom, but no luck so far.

2. Once I get it out, will I be able to connect it as a 2nd HD in another computer (standard IDE connection)?

Thanks,
LF

Curiosity may have killed the whole cat, but Schrodinger only killed half.

First question when it is not meant to swapped out you should search for the most illogical hard to reach area, cramped between the memory modules and the power supply right under the F character from the keyboard....

Second question, no you can't put it in an other (desktop) computer even when the connector is is not proprietary it's a mini version from the desktop version. Even then when you can locate the harddisk, pull it out and connect it to your desktop, how to connect the powerlines....

So puttin it in another comp will not work.

To Salavage data from the HD you have some options:
-Put the laptop in an LAN an share the complete disk, ignore the whining from windows about sharing an root directory and copy the contents to an networked drive.
-Connect the Laptop to an external HD or other mass sorage device.
-Get an PC-card(pcmcia) based HD you can put in an PCcard slot or
-Start old fashioned with a zip program and a pile of diskette's

------------------------------
Support Justice for Pat Richard

(Edited by Rinswind 2th on 08-24-2004 00:51)

... Knew I left something important out of that post... The reason why I'm having to do this.

It acts like the HD crashed. I can power it on, but after a minute or so of nothing, it beeps for another minute, still showing nothing. After a bit, it displays about half a page of text, starting with standard POST stuff, then says there was an error (I only ran through it once, so I'll start it up again tomorrow and make a few more notes) and that it couldn't boot last time and changed to a prior configuration and displays two options: Press F1 to boot, or Press F12(?) for System Settings. Neither of these work though, nor does Ctrl-Atl-Del.

Thanks for the obvious answers though Rinswind
Any other ideas with the new twist thrown in there?
LF

-- Curiosity may have killed the whole cat, but Schrodinger only killed half.

(Edited by Lord_Fukutoku on 08-24-2004 03:00)

Sorry Rinso old buddy, but you can put it in a desktop computer. Most laptops have a standard 2.5 inch hard drive and cables to go (click here) has the adapter you're looking for. It converts 2.5" hard drive to a standard IDE connector with power connector.

If you want some more options of where to get the cable do a google search on "laptop hard drive ide connector" and you'll get plenty of choices.

I did this with my Toshiba laptop when the power supply crashed. The Toshiba Satellite models have the drive seated on the bottom and you only have to remove a single panel to get at it.

Enjoy!

Silence is spot-on there, it is simply a matter of using the right adapters.

Some laptops have much more easily accessible drives than others. The Compaq Presario 1200 is not one of the easiest, unfortunately. You can find a quick guide here that might be helpful.

~is hidden under the asylum "used-computer-parts" pile~

Damn damn... i knew i should not have thrown that old HD away. It still can be used, silence has showed me the way

As matter of fact it 's realy a long time ago since i amputed the HD from an laptop, an that sucker had a soldered little flatcable on it .... i figured things did not got better over time.

And silence welcome back i heard you where around again.

------------------------------
Support Justice for Pat Richard

Sweet, exactly what I needed. Many many thanks you two. I spent an hour or two the other day looking for a "guide" on tearing into it, but finally figured it couldn't be too much trouble. Still haven't yet, so that'll come in handy.

Now to just find someone with that adapter or pick one up somewhere.

Those were the answers I was looking for. After just lurking on occasion for a few months I forgot just how great this place is

LF

-- Curiosity may have killed the whole cat, but Schrodinger only killed half --

Don't forget the Torx #8 driver. lol

haha, thanks, writing that down right now so I can remember to grab it tomorrow morning.

-- Curiosity may have killed the whole cat, but Schrodinger only killed half --

Glad we could help, LF.

And Rinswind, no worries, mate. Rincewind 1th has "Wizzard" on his hat so maybe you could put "Tecch Support" on yours.

lol @ silence.

Glad you're all sorted, LF.