Mini How-To: Recover A Notebook Hard Drive

So your notebook decides to go belly up, and you've got important files on the hard drive. If you're inclined to just "pop it in the desktop PC" you'll soon discover that it won't work-a desktop normally uses a 3.5" drive and your laptop's drive is probably a 2.5". Never mind the fact that they use different connections.

So what's the cheapest way to get at the laptop hard drive? Buy yourself a USB 2.5" Hard Drive Enclosure. For about $10 (such as this Sabrent model ) you get a box that houses your HD and turns it into a external USB drive. You plug the drive in on one end, mount it up, and close the box. Done. Your notebook hard drive is now the same as any other flash drive you've ever used and it'll plug in to anything with a USB port available. From here, you can run your favourite system diagnostics and recovery tools (I recommend System Rescue CD among others) if required, or otherwise just get at your files.

For the frugal out there, if you can't bear to toss out that "perfectly good hard drive" after you get a new notebook, why not use the enclosure to make yourself an inexpensive backup drive? If you think about it, you'll probably pay at least $20 to pick up a new 1GB flash drive...why not put that old 1GB hard drive to good use and save $10?

For the handymen types out there, I'd suggest picking up one of the 2.5" enclosures and one for standard 3.5" desktop PC drives. Handy in an emergency!