Is there a way to read a laptop disk on a regular computer?

[McSeven]

I would like to take a laptop 'c' drive and read it on a computer to salvage some documents. Is this possible?

 

[Clinkz]

Yes very easily, if you purchase a empty case for a external hdd that uses a 2.5 inch sata disk, you can remove the sata drive from the laptop, plug it in via usb and recover it that way. A guide to doing it in more detail can be found here.

 

[Bill2]

Are you trying to salvage data from a dead laptop? If yes, there are several ways of going about it.

You can physically pluck the hard disk out of the laptop, then use either an IDE connector or an external USB enclosure to plug it into a second computer say a desktop.

Laptop Repair Help » How to connect a laptop hard drive to a desktop computer

Laptop Repair Help » Accessing notebook hard drive using USB enclosure

Alternatively, you can boot off a linux live cd, browse to the concerned hard drive and salvage your data.

Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer - How-To Geek

You can also do that with other bootable devices such as thumb drives and usb drives.

OTOH, if you want help in getting the laptop to boot/work, please describe your exact problem and someone will help you.

 

[wwhite139]

Laptop Harddrive

If the disc has been corrupted, you may find Recuvva very useful from the people who make Ccleaner, Piriform, after you have connected it as suggested by others. (link below)
Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery - Free Download

 

[McSeven]

Thanks for the info. I have found a couple of units to read about. There has been some complaints that they can ruin usb ports. I assume by drawing to much current. Anyway more research is necessary. I will definitely have to find something.

 

[alphanumeric]

If it is a SATA drive and your motherboard has SATA connectors you can just plug it in like any other SATA hard drive. It's just physically smaller than a normal desktop SATA drive, as far as I know the connectors are identical. Laptop IDE drives on the other hand do have a different connector and you would have to use an adapter or as mentioned put it in an external enclosure.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Yep, if it is a recent SATA drive, it will use the same plugs as an internal desktop SATA drive.