How to access a hard drive from a dead computer.

[zekogenoration]

can i make it eternal hard drive with that wired because if it do i putting on my xbox 360 i need memory

[SailorBarsoom]

Thanks. This seems to be what I need. The IDE to USB adapter costs about $20 at Fry's. I didn't want to buy it until I'd seen what to do with it.

[kollana22]

what is the adaptors name ,where can i get it thanks.

[RAZER855]

what is the name of this device plz tell me thanx?

[SolidlyStated]

From the thumbnail, I thought you were blunty3000.

Good info.

[katseverdeen]

So will this method restore information that was "lost" after a computer crashed several times?

[exhifreq]

shouldn't make a video when you're robbing a bank

[garethgee]

Thanks for this video; just wanted to see what I need to get an old hard drive out and access it from another computer. Comment from grey0powerlessnesss is way too harsh - there are all kinds of reasons why we might want to physically take our computers apart ourselves (without paying for tech help) and this video shows how easy it is. I use ubuntu myself - my understanding of the philosophy behind Linux is that 'computing is for everyone'. Your video really helps!

[arashghm1992]

came here to see how a hard drive look like XD

[grey0powerlessnesss]

Very old & out of date. Forget his rubbish. If the computer hardware is ok, except for the hard drive, boot any common version of Linux (a USB or flash-card is faster than a CD or DVD). You can add Linux onto the 'dead' drive to access the drive. Or you can access the drive within Linux (Ubuntu-type recommended) to copy tha parts of the dead drive elsewhere: external drives, CD, DVD, BLURAY, flash drives of many kinds.

[garethgee]

I have an old laptop, its OS (XP) is corrupted; won't boot, Ubuntu install / XP reinstall hang as the CD drive is broken. BIOS gives no USB option (laptop too old), & I don't have the expertise to build a server to boot via LAN. So, taking it apart & accessing the hard drive from my Mac using the method shown here seems like my only option. I could replace the CD drive but that's an expense, not worth it just to get an old laptop working as a web browser...

[WilliamNaville]

lol he is a burglar making tutorials in other peoples homes

[Wikipunani]

Wouldn't SCANNING THE DRIVE FOR MALWARE be top-of-mind, since that is one of the primary reasons drives crash in the first place? Y'know, the drive you're allowing access to your new computer?

[478Cubano]

hi i have a hard drive from my old laptop and has install ubuntu system and my mac doesn't recognize it …

so can you please make a tutorial about it

i wish copy all my data files from that hard drive

[PlatinumPhalanges]

did someone break into your home? (i hear an alarm going off)

[valadonis]

Trick? ok, maybe. Trade secret? Something techs don't want you to know? It's obvious from your presentation style, that you're talking down to people but to assume that they need to be fed a line like that just so they'll pay attention, is condescending.

The fact is, external hard drive enclosures only cost about $20-$25 and they're a great way to recover files or just re-purpose an old(er) hard drive... and they're no secret.

[Wikipunani]

@valadonis ..and no mention of scanning the old drive for malware upon allowing it access to your new, functioning system.

[Atomicx938]

wow your a genius, quick question I can do this with an imac hard drive that has a corrupt file ?



[Begbucks]

Thanks!

[mrcalloway1992]

Man, you are a genius. 

[bigpp307]

i didnt hear you say what you used for sata tranfer

[MrMojo9430]

Great video. I did this, and it works great. The only problem I am having is that there are several files I can't access because it says I don't have permission to view these files. I've tried to change permissions but it won't work. I am using Windows 7, and the old hard drive came from an old computer of mine that used Windows XP. Any suggestions on how I can get these files opened and viewable?

[Jeremy87D]

will you lose everything if you hook up the hard drive to transfer?

[hq72hotmale]

i recently saved a whole lot of video files on a lap top which got loan out to someone the machine came back totaly destroyed it wont switch on either would this method be the first place to start or would you advise another method thanks in advance

[EddieStarlink]

Thanks for the great video.

I have a question. Can you use this method to transfer files from a PC to a Mac. In particular I've got hundreds of Word documents on my dead PC which I'd love to transfer to my Office for Mac which is installed on my iMac.

[MrDeathStroke1]

i have a old windows 95 comp and i wanted to know how do u transfer the hard drive files if my new comp is ubuntu linux

[HelmetVanga]

In this video the process of transfering files from the HDD works because the HDD in question is not damaged at all. Not all cables can do this, I mean the adapters are different. I have 2 adapters like this and they do not work, the adapter from cablestogo does work, PC recognizes the HDD, but the data is unavailable. I wonder who makes the cable you used on this video, the manufacturer of the IDE / SATA USB adapter, knowing this will help greatly.

[davesnotheremanatyt]

I'm going to give this a try. You made it look really do-able!

Suggestion: typing the names of the cables in your description box above would make it easy for us who are new to buying such things.

Thanks a lot!

[HelmetVanga]

I am using the same cable From Cables to GO, and Windows recognized the HD as a device, but I cannt access to the file structure to recover files.

Also, Iused regular IDE cable connected to the HDD, the computer won't even recogize the HDD. that is where I am struggling right now.

[ProducesComputers]

where can you buy these things?

[gjacko2]

What is the names of the connectors

[kgstyle89]

dude you have some serious equipments i like that

[FuddyDuddy99]

What if my laptop hard drive was a smart drive and it said imminent failure..and finally failed on the C: drive...(D: was not affected.)...They were able to transfer my D: drive contents..... could I conceivably transfer my C: drive contents from the old excised hard drive to my new Solid State hard drive on the same computer. Or is that impossible? I had alot of movies and pictures I really wanted to transfer to my new hard drive

[MitchellD249]

Very helpful! This was the first option google gave me and it's exactly what I needed, couldn't have been any better. Thanks a lot. :)

[aityadeen123]

can you help pls, i'm so desperate i can't access my external hard drive, when i do ,start /computer : it does not exist, but when i do, start / computer right click ,/ manage / disk management ,it is there but it is not initiated, i can't do nothing about it either, as i can access it , therefore i can't even format it, i really don't want to bin it as it has 3years work saved in it , even when i right click on it, any advice would be much appreciated

[longbeach225]

Would this work if you have a 64 bit OS on a hard drive you trying to access to and you plug it to your computer via USB that is running a 32 bit OS?

[silentraven37]

what is the cable called that gives power to the laptop hard drive? where can i find the correct one? who sells them?

[MitchellD249]

@silentraven37 Hope I'm not too late in responding, but I believe that's a SATA (assuming your laptop hard drive is SATA) hard drive power adaptor. As long as it's SATA it should be fine, if you're really worried about getting the right one take your hard drive with you to show employees. Just try whatever stores you have nearby that sell computer accessories and whatnot.

[madworld932]

hello twinbytesinc i'm having a Major problem with my computer. it's a windows xp but i don't know the service pack i'm using or anything else that i know of so let me cut to the chase. my computer's power button has a orange/amber light and i still have my stuff in their. (like games, music, videos, other,) i want to know if my file will show up because i have some of them in the desktop. (sorry if i sound this way but i'm not that much a person that knows a lot about computer) so please help

[ReqTing]

This guy looks like the guy of 'My Name is Earl' ahah

[rabidparakeet]

does this work for a ticking HD?

[Films4You]

Thanks for doing this video while the house is burning down, LOL

[IzumiIshtar]

Hi. I tried to look at the older comments but I didn't see any replies to that. It's about 'what if the hard disk that I wanna try to access is password protected? Can we still access the HDD using this method you showed?'

[SuperLongestusername]

the cops are coming hide!

[JacksFX84]

thanks alot really helped me out and saved me money to cheers!

[tltrzxw2]

Where can I buy the power supply cable & usb cable?!

[teskeej]

Thanks for the tip! I'm gonna try it this weekend, wish me luck!

[andoyan626]

Hello I am new in posting question I hope this is the correct way?, I watched your video regarding How to access a hard drive from a dead computer. questionn is where can i buy the power adopterr as well as ide to usb adapter.

Thank you for your help

[waffleworld94]

where exactly can i find an ide to usb adapter for a really good price?

[etrax2000]

Can you transfer files using printer cables to an older computer

[doomsday32]

can you help me, my wife downloaded a virus that completly fucked up my laptop´s hard disk, (i believe is booting sector) so i can not revive it, i use  alot of tools , kaspersky , and a lor of recue disks whitour succes, pls help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­ee

[sazpropnex]

Thank you.. It's very useful tips..

[LongHairDontCare13]

still gonna need to go buy an adapter for the 40 pins, pointless....

[th4t1dud3]

needs moar volume

[therealneon]

SOMEBODY NEEDS TO TURN OFF THEIR CAR ALARM! -___-

[SWATBOY21]

yyyyyyeeesssssssss thank you

[tutfrog]

Where did you buy the 2 cords needed for this.- the adapter and the power cord -

[mrsoccerman58]

I have an XP machine that will not boot properly...it's stuck in a reboot cycle. I am going to replace it with a new machine running Windows 7 but I have all my music and pics on the old XP drive. I can get one of these kits for less than 10 bucks on Ebay, but I wonder if the Windows 7 machine will see the files on the XP drive?. Thank you

[persone107]

the device does not appear in "My Computer" but it does when i go in "Control Panel - Devices and Printers". My HDD is password protected, is that why i cant see it? and is there anyway to fix this?

Thanks

[ljonesluv]

I wanted to ask you what the cable is called for the laptop sata drive, so I know which one to purchase. Thanks so much in advance!

[pcpik3r]

DUH!



[karenlaplaya]

My daughter's computer has the Sasser worm. If we take out the hard drive and hook it up to my laptop, will the worm automatically get on my computer? Will it be stopped by Microsoft Security Essentials? I want to use Malwarebytes to get rid of the worm but her computer won't boot, not even in safe mode.

[MadeArtCreative]

where did you get the hard drive power adapter from i cna't seem to find it anywhere on the net

[kodoheart]

Since its for personal use and not in the trade couldn't you just put the IDE drive into another machine since most set-ups now will allow for this to happen? They probably use this in the 'trade' because of privacy or because it just quicker.

[Drumoutloud]

Very helpful. Thank you very much.

[kraden18]

Hey man i have a problem when i connect my spare HD i can open almost every folder except for the ones i really need to "My pics" It tells me i dont have permission to open the folder and when i play with the security - owner tabs under properties i am able to get the folder open but for some reason i cannot open or transfer any of the pictures inside it tells me i still dont have permission and no matter how i play with the propertys i have no luck. Do you have any ideas? Thank you.

[BillyFeynman]

One word.....Duh!

[Pal2122]

what if the admin account on my previous computer was password protected, would i still be able to access the information on the hard drive?

[takethatprunetracy]

Thanks, dude - I really appreciate the help!

[stvensonnathanael]

it sas access is denied wath do i do

[topbloke1UK]

Hi - I followed all your steps, my hard drive comes to life fine with the power cable, but when I plug my USB cable in to my computer, nothing happens - no recognision 'de dum' beep. What do you think is the likely problem? Is my old hard drive inaccessible? Thanks for any tips.

[Waitingforriki]

@topbloke1UK You probably need to simply go into bios>intergrated peripherals>& re-enable the USB ports..This is quite often the solution particularly if you have set 'fail safe defaults' in bios. Hope this helps ? RX

[scholesclass]

Car alarm nice... i feel sick inside

[topbloke1UK]

That helped - many thanks for the instruction.

[Caesarke]

Greetings TwinByteSinc,Honestly i asked my self many time if it is possible to retrive data from a dead pc.I googeled the question since i'm going through the same problem

Thank you and Thumps up for the video i find it very helpful..

[jakewwwjake]

I did all this, and waited for few minutes and still don't see the hard drive. I'm using an apple macbook pro. I inadvertently used an adapter for this external hard drive that was an incorrect voltage. have any suggestions?

great video by the way! a little quiet, but very informative.

[vjovcic]

@jakewwwjake

Im having the same issue as you jake!! hard drive not showing but it says it has found new hard drive...

find a solution yet??

[justastranger20]

I have a question, does the OS on the working computer need to be the same as the one installed on the hard drive in the enclosure? I have win 7 and the drive I want to get data from is window xp. I don't know if it will work, thanks awesome video!

[twinbytesinc]

@justastranger20 No, but if it's Windows and Mac or Linux they are totally different and although Mac can see Windows files fairly easily, PC can't see Mac files if in a Mac format. Whole other tutorial can be made about this.

[CrappleFartini]

if u do this cos ur comp has a virus preventing it from starting, wont it transfer the virus to the other comp? :s

[twinbytesinc]

@CrappleFartini Yes it could. But if you need your files, you don't have much choice but to try and scan for infections before or during the transfer.

[Bloodyfisted]

@twinbytesinc Well based on this answer...Are you really transferring a virus? doesn't the virus only stay on your HDD???

[twinbytesinc]

@Bloodyfisted Yes/no, depending on the type of virus and what files it infected. Some viruses infect files, and if they infected a file that you are transfering, you now have the virus. If it's a boot sector virus for example, you wouldn't be transfering that over. Although, if you have a worm type virus, you don't have to transfer anything, you simply just connect the hard drive to the other computer and it will transfer itself. Scary shit! Anyway, I talk in detail about this in my book

[StayEazy666]

@twinbytesinc Can i get the data from a windows computer hard rive and use it on a windows XP computer?

[Salami90210]

does this work for porn?

[busybuzzbuzz]

can't hear a bloody word

[Tozzywozzy]

@busybuzzbuzz: lol, yea it is a bit quiet must admit

[abgersaurus]

what is the power cable called that you are using for your HDD

[twinbytesinc]

@abgersaurus I believe I answered this previously in my comments. Depending on the hard drive there's different power adapters. If you are getting a converter it comes with the appropriate power so you don't have to worry about it. It's Molex or SATA

[LazyFilmMaker]

want to transfer video and pictures from my vista to windows 7, is this the right video for it?

[twinbytesinc]

@LazyFilmMaker Not neccessarily if you're using the same hard drive. You can upgrade without losing data unless you format the hard drive. You would need to backup first somehow.

[nursemsmc]

I'm hoping this will work for my computer that went dead last year. I believe I need the IDE cable....but the power source that you also needed to connect - what do you call that?

[twinbytesinc]

@nursemsmc The proper power connector comes with it. You just need to focus on the type of hard drive. IDE hard drives come with molex connectors for power.

[ixkrnbbyx3]

my hard drive has niether pins or SATA...im so clueless!

[twinbytesinc]

@ixkrnbbyx3 Is it an external hard drive? This video is for internal hard drives which are either IDE(PATA), SATA, SCSI (which is really old) or some very tiny netbooks that use a different connector called ZIF (which is a ribbon).

[ixkrnbbyx3]

THANK YOU SO MUCH! -- you saved me 200$!

but hwere would i fine the IDE to USB Adpater? i can't seem to find it anywhere and its urgent so i prefer not to buy it online

[twinbytesinc]

@ixkrnbbyx3 You're welcome. You'd have to check your local computer stores to find the adapter. Not sure what's around your local area.

[franalvacad1]

youre missing a pin on the IDE hard drive

[mystickittiefae]

this prob gunna save me tons of hassle and money in the long run. i recently purchases the adapter cables and im waiting for them to arrive in the mail so i can backup files from old hard drives of the dead computers in this house. thnx soooo much

[djflip1972]

NICE I did not know that was possible.. That goes to show how much I know... So that means that I can retrieve all the info from my damaged laptop and use or transfer it to my new one... right ???? let see if I can find that cable.... thanks 4 the video..

[twinbytesinc]

@djflip1972 Yep!  and you're welcome! Glad to help.

[6thmercury]

Would you be able to purchase both the usb adapter and power cord in the same package? or is it separate?

[twinbytesinc]

@6thmercury Yes, they are both come together in a package.

[6thmercury]

@twinbytesinc thank you! this vid saved my files :)

[geowizz7]

Cool thanks for your help....i hope i get to retrieve my files from the hard drive....thanks

Geowizz

[geowizz7]

what is the name of the cables used to connect the hard drive to the computer?

[twinbytesinc]

@geowizz7 I answered this previously if you read the original comments, but here it is again. SATA / IDE to USB 2.0 adapter for 2.5" and 3.5" Some IDE to USB are double sided and do both 2.5 and 3.5" while some are just for the one size. SATA is good for either 2.5 or 3.5" and doesn't specify size.

[twinbytesinc]

@finalninjazeromaster lol, no that was the office two doors down from me. It was that loud and I thought it would never stop in time for me to record.

[Telfair332]

i have the drives up to look at but i cant open them it gives me an error when i try to

[twinbytesinc]

@Telfair332 What's the error? if you have them physically hooked up and they are detected, that's great. The other part is if you can backup your files normally or if you need some sort of data recovery software?

[Telfair332]

@twinbytesinc i have them hooked up though a USB and im on windows vista.

the error i get is this. F:\ is not accessible the request could not be performed because of an I/O error

[twinbytesinc]

@Telfair332 Sounds like it could be a physical or logical error with the main board on the disk. You might need to take it to a data recovery lab, unless you can swap out the board yourself with an exact replacement. That is ofcourse if it is the board that is the issue.

[Telfair332]

@twinbytesinc there is nothing else i can do?

[Telfair332]

@twinbytesinc is there any software or anything you can think of that will help at all?

[twinbytesinc]

@Telfair332 The software can be very expensive and is cheaper to pay someone to do it that already has the software helping others. There's a bunch of inexpensive data recovery software that would be cheaper than paying someone, but I'm not sure I'd recommend any as it can sometimes cause more damage and make it impossible for a lab to recover. Basically, try at your own risk. If you're not willing to spend over $700 for a data recovery lab, you've got nothing to loose then.

[edgieguray]

whats the name of usb cable for HD laptop that you used?

[twinbytesinc]

@edgieguray SATA / IDE to USB 2.0 adapter for 2.5" and 3.5" Some IDE to USB are double sided and do both 2.5 and 3.5" while some are just for the one size. SATA is good for either 2.5 or 3.5" and doesn't specify size.

[503goonie]

great video man. where do i get those cords for the hard drive?

[twinbytesinc]

@503goonie Any computer electronics store that sells computer parts and adapters. Not sure what stores are in your area but you could find something at TigerDirect but I can't send the link. YouTube won't let me post it.

[TheProductionsPetre]

awesome!

[PaganWitchDoctor]

0 views! Woohooo! I am the first one to watch this video! Hey Daniel someone is stealing the Twinbytes mobile.

[twinbytesinc]

@PaganWitchDoctor Ya, they'd know better than stealing from a biker... :)