How to get data from a laptop hard drive. Ways to transfer information from an old hard drive to a computer or laptop

For most users, the data stored on the HDD drive is more valuable than the component itself. Therefore, if the device was damaged or accidentally formatted, the owner often worries about the lost information, and not about the drive itself. However, do not panic, because extracting information from a faulty hard drive using special software is quite simple.

How to avoid losing data from a non-working hard drive?

If the hard drive is broken, it is impossible to remove files from it, or the information is completely lost, under no circumstances do unnecessary fraud. There is no need to try to reinstall the OS or try to run a wide variety of programs of unknown origin. There is a list of rules, following which you will at least not aggravate an already difficult situation:

If you have another computer, then you can create rescue media to boot from it for backup or connect the faulty disk to it as an additional one.

If the drive contains important data, then it is useful to initially write programs onto a flash drive that will help in such cases download information from the hard drive of a broken computer or laptop.

To avoid such breakdowns, it is necessary to at least occasionally check the HDD for errors.

Corruption of user data

It is quite easy to retrieve deleted files if the hard drive was simply formatted and nothing was written to it after that. If, when connecting the drive to another PC, it is detected by the system, then no difficulties should arise.

To extract data we will need a special application ZAR (Zero Assumption Recovery). This utility is one of the best software of its kind.

Otherwise, the likelihood that you will be able to remove the information will decrease sharply. It is best not to touch the broken hard drive at all and boot from another hard drive, or connect the damaged component to another computer.

Zero Assumption Recovery

To extract information from a laptop hard drive using the ZAR program, you should follow the following algorithm:

ZAR is an effective, yet fairly easy to learn program that will help you recover most of your lost data. The main difference between this utility and similar software is that it retains the same file structure.

If the computer does not work and the system does not start

If the hard drive has been formatted entirely or it has completely failed and Windows does not boot, then in this situation we will need another method - booting from an emergency drive. To do this, you need to create a boot disk in advance.

The best solution in this situation is Hiren’s BootCD - this is a free ISO image containing a number of programs with which you can restore the system and the necessary files. For a 500MB image, you can use CD or DVD media, flash drives or external hard drives to extract data from a broken hard drive.

To deploy the image we will need the incredibly popular UltraISO application. It is known in narrow circles due to the fact that it can function perfectly with both optical and any other storage devices (flash drives, HDD).

To create a Hiren's BootCD boot disk we need:

In just a couple of minutes, the flash drive and bootable Hiren’s BootCD will be successfully created.

We save all important information (documents, videos, photos)

Since Windows is not able to boot on its own, we boot from the Hiren’s BootCD flash drive. But first you need to change the BIOS settings or select the appropriate option at startup.

You will be given two download options:

The second option is considered the most convenient, so select the Mini Windows XP line.

Creating an image of a damaged hard drive

After the OS is loaded from the flash drive, the Hiren’s BootCD window will open. Next, you need to create an image of the covered drive so that it is safe to work with it, otherwise there will be a risk of data corruption spreading:

After the image of the damaged device has been created, you can remove the data using one of the recovery utilities: Partition Recovey, Recuva, PhotoRescue, etc. Recovering data using them is no different from the example of working with the ZAR utility, which was described earlier.

Now you know how to retrieve information from a damaged hard drive of a laptop or computer, and you can independently restore all lost files without any difficulties.

After scanning, a list of damaged data will appear in front of you; you need to indicate which of them you would like to restore.

• Zero Assumption Recovery;
• MBRlool;
• Easy undelete;
• R-Stydio undelete;
• Norton Utilities;
• Disk Technican Advanced;
• Mace Gold;
• TestDisk.

The Master Bool Record boot sector is often to blame for information loss; it can be easily repaired using MBRlool or Active Partition Recovery.

To avoid data loss in the future, you need to create a copy of the hard drive, in other words, clone the data. To do this, use a program that will copy your HDD, for example HDClone.
Now let's look at how to retrieve information from a laptop's hard drive. With such laptop models, in which the hard drive is not removed, the situation is more complicated. Therefore, it is better to show such a laptop to a specialist. It will remove the hard drive and restore all information.

Let's look at the main ways to extract information from a laptop yourself.

1. Install the hard drive in a special pocket.

You take the hard drive out of the laptop and install it in this pocket, which is essentially an external hard drive housing with a USB interface. Using a USB connector, connect it to your work computer. Open the connected external drive and copy your information to your computer’s hard drive.

2. Connecting the hard drive to the computer system unit.

To extract information in this way, you will need an adapter that will connect the laptop hard drive and the computer motherboard. Remove the hard drive from the laptop. Open the computer case and use the adapter to connect the hard drive to the motherboard. The connected hard drive should be recognized by the system automatically. Open it and copy the information.

3. Access the hard drive using another computer.

In this case, the computer must have an IDE or SATA interface. If the laptop is equipped with a SATA interface, then it is connected to the SATA connector of the computer. Then everything is very simple, open the laptop hard drive and copy the information to the computer.

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Has your laptop suddenly crashed? You can't boot Windows, or even run a recovery system from a CD. It is possible that the laptop is so damaged that it is impossible to boot Windows. What to do in such a situation to restore necessary files?

There are two possible solutions to this problem, and we'll look at both. The first thing you need to do is remove the hard drive from the laptop. While this may seem like a daunting task, it is actually a fairly simple process. At the bottom of your laptop, you can see a plastic case that covers your hard drive and RAM. Some laptop models have icons showing where the hard drive and memory slot cover are located. The hard drive is usually located under a large rectangular cover.

Open the cover using a Phillips screwdriver. Typically the cover is held in place by 1-2 screws. Once you lift the lid you will see a 2.5 inch portable hard drive. The hard drive is connected to the motherboard via 2.5 IDE or SATA interface. Open all the mounting screws that hold the hard drive and simply pull it out of the connectors.

The next thing to do is determine the type of hard drive. This can be done using the image below, it shows the difference between IDE and SATA drives.

Once you have determined the type of your hard drive, you can recover data using one of two methods:

1. You can connect your laptop hard drive to USB external enclosure"pocket" as shown below. These adapters are available for both IDE and SATA interfaces. They cost about 80-100 UAH. This is the easiest way to recover data like a laptop hard drive will work like external usb drive. Simply insert the hard drive into the adapter case and connect it to any USB port on another computer. The drive will be detected as a regular drive. Open "My Computer" in Windows and you will see familiar partitions on the disk that you had in your laptop. Just copy the necessary files or folders from your laptop’s hard drive to your computer’s hard drive. This completes the recovery of your data.

USB to SATA 2.5 adapter

2. This method assumes that you have access to a desktop PC that has an IDE or SATA interface. If your laptop has hard drive with SATA interface, then it can be connected directly to the SATA connector of the computer. SATA connector for data transfer and power connector, exactly the same as on a laptop and system unit.

Recovering data from a portable drive is a very simple procedure, just like connecting a flash drive to a computer.

Recovering files from HDD IDE 2.5

If your laptop has a 2.5" hard drive with an IDE interface, you will need a special cable to convert the 2.5" IDE to a 3.5" connection.

Adapter ide 2.5 to 3.5

Connect the 2.5 IDE side of the cable to the hard drive from the laptop and the 3.5 side to a free one IDE connector on the computer. Once the hard drive from the laptop is connected to the computer's motherboard, you can turn on the PC and you will see that a new hard drive has been detected. After that, this disk can be viewed and all data can be transferred to another partition.

Instructions

The easiest way is to connect both hard drives to one desktop computer. disk . Turn off the PC and open the system unit. Most often, this requires unscrewing 2 or 3 screws and removing the left wall of the case. Examine the available connectors for connecting drives.

Select the required connector (IDE or SATA). Connect a second hard drive to it. Connect the power cable to the drive. Turn on your computer and hold down the Delete key. Wait for the BIOS menu to launch.

Open the Boot Options tab and make sure that the boot will be performed from your main hard drive. Change the boot options if necessary. Save your BIOS settings and restart your computer. Wait until the operating system finishes starting.

Open the My Computer menu and select the first hard drive. Find the files that need to be transferred to another hard drive. Select them with the left mouse button while holding down the Ctrl key. Now right-click on any selected file and select “Copy”.

Open another “My Computer” menu window and go to the list of folders on the second hard drive. Find the desired directory, right-click on it and select “Insert”. Wait until the files are copied. If you want to move the data rather than copy it, then after selecting the desired files, select the “Cut” option.

If a local network is configured between your computers, you can move files without removing the hard drive. disk . Create any folder on the second PC and right-click on it. Select "Sharing". Allow full access (read and write) to this directory.

On the second PC, press the Win + R key combination and enter the command \101.10.15.1. The numbers indicate the IP address of the network adapter of the second computer. After opening the list of available folders, select the newly created directory and copy the desired files into it.

To move or copy information from one hard drive disk to another medium, you can use either a fully automatic method using special programs, or a semi-automatic method using the standard “Explorer” file manager.

You will need

• - operating system of the Windows family;
• - Paragon Partition Manager software.

Instructions

The easiest way to copy information from one hard drive disk on the other is the usual duplication of information using Explorer or any other file manager. To perform such an operation, just select all the folders and files on the source disk and press the key combination Ctrl + C (Ctrl + Insert) to copy. On the destination disk, you must press the key combination Ctrl + V (Shift + Insert) to insert.

You can do things a little differently and use a special program, for example, Paragon Partition Manager. It is assumed in advance that the hard disk must be the same size or larger in size compared to the source disk.

After installing the program, run it. In the “Quick Launch Menu” window that opens, click the “Advanced User Mode” button.

In the main program window, click the top “Wizards” menu and select “Copy hard drive” from the list. In the “Welcome to Hard Copy Wizard” window that opens, disk" Click "Next".

In the next window “Select source hard disk for copying”, select the disk from which materials will be copied, and click the “Next” button.

In the "Select target hard drive" window disk"Select the disk to which the materials will be copied (destination disk) and click the "Next" button.

In the next window “Setting copy parameters”, check the box next to “Direct access to hard drive sectors”. disk" Then click the "Next" button.

A window will appear in front of you, which will display the process of copying files and folders. To move to the next window, click the “Next” and then “Finish” buttons.

In the main program window, click the top menu “Changes” and select “Apply changes”. When the program asks you to make changes, answer positively by clicking the “Yes” button. Then the final copy of the data of the selected disk.

Video on the topic

When it becomes necessary to combine local disks into one partition, it is recommended to use special programs. But this process can be carried out in another way.

You will need

• - Partition Manager.

Instructions

Try connecting volumes hard disk during installation of the Windows Seven operating system. Start this process by inserting the disc into your DVD drive and restarting your computer. Continue following the step-by-step menu until a list of partitions available for installation appears.

Now click the “Settings” button disk" and select one of the partitions that will participate in the process of merging volumes. Click the "Delete" button. Repeat this procedure with the remaining sections disk. Now click the “Create” button. Specify the size of the future volumes. It is obtained by adding the sizes of the removed partitions. Select the file system type.

Continue the OS installation process on one of the prepared partitions. The disadvantage of this method is that everything volumes will be formatted during the connection process. If you need to save files, then download and install the Partition Manager program.

Now find the “Wizards” tab in the toolbar and open it. Go to the “Additional functions” menu and select “Merging partitions” in the expanded submenu.

Click the “Next” button after checking the box next to “Advanced User Mode”. Now select the section to which you will attach additional volumes. Click "Next". Now select one section that you will merge with the one you selected earlier. Please note that the program allows you to connect only 2 sections in one step. Click "Next".

Find and click the “Apply intended changes” button. Wait for the volume merge process to complete.

Video on the topic

Tip 4: How to transfer information from one drive to another

Copying information from disks can be done using standard operating system tools, for example, the Explorer program, and various additional programs and utilities for working with hard drives and CD/DVDs.

You will need

• - computer;
• - Total Commander;
• - Far Manager;
• - Nero Express.

Instructions

Copy information from one disk to another; to do this, you need to connect both disks to the computer and wait until the system detects and installs the disks. Next, you need to open the file manager program, you can use the standard program - “Explorer”, or use utilities such as Far Manager (you can download from the official website farmanager.com/download.php?l=ru) or Total Commander (wincmd.ru /).

Next, copy information from one disk to another using key combinations, or open both disks simultaneously in the program screen and drag the desired folders and files with the left mouse button. The copying time will depend on the amount of information and the read/write speed of your hard drives.

Use Nero to copy information from one DVD to another. If you only have one drive, then you will need to first create an image of the disk you want to copy, and then insert another disk to copy the information to it. To create an image and then mount it, use the Deamon Tools utility ( http://www.daemon-tools.cc/rus/downloads).

Copy the DVD. To do this, insert disks into both drives: one is empty for recording, and the second is the disk from which you want to transfer information. If there is only one drive, then mount the source disk using an emulator.

Launch Nero Express, select “Copy DVD” from the list on the left, then select the source drive and the write drive, set the disc writing and reading speed to transfer data from one disc to another.

Check the box next to the “Record” field in the tab of the same name and click the “Copy” button. Wait until the disc is burned, do not interrupt the process under any circumstances, and do not remove discs from the drive. This can lead to damage to both the disk and the drive itself.

Tip 5: How to copy information from your hard drive in 2019

The process of transferring information from a previous hard drive to a recently purchased one can cause a lot of problems for the user. The biggest nuisance is that when changing a hard drive, the user gets quite a headache, because many people begin to reinstall the operating system and all software. But not everything is so bad and there is a way out of this situation - special programs that allow you to make copies from one HDD to another.

You will need

• - Computer;
• - Acronis Disk Director Suite program.

Instructions

The solution to the problem described above will be discussed using the example of using the Acronis Disk Director Suite program. Despite the paid nature, it fully justifies its price and provides unrivaled user experience. The program contains all the necessary components for disk management. Download it from the Internet and install it on your computer.

To copy a partition from one HDD to another, use the context menu by clicking on the partition icon. The program allows you to designate the location where the partition will be copied. When copying the system disk, that is, the one on which the operating system is located, be sure to specify the “Main partition” option in the “Copy as” menu; other partitions can be treated as logical.

The same actions can be done using a special partition copy wizard, and this is even more convenient in terms of the interface provided. When copying the system partition, do not forget to specify the “Active” parameter in the type. Upon completion of the information transfer plan compiled in this wizard, click the “Run” button and agree to restart the computer.

How to recover damaged data when this has already happened? This and precautionary measures will be discussed in the current article.

To the main question of the article, I will answer right away, so as not to bore you with a large number of introductory words, that data recovery from damaged HDD, also known as hard drive, also known as hard drive, depends on the type of damage and type recoverable data.

Method 1. Data recovery by a third party using special equipment

Often, data recovery is carried out by individual and specialized companies, such as Data Recovery. Since such companies have well-established recovery schemes and specialized equipment. But this is not about that now, but about how to try to recover the data yourself.

Method 2. Data recovery using software

Much depends on how the data was stored on the HDD before the accident occurred. There are many good data recovery software available. I list them in order of my preference and empirical observations:

• Easy undelete
• Norton Utilities
• Mace Gold
• Disk Technican Advanced
• R-Stydio undelete

As for, for example, the Windows operating system, starting from the distant Windows 3.1, such a system feature as the recycle bin was introduced, but in this article we will not consider it, since this article is not intended for idiots who cannot imagine the difference between files and shortcuts .

Causes of hard drive damage

Considering HDDs, we can draw a conclusion and deduce several main reasons why hard drives most often fail:

• Hardware failure. Such failures include those where some part of the hard drive is damaged, for example, electronics, heads, plates, motors, and cables. Typically, this can only be repaired in a laboratory setting. In case of damage to the pancakes. As a rule, it is not possible to restore data under any circumstances, well, only if some research institute and then by order of the KGB, FSB, Ministry of Internal Affairs and other punitive authorities. But that's a different story.
• Damage to the surface of the pancake. As I described just above, the damage to the pancake, or rather its surface, is one of the most severe damages. In more detail. This is when the crystalline layer of ferrimagnetic material is damaged, which is exactly what covers any pancake and on which all our information is actually stored in the form of 0 and 1. I would like to note that this film is very, very thin and therefore susceptible to the influence of the temporary factor, that is Over time, the crystals simply fall out, or the HDD head could fall or scratch the disk and thereby damage this layer. This is where the greatest danger lurks; as a rule, data from a HDD with such damage is practically impossible to recover.
• Software corruption. Everything is simple here. They installed some unfamiliar program, or a familiar one, but downloaded from a wrong site or server, or simply launched their favorite game, but already infected with some kind of destructive virus. All this leads to the fact that this program (malicious code) writes something bad or completely erased data to your favorite hard drive (HDD). In the worst case, it erases the file address table. This is the fastest method to destroy files. But the upside is that it doesn't physically destroy files.

Signs of Hard Drive Failure

Let's first look at the signs of HDD (hard drive) failure. The most effective way to protect yourself from troubles with HDD is to carry out timely prevention, just like in life. That is, before serious disk problems are detected, symptoms usually appear. Let's look at the main symptoms:

• Appearance in file names, especially in your working folders, uncharacteristic combinations of characters such as “”№И%:AP”, that is, those that you could not write even if you wanted to, as well as the impossibility of deleting such files or renaming them.
• When the HDD is operating, a characteristic knocking sound appears, even occasionally. It's like a small hammer hitting a piece of iron. (The head hits the metal surface of the HDD). If this sound occurs constantly at intervals of several seconds, but the HDD continues to work, my advice to you is to urgently go to the store for a new HDD and urgently transfer all the data and no longer work on the old HDD.
• Increased time when reading and writing information to a file. If, when reading and writing information, you hear a sound reminiscent of a pump, then this is also not a good sign and in such cases it is recommended to refer to the point above. Unfortunately, this point is very difficult for ordinary users to determine; as a rule, this is already determined by the pros.
• Other. There are several more signs of identifying the initial signs of a malfunction, but they are very rare and I see no point in describing them here.

If one of the signs described above begins to appear, before doing anything, it is recommended to immediately make backup copies of all your information. By any means possible. Whether it's copying to DVD or CD. It’s better, of course, to use another, new HDD. Only after this can restoration work begin.

But the best prevention of HDD diseases is to replace the HDD (hard drive) itself at least once every 3 years.

Treatment, HDD recovery

Any program has several data recovery algorithms, but the main one is blocking damaged sectors and saving data on other, working sectors. If this doesn’t help, then it’s no good. This can safely be attributed to one of the symptoms of the first signs of HDD wake-up. If boot sectors are damaged, usually located at the very beginning, in the center of the HDD pancake, then we can safely say that this is the beginning of the end. We are urgently trying to copy the data.

In general, I don’t see any point in dwelling on a more detailed description of how to launch the program. Since at the moment, March 2010, all programs have long taken into account all the main aspects of recovery modes, thereby saving users from unnecessary study of the internal structure of clusters, file tables, file structure, sectors and other scientific crap. Therefore, we simply launch any program and look for a menu item or one single big button “ Restore" or " Undelete» if it is an English-language program.

If software data recovery steps did not help you, then you first need to decide for yourself how important information you had stored on the HDD. If the information is very important, then I recommend not to carry out any recovery work yourself, but to go straight to a data recovery company. Nowadays, they are now found in almost every city. If the information is not important, then purely for the sake of academic interest you can torture the HDD and carry out some experiments. The lesson will be very useful and educational for you. This is comparable, the same as if you wanted to become a professional surgeon, but at the same time you did not open a single corpse to study anatomy.

As one of my friends said:

Every computer geek must have at least one burned-out HDD on his account.

Sooner or later this happens to everyone. But not everyone is able to learn the necessary lesson from this.

Good luck to you and may HDDs break less often ;), or better yet, not break at all.