closed Wanted surplus laptop( No LONGER REQUIRED)

[Spyder]

Hello. Had a major hard drive crash and before buying a new lap top was wonderding if anyone has a surplus laptop that has been repaced by a newer model and is just gathering dust.  I need to somehow try and salvage my old files off the other computer. Would prefer a Sony running the Windows 7 OS( others brands will also do).  Hopefully you also have the full OS discs.  I would like to replace my damaged hard drive and fit in this laptop and run the OS to see what I can salvage.  The laptop needs to be working properly with battery holding power and of cause a lead.

I could bring my hard drive to some computer expert but do not want to take the risk that they might make a copy and end up with all my saved passwords in used browsers.

Let me know what is out there with price and photos before I am forced into buying off marketplace or ebay.

Spyder

Edited March 9 by Spyder

[Spark268]

i am sorry to hear about your tech issues.

i have a working dell 5400 that I could spare - but getting a new laptop might be overkill if you just want to access the files.

can't you just get an external hardrive caddy for your existing hard drive, connect it via USB to any computer and access files that way?

For windows 7 - i beleive that you can access user files via the takeown command

 

[Spyder]

1 hour ago, Spark268 said:

i am sorry to hear about your tech issues.

i have a working dell 5400 that I could spare - but getting a new laptop might be overkill if you just want to access the files.

can't you just get an external hardrive caddy for your existing hard drive, connect it via USB to any computer and access files that way?

For windows 7 - i beleive that you can access user files via the takeown command

 

Thanks for the reply. Will have a look at the caddy option.  The Sony laptop works if using OS via usb stick.  The problem is I have not got the Windows 7 OS discs to try and get the the computer to recognised the corrupt hard drive.

In time I will still need to get a newer computer.  Regarding your dell, what OS is it running and what are you looking for it?

Edited March 4 by Spyder

[Spark268]

its windows 11 sadly so might not be suitable for your needs. I'm assuming that your hardrive is 2.5" (as opposed to SSD for newer models)

If you do have access to another computer, regardless of whether its windows 7, 10 or 11,  the caddy option might be worth your while.  They all use the same file system (NTFS) so should recognise the files if the hard drive is not too far gone.

They are not expensive: £6 from amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Combrite-Enclosure-Ultraspeed-External-Tool-Free/dp/B08Q8G1C77) .

There is software that can help recover files from corrupted hard drives, but I've not done this in a while.

I don't know if these are of any help, but some pointers....

* There's windows 7 available from here:

 

https://archive.org/details/en_windows_7_ultimate_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_677332_202006

 

* you should be able to put this onto a USB via a method like

https://www.isotousb.com/

* to install it, you might need a fresh hard drive, but you can get one for £13 from amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/2-5-sata-hard-drive/s?k=2.5+sata+hard+drive

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Spyder]

35 minutes ago, Spark268 said:

its windows 11 sadly so might not be suitable for your needs. I'm assuming that your hardrive is 2.5" (as opposed to SSD for newer models)

If you do have access to another computer, regardless of whether its windows 7, 10 or 11,  the caddy option might be worth your while.  They all use the same file system (NTFS) so should recognise the files if the hard drive is not too far gone.

They are not expensive: £6 from amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Combrite-Enclosure-Ultraspeed-External-Tool-Free/dp/B08Q8G1C77) .

There is software that can help recover files from corrupted hard drives, but I've not done this in a while.

I don't know if these are of any help, but some pointers....

* There's windows 7 available from here:

 

https://archive.org/details/en_windows_7_ultimate_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_677332_202006

 

* you should be able to put this onto a USB via a method like

https://www.isotousb.com/

* to install it, you might need a fresh hard drive, but you can get one for £13 from amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/2-5-sata-hard-drive/s?k=2.5+sata+hard+drive

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks,  have done the research on how to recover using an online program. The caddy does look like the best option. Will try that first with Disk Drill and see how I get on.

[Spark268]

all the best - i doubt that most IT proffesionals would do anything more than that !

[Spyder]

Managed to recover the information that I needed from my crashed hard drive using a free software from a company called Recuva.  Used my original Sony computer with a spare hard drive I had from a previous computer. Updated to run Windows 10.  Thanks to  @Spark268, used his idea of using a caddy. 

[Spark268]

great, i am glad that you were able to recover the files

[TheSilverForum]

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