Demand some data of an old hd? Unfortunately, information technology's not piece of cake to connect a bulldoze to your PC. So, what can you do when you need to recall those sometime spreadsheets, or forgotten digital photos?

Here are some useful and practical ways y'all tin can connect your hard drive to your current reckoner and recover data from it.

How to Become Data Off a Hard Drive

Getting your data off an old hard disk drive is easier than you think. If the device has been asunder from its original PC and kept free from knocks, the data should be retrieved with relative ease.

You take six options to connect an one-time HDD to your computer:

  1. Connect information technology using a special USB adapter cable
  2. Hack an external HDD
  3. Build your own external HDD
  4. Use a USB docking station for disk drives
  5. Install the disk in your PC
  6. Install the HDD in a laptop

Some of these methods are simpler than others. Let'south await at each of them in turn.

1. Access an Old Hard Drive With an Adapter

Copy data from an old hard disk drive with an adapter

A hd can be directly continued to any PC via a special USB HDD adapter. These typically come with connections for SATA and IDE/PATA drives.

HDDs currently employ the SATA connection, which is a minor "L" shaped connector and a sparse, apartment cablevision. These drives are powered using a slightly wider "L" connector, or a Molex iv-pin connector.

IDE/PATA drives, meanwhile, rely on a much wider ribbon cablevision connector, along with a Molex connector.

Employing a USB cablevision adapter for your HDD means identifying the correct connectedness type and plugging in the HDD. Fo example, if you had an former IDE/PATA disk drive, yous would connect the IDE/PATA adapter port to the drive, then the Molex plug to the mains adapter. After connecting the adapter to the PC via USB, switch it on.

The drive would be detected as a USB device by the operating system, set for y'all to browse.

This solution lets you connect a PC hard deejay to a desktop or a laptop.

2. How to Hack an External HDD to Get Information off an Old Hard Drive

Reuse an External hard drive case

Peradventure you accept an external HDD with a USB connection. Inside, the device basically contains a SATA-to-USB cablevision adapter.

And then, how tin y'all become files off a hard drive with an external HDD?

External hard disk drives basically comprise of a small excursion lath with SATA connectors to dock the drive, and an enclosure. By opening the enclosure and removing the screws securing the existing bulldoze, you lot can easily swap it with your erstwhile HDD.

With everything connected and secure, connect the drive to your PC, ability it up, and showtime retrieving information. Don't forget to replace the original HDD into the external drive housing when you're done.

Before doing this, annotation that opening the drive up could invalidate the device's warranty.

3. Mount the HDD Into an External Enclosure

Use an enclosure to connect your HDD to a PC or laptop

Planning on accessing this hd drive regularly? If then, it makes sense to buy an external HDD enclosure, and install your disk drive in this.

This is really a similar step to hacking your existing external HDD. The only difference is that the enclosure should ship with some instructions on how to install the bulldoze. You'll besides demand to confirm the enclosure is the correct size to accomodate your disk bulldoze. Remember, HDDs come in two.5-inch and 3.5-inch varieties.

One time you've installed the HDD in the new enclosure, but connect it to your PC via USB, power it up, and start retrieving your data.

The benefit of this option is that once you've institute recovered the missing data, you tin use the disk every bit an external HDD. Connect a reformatted drive to any computer or media device equally external storage.

4. Scan for Data Using a USB Docking Station

Copy data from a hard disk drive
Image Credit: pmsyyz/Flickr

A quick an easy option for connecting onetime hard disk drives to your PC is a USB docking station.

This is a device that sits on your desk and plugs into the computer's USB port. Within the docking station, y'all'll find SATA connectors (and sometimes IDE/PATA connectors) that the disk drive can exist plugged into. The drives essentially slide into the docking station in an upright position, providing admission to the contents over USB.

Think of it every bit a hard drive reader.

Different types of USB docking stations for disk drives are available. Most provide SATA-merely connections for 3.5-inch and ii.5-inch deejay drives.

All in all, this is probably the most comfortable pick and some devices even provide space for multiple HDDs.

However, some drives also include IDE/PATA connectors, although the position of the power connector on these older drives tin can cause issues.

5. Install the HDD in Your PC

A hard disk drive tin exist straight continued to a PC via a cable direct to the motherboard.

The verbal steps will again depend upon the HDD connector type:

  • Connect SATA drives to the motherboard using the SATA cable
  • IDE drives use the IDE ribbon cable, so the motherboard volition need to have a compatible port

If no port compatible with your drive is available, you'll need a compact adapter small plenty to fit inside your PC example.

Note that this isn't a long-term solution. Stop using the adapter in one case you have recovered the information and copied it to a new HDD or SSD.

Of course, before installing any device inside your PC, you should be confident that you know what you are doing. With the HDD correctly continued to your PC'due south motherboard, it should exist safe to power upwards the computer and browse the device.

half dozen. Install the HDD in a Laptop

Virtually of the options higher up tin can be used with a laptop. But if you want to connect the hard drive to a laptop internally, things are a lilliputian different.

You have two options hither:

  • Install a disk bulldoze in the laptop's dedicated expansion slot
  • Replace the optical drive with a hd

(Note that the 2d solution is less practical for newer laptop computers, which increasingly ship without infinite for additional deejay drives.)

Our guide on how to connect a hard drive to a laptop using the optical bulldoze volition provide more data.

Now You Know How to Read Old Difficult Drives

With your hd connected to your computer, it should be plainly sailing. All y'all demand to do next is re-create the information from the HDD to storage on your PC. As long equally there is enough storage space, this shouldn't be a problem.

Still, if you're trying to recover lost or deleted data from the HDD, you'll need some recovery software.

I option is to look at these recovery tools for Mac and Windows. They're designed to find "deleted" data on a continued device and restore it, preferably to a different bulldoze. Alternatively, apply a rescue deejay to help recover data from a difficult drive.

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About The Author

Christian Cawley (1573 Articles Published)

Deputy Editor for Security, Linux, DIY, Programming, and Tech Explained, and Really Useful Podcast producer, with all-encompassing experience in desktop and software support. A contributor to Linux Format mag, Christian is a Raspberry Pi tinkerer, Lego lover and retro gaming fan.

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