Help! Older laptop failed and need to save info from it

[CrabbyAzz]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

I have an older Compaq laptop that has very important files on it. I knew it was failing but I kept putting off doing any major backup. Well about a week ago it stopped even booting and it seems the hard drive is the culprit.

The laptop also has a failed cd drive so I can't use the normal Windows XP restore cds. It does have a working floppy disk drive though. I know the bad hard drive is a 20 GB Hitachi 2.5 laptop drive. I pulled it out and put it in an external USB enclosure but I'm not sure if I did it right as I could never get my new computer to see the drive (in fact it would always freeze up "My Computer" under Vista when I tried to read from it).

Anyone have any suggestions or course of action to salvage some of my files from this hard drive? I am desperate at this point...

Check Hitachi's support website for downloadable files to create a diagnostic/repair floppy for your hard drive. Sometimes these tools are effective in making the drive readable.