FabSwingers.com forum: IT advice please

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

I had all my photos in a hidden folder on my laptop which has now conked out. I've seen some leads that you can use to plug your hard drive direct into another laptop to access the files. If I get one, will I be able to get at the hidden files on the old hard drive?

Don't fancy having to take it into a shop to get them all retrieved.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *atinbootsTV/TS
over a year ago

Boston

Yeah you can do a clone of your hard drive, there's a lot of free software out there that can help you do this

Basically it'll do a copy of your drive and everything will be where you expect it to be x

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *entadreadMan
over a year ago

Essex

it will depend on what the damage was on the hard drive. You could mount it as a slave on another lappy, and try to perform a repair on the drive, that success of that will determine whether you will recover the naughty photos...

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

Brill thanks! I know it's daft but I was gutted when I thought I'd lost them all. Says a lot that losing them bothered me more than all my uni work!

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"it will depend on what the damage was on the hard drive. You could mount it as a slave on another lappy, and try to perform a repair on the drive, that success of that will determine whether you will recover the naughty photos...

Oh! That sounds a bit complicated for me! Guess I'll just have to plug it in and see what happens. And if it's really buggered I'll have to start building up a new collection!

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *alandNitaCouple
over a year ago

Scunthorpe

In what way is the laptop broken?

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"In what way is the laptop broken?

It just won't switch on. Looked online and did all the things it suggested to fix it but nothing. Been told that it sounds like the hard drives gone so not worth fixing but hopefully the data should be okay. I'll get one of those wires and give it a try. Just wasn't sure how to get at the hidden files as I tend not to leave my dodgy stuff on the desktop!

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *angbang junkieCouple
over a year ago

Ilkeston

Easiest way i would think, if the drive is still functional, would be to remove it and buy a USB caddy for about a fiver. The drive will then essentially be an external hard drive which you can plug itno any PC to access. So long as it is still functional.

A very simple job, im sure you would know someone who would do it for you, literally a 5 min job.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *angbang junkieCouple
over a year ago

Ilkeston

If there is no power at all, its unlikely to be the hard drive thats the problem. Thats not to say it wont be damaged.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *wm1986Man
over a year ago

Glasgow

Hey I've just had my first met bit I can't verify this meet, the other person doesn't have any verified meets either how do I go abt this now??

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *angbang junkieCouple
over a year ago

Ilkeston

"Hey I've just had my first met bit I can't verify this meet, the other person doesn't have any verified meets either how do I go abt this now??"

The only way to be verified, is to meet someone else who is verified.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *ebsmith46Man
over a year ago

Solihull

I have the relevant hardware if that's any use to you? Had similar issues before. I'm up and down the M6 a lot if you wanted to meet up in a motorway services for a half hour and see if it can be sorted. Might be very curious about the pictures of course

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *ebsmith46Man
over a year ago

Solihull

PS What sort or laptop and what did you use to hide the files?

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *alandNitaCouple
over a year ago

Scunthorpe

if it won't switch on at all, it's UNLIKELY to be the hard drive. If you press the power switch and nothing at all happens, then it sounds like a power problem. This would 90% of the time mean that your hard drive is fine.

Do you get a power light when it's plugged in? if you don't it could be the power supply, if you do then I'd expect the battery. You could try taking the battery out and trying to switch it on powered from the mains.

Normally, if the hard drive fails, your pc will still switch on, but will give a message on the screen saying "No Boot Device" or "Insert Disk" or something similar.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *lovisMan
over a year ago

Twickenham

I suggest listening to the power supply box (between the cable and PC) see if you can hear a humming noise. Also try taking out the battery and powering up using electrical supply from the mains - I've had experience where that has worked.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *andL-LiverpoolCouple
over a year ago

Huyton

There's a few different usb cables for the different types of harddrive to, see if any pc savvy swingers are local and ask them to take a look, were Liverpool based but travel to cupids often

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *inaTitzTV/TS
over a year ago

Titz Towers, North Notts

Have you tried turning it on and off again?

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"Hey I've just had my first met bit I can't verify this meet, the other person doesn't have any verified meets either how do I go abt this now??"

Maybe try not hijacking totally unrelated threads would be a good start

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"if it won't switch on at all, it's UNLIKELY to be the hard drive. If you press the power switch and nothing at all happens, then it sounds like a power problem. This would 90% of the time mean that your hard drive is fine.

Normally, if the hard drive fails, your pc will still switch on, but will give a message on the screen saying "No Boot Device" or "Insert Disk" or something similar."

This

The HDD is a secondary device as the initial software to start the machine is stored in a little computer chip on the main board, so as long as the power supply is working and the motherboard hasn't had a catastrophic failure, it will start up to a point.

If you know a friendly electrician, or someone with a test meter, ask them to see if theres power at the plug that goes into your laptop- the correct voltage should be shown on the plastic body of the power unit.

If the mother board has failed, unless its a really expensive laptop, its probably not economical to repair/replace it, but the hard drive can be removed and installed in the caddy mentioned elsewhere, then accessed and an external drive. if you can't get at the hidden folder, you may well need to be logged in to your profile. it is possible to boot a second PC from an external drive out of another machine, but as it will be looking for different hardware it can be a bit tricky.

Basically, you might drop lucky with just needing a new power supply or you might need to find a friendly local computer geek who will help you rescue your files while you supervise

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Normally, if the hard drive fails, your pc will still switch on, but will give a message on the screen saying "No Boot Device" or "Insert Disk" or something similar.

This

Basically, you might drop lucky with just needing a new power supply or you might need to find a friendly local computer geek who will help you rescue your files while you supervise

+1 this !!

Having read the thread i would almost definitely say a power issue whihc would not damage or affect the files on the hard drive, power failures range from the charger becoming defunct to the board connecting the power to the motherboard.

If you cant be bothered to fix the power issue then simply remove the drive itself , stick it into a hard drive caddy and you will have access to all your files including hidden, if you get a warning saying you are not authorised to access these files simply click continue and it will give you access after a few secs / mins

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

Post new Message to Thread