Seeking Computer-related assistance

Neos

Problem: Finally got new laptop, and now looking to transfer all my stuff from my previous hard drive to the new laptop. The issues at hand are; previous laptop is broken, so unable to charge it, the two laptops are designed differently, so can't just switch hard drives, and somehow, the password for the previous account isn't working, after I was able to switch it into a friends laptop.

So, I'm hopefully looking to see if anyone has any possible suggestions for a way that I can access the old hard drive so I can transfer everything over.

Ssaliss

Get a docking station for the HDD from the old laptop. Connect docking station to new laptop. Should solve your issues with both malfunctioning old laptop (unless it's HDD-related) and forgotten password!

A docking station shouldn't cost too much. I think I got mine for about $40 or so.

Neos

I'll check it out Thursday, as that's my next day off.

Iasmos

For less than $10, you can get a simple drive enclosure. Pop that sucker out, put it in the enclosure, and plug it into any computer's USB.

Alternatively, you could sign up for one or more cloud storage services to back up your data, but you should be doing that before the thing breaks. You can get 50 gigs free from Box, for a limited time.

Kagato

Note that depending on the OS you are using, certain files may give an "access denied" error when you try to access them.  You can get around this by changing the ownership to the new computer. 

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/add-take-ownership-to-explorer-right-click-menu-in-vista/  This is definitely worth checking out, it makes it so you can select a group of files, right-click then just hit "Take ownership" to change the ownership to the new device account.

Rialorm

I think you can get around the password if you access the disk from Linux. This may require you to boot linux from a dvd, unless you want to dual-boot your new laptop. Need someone with more expertise in that field to confirm and explain this though.

Ieptix

Rialorm said:

I think you can get around the password if you access the disk from Linux. This may require you to boot linux from a dvd, unless you want to dual-boot your new laptop. Need someone with more expertise in that field to confirm and explain this though.

It's possible to make a flash drive into a bootable live disk, as well. Assuming windows, you can get instructions for Ubuntu from here: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-windows

Kagato

Iasmos said:

For less than $10, you can get a simple drive enclosure. Pop that sucker out, put it in the enclosure, and plug it into any computer's USB.

Alternatively, you could sign up for one or more cloud storage services to back up your data, but you should be doing that before the thing breaks. You can get 50 gigs free from Box, for a limited time.

Another option for cloud storage is Mega - run by the (in)famous Kim Dotcom. Offers 50gb cloud storage right off the bat, with options to expand the storage up to a maximum of 4TB - not sure how much the various tiers cost per month though.

Caerlyr

Rialorm said:

I think you can get around the password if you access the disk from Linux. This may require you to boot linux from a dvd, unless you want to dual-boot your new laptop. Need someone with more expertise in that field to confirm and explain this though.

http://www.piotrbania.com/all/kon-boot/

By far the easiest way. Just copy the iso over to a USB stick or burn it, boot from it and bam. Completely bypasses it with no user interaction at all.

Caerlyr

If you just want to access the files on the device from within Linux, here's the method:

Boot into a Live Distribution. Ubuntu is probably best and then open a command shell. Elevate yourself to root then enter the following:

$ sudo su
# mkdir /mnt/tmp_hdd
# mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/tmp_hdd   *** WARNING *** sdb1 is completely dependent on a number of things. It could well be something different, so do your homework beforehand.
# exit
$ nautilus /tmp/tmp_hdd

Tada. That'll pop open a folder containing (hopefully) all your files.

Any issues, you know where I am.

Neos

I went with Iasmos' solution and bought the enclosure from Amazon. It worked perfectly and I have most of my stuff off now.