Connecting SSD from laptop to pc

Stijn Teuwen · 1 Jul 2021 at 17:08

Hello,
A few days ago my laptop stopped working and i can’t seem to get it back on again. It doesn’t really matter either, it was a very old laptop and was ready for the trash. So I opened it up to take a look inside, just because I was interested.
But now I am wondering if I could take out the laptops SSD and connect it to my PC so that I could take the data thats on the SSD?
This pure for intrest in the data, definitely not for long time use (not even short term, it literally pure for the data). So just plug it in take out the data and disconnect it and throw it away. Is this possible and if so, what does it take to do this ( is it just simply plug in, install and take data out and remove it, or is it gonna be a pain in the ass to do it succesfully?)

Deleted member 77746 · 1 Jul 2021 at 17:12

Stijn Teuwen said:
if I could take out the laptops SSD and connect it to my PC so that I could take the data thats on the SSD?

Yes. Unless bitlocker is enabled on your current machine as bitlocker encrypts data to stop you from doing this. Unless you have the bitlocker key that is.

Stijn Teuwen · 1 Jul 2021 at 17:14

Thank you
And is it really as simply plugging the ssd in my pc?

Danny75 · 1 Jul 2021 at 17:20

If the problem isn't the SSD itself (as well as no Bitlocker) it'll be easy. Power down the PC, drain dirty power (switch off PSU then press down your PC's Start button for 10 seconds). Connect SATA power cable and data cable. And then turn her on.

If Windows isn't able to read/recognize the drive there are other solutions.

Danny75 · 1 Jul 2021 at 17:23

P.S. Afterwards try turning the laptop on again without a drive, see if it has any life. It could still be in working condition and the issue was the drive.

Stijn Teuwen · 2 Jul 2021 at 01:30

Thanks for the help! It worked, I got my data back! The installation of the SSD (it was an M2 sata ssd) into my motherboard (Rog Maximus gene VI) was a bit tricky because it was a long ssd and therefore there wasnt really enough physical space for the ssd to fit because the black heat sinks on my mb were in the way. But with some struggling I got it to read it without damaging the heatsink nor the mb. But because it’s kinda against/very very close to the heat sink it would be a very stupid idea to leave it in there right?
Ill probably stick it in some other pc where it fits better…

As for the laptop, I think it is still broken, it was actually a friends and he wasn’t carefull with it at all. I think the main problem is with the battery and the screen itself to be honest, but I’ll definitely keep it for scraps and experimenting.

jokerguv · 2 Jul 2021 at 08:16

As a side note you could also salvage the RAM as well if its not soldered in. Might come in handy in any future troubleshooting of compatible boards provided its still working.

Stijn Teuwen said:
Thanks for the help! It worked, I got my data back! The installation of the SSD (it was an M2 sata ssd) into my motherboard (Rog Maximus gene VI) was a bit tricky because it was a long ssd and therefore there wasnt really enough physical space for the ssd to fit because the black heat sinks on my mb were in the way. But with some struggling I got it to read it without damaging the heatsink nor the mb. But because it’s kinda against/very very close to the heat sink it would be a very stupid idea to leave it in there right?
Ill probably stick it in some other pc where it fits better…

Certainly not the recommended approach to try to fit a longer M2 drive in a slot intended for a shorter drive but if its reasonably secure and not directly touching other components then it should be fine.