Data recovery.

[Danthus]

I have a Dell x300 laptop that I need to get some data off.

The laptop in question does not have an internal CD drive.

So far trying to boot the machine using the following methods has failed.

1. Booting from Windows media, XP and Win 7. (External USB Drive)
2. Various CD and USB bootdisk
3. Booting from an Acronis USB and CD recovery media.

All the boot media, both USB and CD work in any other machine. The external USB CD drives works.

I have also just taken out the hard disk, it looks like a standard IDE connection but a regular IDE cable will not fit, nor will the IDE/SATA converter I have.

So in summary I can't boot to access the HDD and I can't physically attach the HDD to another machine.

Any ideas?

 

[Diggsy]

Get a cheap 2.5" caddy off eBay?

Has the system failed recently? Are you sure the drive works? Does the BIOS of the laptop recognise it?

 

[Danthus]

The drive is fine, the BIOS see its, the BIOS sees the external drive and USB key, it just will not boot from them.

As I have said the recovery media, what ever format, USB or CD are also fine, they work in other laptops and computers.

I have a caddy/converter but it will not physically fit!

 

[rpstewart]

I have also just taken out the hard disk, it looks like a standard IDE connection but a regular IDE cable will not fit, nor will the IDE/SATA converter I have.

You need a laptop IDE converter. The drive will have a 44 pin combined power and data connector, the converter will split that out into a regular 40 way IDE connection and usually a floppy power socket.

OCUK used to sell one but it seems to have vanished off the site.