Data recovery.

[docusk]

A friend has asked me to check with you if there is any way he (we) can recover data from the Hard Disk from his Compaq laptop.
I got the drive out and I have a little gadget/adaptor which is designed to read 2.5" drives into an ordinary IDE bay. I put the drive into an external box in place of the normal IDE drive that lives there, and all seemed OK except that there were 2 pins in the 2.5" drive connection that were left over.
Is there another way of connecting the laptop drive? His wedding and honeymoon photos are on that drive!
I could plug the IDE end of the adaptor into a spare IDE connection on another PC because the way I've just tried - external drive - didn't work. The platters sounded as if they were spinning and the green light came on in the housing but the PC didn't pick up anything from the USB connection.
Failing that, what can he do about data recovery?
Not my usual cry for help but he's cut up about losing his photos, understandably.
Cheers and happy 09/09/09
docusk

[Steve R Jones]

there were 2 pins in the 2.5" drive connection that were left over

You should double check that. There shouldn't be any pins left over.

[docusk]

Steve,
Here are some pics of the adapter. I have used it before with no spare pins so maybe Compaq use different config.
What am I looking for in MS Knowledge base?
docusk

Hope the attachments came up OK.

[Sterling_Aug]

Those two end rows of pins are used by some laptops to set master/slave/CS just like they do in a desktop system.

They will not be needed in your system.

[docusk]

Thanks Sterling. Always in the right spot at the right time!
Nighty night.
docusk :t

[docusk]

Still no luck. I could hear the disk runnning in the external drive but it wasn't picked up in My Computer. I then found an old Dell latitude languishing in the cupboard and stuffed the hard drive into that only to find that the thing had been so long out of use that I was asked for a password to open it up. Never even knew there was one! So that little ploy didn't work.
Can anyone tell me if there's a jumper like there is in a PC which removes the password somewhere inside a laptop. (bet you say no) and then I can try to get the photos off.
I've told him that you guys are the absolute bees knees.;)
docusk

[Sterling_Aug]

Is it a BIOS password or a hard drive password?

What model number Dell laptop is it?

Does it have a floppy drive or a CDROM drive?

[docusk]

I don't know what the p/w is. The machine is a Latitude CPi running (I think ) XP pro.
It has both CD & FDD, CD is always in there but the FDD needs to be docked in place of the CD.
I'm just wondering, in among my dusty old CD s I have something called "Password recovery bootable CD" and another - possibly the same content - "Password recovery boot CD plus contents for a floppy in the same CD and can be transferred."
How can I find which type of p/word it needs?
Thanks docusk

[Sterling_Aug]

Most programs like you mentioned is for recovering passwords for Windows, not BIOS passwords.

Toshiba Tecra laptops had a very nice feature where you could buy/make a loop back plug for the parallel printer port that you plugged in and turned the laptop on. The plug would instantly reset the BIOS to factory defaults and erase any passwords.

You can try pulling the laptop battery out and leaving it sit for a few days (assuming the CMOS battery is low in voltage. That may drain the CMOS battery enough to reset the BIOS.

[docusk]

Hi Sterling,

Might I find how to do it for the Tecra you mention by googling. Sounds as if that might be an option. I'll also pull the battery though I think it's been dead for years, I never used it as a batt. operated set but downstairs plugged into the mains just to catch e-mails from my large extended family so likely that won't work.

docusk

[Sterling_Aug]

Hi Sterling,

Might I find how to do it for the Tecra you mention by googling. Sounds as if that might be an option. I'll also pull the battery though I think it's been dead for years, I never used it as a batt. operated set but downstairs plugged into the mains just to catch e-mails from my large extended family so likely that won't work.

docusk

Search ebay for "Tecra Password" and you should find dozens of sellers of the premade Tecra Password clearing tool I bought.

It only works on Toshiba laptops though.

[Falcon51]

A friend has asked me to check with you if there is any way he (we) can recover data from the Hard Disk from his Compaq laptop.
I got the drive out and I have a little gadget/adaptor which is designed to read 2.5" drives into an ordinary IDE bay. I put the drive into an external box in place of the normal IDE drive that lives there, and all seemed OK except that there were 2 pins in the 2.5" drive connection that were left over.
Is there another way of connecting the laptop drive? His wedding and honeymoon photos are on that drive!
I could plug the IDE end of the adaptor into a spare IDE connection on another PC because the way I've just tried - external drive - didn't work. The platters sounded as if they were spinning and the green light came on in the housing but the PC didn't pick up anything from the USB connection.
Failing that, what can he do about data recovery?
Not my usual cry for help but he's cut up about losing his photos, understandably.
Cheers and happy 09/09/09
docusk
I use this cool little adapter I got on AMAZON for like $9.00 has all sorts of adapters for different type drives.
I've used it many times to retrive data off laptop drives.
Plugs into a USB port.
Heres the link:
http://www.amazon.com/SATA-Hard-Drive-Converter-Cable/dp/B001OORMVQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1260041971&sr=8-3

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j93/godsclay/Adapter1.jpg

[docusk]

Hi Rob. OK for that. It might not work as his PC/Laptop don't have SATA drives, just plain old bog standard IDE s. An ide model might be something like the one I already have BUT. it might have the hole unblocked.
Thanks.

docusk

[Falcon51]

Hi Rob. OK for that. It might not work as his PC/Laptop don't have SATA drives, just plain old bog standard IDE s. An ide model might be something like the one I already have BUT. it might have the hole unblocked.
Thanks.

docusk

It has connections for both IDE and SATA.

[docusk]

OK Rob. Got that and I'll let you know what happens.
docusk