You are going to learn the three best ways to access a hard drive from another computer. One is using EaseUS data recovery software to recover files from an old hard drive even if the hard disk can't boot. Read on and get data off the disk.
You might have found an old hard drive from an antiquated laptop or PC and want to recover data from the hard disk, like the user mentioned in the following scenario.
"I've had a laptop for probably a little over 10 years, a self-contained Eee PC that ran Windows XP. The laptop will no longer boot up. How can I get data off an old hard drive on the laptop?"
In this tutorial, we will focus on accessing a hard drive from another computer or external hard drive with full guides. Before learning how to access a hard drive from another computer, you should know the possible reasons why you need to get files off an old disk. Here are two main reasons that people want to access a hard drive from another computer:
According to the reasons, there are two main solutions. Try HDD recovery software with a bootable USB or connect the old hard drive to another computer.
When you want to get files off a laptop that won't turn on or recover files from a dead old hard drive, removing the old hard disk and connecting it to another normal computer for data recovery is a common but complicated way. You're likely to have problems opening the drive or files because of driver inconsistency and access permission.
Instead of taking such a complex approach, here's a pretty simple way to retrieve data from the hard drive by using data recovery software in the WinPE environment. Free download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on a healthy computer, then create a bootable USB and use it to get data off an old hard drive, although the old laptop or PC won't turn on.
Now, download EaseUS file recovery software to retrieve data from an old hard drive. In this way, you don't need to take out the old hard drive and run into disk access or detection problems.
Step 1. Create a bootable disk
Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, choose "Crashed PC" and click "Go to Recover".
Select an empty USB to create the bootable drive and click "Create".
⚠️Warning: When you create a bootable disk, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard will erase all data saved in the USB drive. Back up important data beforehand.
Step 2. Boot your computer from the bootable USB
Connect the bootable disk to the PC that won't boot and change your computer boot sequence in BIOS. For most users, it works well when they restart their computer and press F2 simultaneously to enter BIOS.
Set to boot the PC from "Removable Devices" (bootable USB disk) beyond Hard Drive. Press "F10" to save and exit.
Step 3. Recover data from a crashed system/PC
After booting from EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard bootable disk, select the drive you want to scan to find all your lost files. Preview and recover the files you need to a safe location.
💡Tip: You can restore data on the local disks, external hard drives, and also the cloud storage.
Why not let experts help? If you are bothered by getting data off an old hard drive, you can ask experts for help. They can check your hard drive and recover data from the hard drive easily. Contact the experts and restore hard drive data.
Consult with EaseUS data recovery experts for one-on-one manual recovery service. We could offer the following services after a FREE diagnosis
If you don't want to use a third-party tool to get data off an old hard drive, you still can make it manually. So, how to access and get files off the old hard drive by yourself? You can do it by removing the old hard disk and connecting it to your computer as an external hard drive.
Tools you need:
Step 1. Take out the old hard drive.
Step 2. Connect the hard disk to your computer with an external adapter.
Step 3. Access the old hard drive to get files.
The old hard disk connected to your computer should be detected and recognized in Windows Explorer. And then, you can view all the files and folders and get data off an old hard drive by a simple copy-and-paste.
You can also connect your hard drive without putting it into your computer case. Watch this video to get data off an old hard drive easily.
Note that when you try to access and recover data from an old hard drive, you may encounter the following issues:
There are many possible reasons for the old hard drive not detected on your computer, such as driver issues, hard drive damage, drive letter conflict, and more.
To solve these problems, you should take the following effective measures:
Another high frequently appearing problem is that when you open the old hard drive on your Windows PC, you get an error message saying "Location is not available. F:\ (my external hard drive) is not accessible. Access is denied".
Take some quick fixes to solve the hard drive access denied:
Happen to meet the "You don't currently have permission to access this folder" issue when you are opening a folder on the old hard drive? Don't fret. Here are the ways to work out.
After reading this article, we believe that you've learned how to get data off an old hard drive in effective ways. We offer you three different ways to recover data from an old hard drive.
First, you can use EaseUS data recovery software to get files off an old hard drive without removing and connecting. Directly recover all the files and folders from the old hard drive in the WinPE environment even if the computer can't start up.
Both computer pros and beginners can use this method for file recovery. What's more, if you encounter any problems during the process, you can get help from us in time via email: support@easeus.com.
The second and third way is to manually take out the hard disk and connect it to your computer to get data off. These methods are not suitable for computer novices.
There are some other questions that you might be interested in. Read the following questions and answers to solve other hard drive problems.
1. Can I retrieve data from a dead computer hard drive?
Yes, you can recover data from a dead hard drive with the steps below:
2. What happens if the hard drive is removed?
If your hard drive contains the system, removing the hard drive can make your computer useless. A computer can't boot without OS. If it doesn't contain the system, removing the hard drive is safe.
3. How do I restore data from a dead laptop?
Follow these steps to recover files from a dead laptop:
4. Can you plug an old hard drive into a new computer?
There are three ways to plug an old hard drive into a new computer:
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