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Broken Laptop can I save the Hard Drive?

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 754
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in PC & Mac Hardware and Software #1
Story is I was laying in bed watching youtube with a drink of tea and I somehow fell asleep. Anyway spilled the tea all over the laptop and it just basically broke.
I'm guessing the laptop itself is f***ed now it won't power on at all but the hard drive had all of my music on [about 250gb which i've downloaded over 5-6 years] and all of my pictures and photographs too again going back to about 2008.

Anyway I was wondering what the best thing to do now might be? I still have my old laptop so would there be any way to take out the hard drive and try to transfer things or is it most likely that the hard drive is destroyed as well? :(

sorry this is a bit of a rant but it would be a real shame if everything was lost.

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    ba_baracusba_baracus Posts: 3,236
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    #2
    Just take the hard drive out and stick it in a USB caddy which can usually be had for a few quid.

    You will probably need a 2.5 inch SATA type but if unsure post a picture of the connector at the back of the hard drive and someone can confirm.
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    TassiumTassium Posts: 31,639
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    #3
    If your hard drive is SATA then this USB caddy model is one I bought and it's very robust:

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-2-0-External-2-5-SATA-HDD-Hard-Disk-Drive-Enclosure-Aluminum-Case-Caddy-UK-/291035236894?pt=UK_Collectables_HardDriveEnclosures_RL&hash=item43c30d4a1e
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 754
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    #4
    thanks for the replies :)

    annoyingly taking the hard drive out of my laptop seems a bit complicated compared to other models; the screws really are not coming out at all.

    might have to basically smash it to get at the hard drive? :confused:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StoW_0OfFnQ
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    RobinOfLoxleyRobinOfLoxley Posts: 27,040
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    #5
    If you smash it, you may break the HDD and all sorts

    Are the screws turning or have you (partially?) destroyed the heads with the wrong size screwdriver? Philips #1 or #0 or even #00 are usually the correct size.


    If worst comes to worst, drill the screw heads off using a 2mm or 3mm HSS drill bit.
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    BluescopeBluescope Posts: 3,432
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    #6
    Your laptop might not have actually been lost if you had powered it. the just clean the worst of the tea and let the liquid drain out of the machine. The key is to let it dry for a while few days then take it part and clear what you can. Most machines can be rescued the liquid does not do as much damage as you think but powering it up while it was still wet could have done.

    In terms of hard drives trying to smash it is out is really not a good idea. You need to make sure you have the correct head for the screws if it is too small or large you just thread the screws and you will never get it out.
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    StigStig Posts: 12,446
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    #7
    starfoxxx wrote: »
    Story is I was laying in bed watching youtube with a drink of tea and I somehow fell asleep. Anyway spilled the tea all over the laptop and it just basically broke.
    I'm guessing the laptop itself is f***ed now it won't power on at all but the hard drive had all of my music on [about 250gb which i've downloaded over 5-6 years] and all of my pictures and photographs too again going back to about 2008.

    Anyway I was wondering what the best thing to do now might be? I still have my old laptop so would there be any way to take out the hard drive and try to transfer things or is it most likely that the hard drive is destroyed as well? :(

    sorry this is a bit of a rant but it would be a real shame if everything was lost.

    Knowing the make/model of the PC would help. Is it the HP Touchsmart 15?
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 754
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    #8
    cheers all, the laptop is a HP one apparently it's a 15-n221 sa? that's all i can find, it cost about £400 earlier this year so it's nothing too spectacular but i can't afford to replace it, still paying for this one actually.

    also i did power it up straight away :( thought afterwards actually that it was probably a silly thing to do, it came on for maybe 5 seconds then just died.

    the screws aren't really turning but i'm going to get a decent screwdriver today and try again. they seem pretty stuck in? will see how it goes :)
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 754
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    #9
    really need to start looking after stuff better, broken so much over the past few years.
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    chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    #10
    The worst thing you can do with tea or coffee ingress into an electronic device, apart from try to power it up immediately, is leave it to dry out naturally. Tea and coffee leave behind a nasty residue that can be impossible to get rid of and can attack the circuit board and components.

    You need to clean out the insides of the device thoroughly, mopping up all traces of the liquid and make sure no residue is left behind. It can sometimes be necessary to wipe over the circuit board with a very lightly damp cloth to make sure it is properly clean. Sounds like that should make it worse but believe me trying to clean up a tea attacked circuit board that has been left to dry out with no attempt to clean up immediately after the spill is even worse.

    If you are going to give your computer a drink stick to plain water. It causes less damage in the long run than tea, coffee and certain fizzy drinks.
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    pavierpavier Posts: 839
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    #11
    Surprised no one has said it so far so I'll say it.
    In future, BACK UP!
    At the end of the day or after a load of new work on any computer it is so simple to plug in a usb thumb or hard drive and copy any new files over.
    It's a habit I'm glad I got into as my old laptop died a couple of months back and I didn't lose a thing, apart from the laptop that is.
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    SexbombSexbomb Posts: 20,005
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    #12
    starfoxxx wrote: »
    Story is I was laying in bed watching youtube with a drink of tea and I somehow fell asleep. Anyway spilled the tea all over the laptop and it just basically broke.
    I'm guessing the laptop itself is f***ed now it won't power on at all but the hard drive had all of my music on [about 250gb which i've downloaded over 5-6 years] and all of my pictures and photographs too again going back to about 2008.

    Anyway I was wondering what the best thing to do now might be? I still have my old laptop so would there be any way to take out the hard drive and try to transfer things or is it most likely that the hard drive is destroyed as well? :(

    sorry this is a bit of a rant but it would be a real shame if everything was lost.

    Did you backup all this stuff to another external?
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 754
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    #13
    cheers again for all the responses! i actually took the hard drive out today but in the process kind of ruined the rest of the laptop. to be honest i don't think there was any hope for it anyway and at least this way hopefully i've saved my stuff.

    weirdly inside there was very little to no traces of the tea though? which leads me to think i shouldn't have destroyed the laptop :(

    i did actually back up all my stuff at one point but stupidly i wiped the external hard drive and sold it when i was low on cash.

    anyway, going to get a lead tomorrow and plug the hd into my mums laptop hopefully the stuff is safe at least :)
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