As the 'Violins' play in the background I am sitting here with my head in my hands telling all my problems to my 'Parrot, Cracker'. I broke my 'Laptop' knocked it off the side, and smashed the screen!
I managed to get an excellent deal on a reconditioned one which is fantastic for now, I can always upgrade at a future date.
In the past I have always had the 'Hard Drive' placed into an 'External Hard Drive Casing' I have done this with three or four laptops over the years so I always have access to all the work on that particular laptop.
The broken laptop was quite old, but I did not want to lose all the 'Apps' and 'Digital Imaging Programs'. To save some money I decided to have a go at removing the hard drive myself.
Removing The Hard Drive
I am not a technical person, so I went to 'YouTube' and typed in the search box 'How To Remove The Hard Drive', and instantly there were 'Step By Step Instructions' showing how to do this ...
I can only talk about my own experience, always remove the hard drive before you buy the external casing, as well as a casing you can also buy straps or leads instead.
The external casing is an empty box that contains an adapter [plug] that the hard drive connects [plugs in] to.
There are variations of the adapter belonging to the hard drive, one adapter has a double row of 'Golden Teeth', and another adapter has one row of teeth that slides and just slots into the connection. You will find that some of the casing, straps and leads are universal.
However, you are looking to buy ideally -
A 2.5"SSD/HDD External Case (2.5 Sata Laptop)
I bought my ' External Casing' from eBay because the companies photograph every component of the product,
so you can see exactly what you are buying.
'The External Case' cost was £4.49 with free postage it
was delivered two days later and the 'Hard Drive' connected perfectly and worked the first time.
" I Am So Proud Of Myself "
Working With An External Hard Drive
Connect the 'External Hard Drive' to the laptop an 'Option Box' will appear, Click on the appropriate box e.g. 'View Files'.
If nothing happens click on 'My Computer' this is where you will find small images of the 'Drives'.
'Double Click' on the 'External Hard Drive' there will be variations on the name of the drive, for instance, the external drive on this laptop is on the 'F Drive'.
A list will appear which may look very 'Alien' to you ... Look for 'Users'.
This is where you would sign in to your laptop, always remember you have the whole laptop in that little box. Click
on 'Users' a list will appear, once you click on 'Users' everything may seem more familiar to you.
To make 'Navigation' even easier, if you are working in 'Windows' at the top of the page you can click on 'View' and 'Icons' the list will now be represented by small images.
You are now able to 'View Files', 'Down Load' 'Copy and Paste' etc. There is no right or wrong way of working with an 'External Hard Drive' you will find your own way of 'Navigation'.
Trouble Shooting
This may not apply to many laptops, I have only had this laptop for a short time when I first connected the 'External Hard Drive'
I was unable to open and enlarge my photography. An error box would open stating 'The App Failed To Open'.
All this meant was that the 'Windows Photo' Viewer' on the laptop was 'Hidden'. This is very easy to correct ...
First, disconnect the 'External Hard Drive'.
Go to Settings, Click on 'Apps', and a list will appear to go right down the list and check every 'App' is switched on.
This is where you will find the 'Photo' Viewer App'
When you click on the 'Photo' Viewer' an 'Option Box' will appear asking how you would like to open the Image.
At the bottom of the box, another option is 'Other Apps' Click on this option check the small box and click on 'Apply'.
It is very important to 'Restart' your laptop.
When you next connect your 'External Hard Drive' All your photography will open and enlarge ...