Getting data off an unbootable laptop?

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Kiopa_Matt

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May 13, 2011
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Any way to get data off a laptop that won't boot due to a BIOS / motherboard error? The laptop has power and everything, but upon starting, just a blank screen with 1 constant, slow beep -- and according to Dell's support center, that means BIOS / motherboard error.

Have fun explaining that one to the tech agent (ie. receptionist) at Dell tech support center in Thailand though. There's some important data on there I'd like to get off. Any way I can do that without ripping apart the laptop, and pulling the HD out? I'd prefer not to void warranty just yet, although may do so shortly.

And while we're at it, I could probably pickup another decent motherboard + installation for ~$300, eh? From that one thread, I guess my i7 is overkill for me, so i5 should be fine I'm assuming. Then I would imagine they can pop another motherboard into it within an hour or two, right? I know it voids the warranty, but not sure if screwing around with these guys for another week is worth $300.
 


You shouldn't have to tear the laptop apart to get the HD unless it is an ultrabook. Most laptops have 1 or 2 screws holding a door that comes right off, then a simple tug will remove the hard drive.
 
This..
get the HDD out, put into another laptop, better yet, use a dock like this:
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sata%20dock&sprefix=sata+do%2Caps&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Asata%20dock]Amazon.com: sata dock[/ame]

Done.

::emp::
 
edit: scratch everything I just wrote (that you now can't see) as I hadn't even read the OP properly.

Take hard drive out of laptop and attach it to another PC as an extra drive then copy the data off.

You may need an adapter cable if you haven't got the right sized port.
 
microphone head said:
Boot off a linux 'live' CD or memory stick and copy the data to a removable drive.

As a geek I had a bootable version of Linux on my Blackberry for this kind of thing - plug the BB in as a mass media device and boot from it. Job done.

You don't need a blackberry obviously - that was just me being a geek and carrying around a bootable OS with me on my phone. ;)

Unless the drive itself is fucked of course.
Click to expand...

Actually, this can work if a drive isn't working in Windows. I had a drive that would cause the machine BSOD if booted under Windows, but it would mount perfectly fine with a Linux boot disk. If his bios or mobo is fucked this isn't going to work though.
 
Fatbat said:
Can you get into the bios on startup?
Click to expand...

Nope, just a black screen and a beep. There's power to it, but doesn't seem to be any input/output with the motherboard at all. If you goto the Beep Codes I'm getting #1.

Bit of a piss off since this laptop is only 2 months old. Good news is, old laptop is for some reason working like a charm again (somewhat).

Anyway, thanks guys, and will give it a try. Then I just noticed I can pickup a new motherboard for about $200, so will do that tomorrow if possible, instead of pissing around with Dell support. Today went to the store, they told me to call Dell. So came home, called Dell, and that didn't work. So back into town I go to a friend's house for translation help, and we both give Dell a try. The result of all this was a once sentence e-mail from a Dell tech of, "could you please explain what issue you're having?"
 
I'm assuming from your post you don't have much experience taking laptops apart (tell me if I'm wrong), so I'd personally recommend further pissing around with Dell Support. Laptops are horrible horrible things to take apart properly (RAM and HDD is easy), and there's a high chance of you not putting it back together properly and it not working afterwards.

I'd STRONGLY recommend you don't try to replace the motherboard, I've taken many laptops apart, and I wouldn't even try that on an out of warranty laptop, it'd always be a case of getting a new one.
 
If the motherboard model isnt the exact same, you may also have issues actually fitting it, although it may measure up, it's possible that certain models will have room for a gfx card, optical drive etc and the board you buy doesnt (and has a heatsink obstructing it's path).

Also, different models may or may not have all the ports, i.e. your chassis has the cut outs for 4 USB ports, the board you buy has an extra 2 somewhere and simply wont fit without hacking up the plastics. Similarly, the board you buy might only have 2 or 3 instead of 4 and you'll be left with a hole which could fuck with the cooling system/allow dust buildup.
 
Did you ask the guy at the tech center if you're allowed to remove the HDD or have him remove the HDD without losing your warranty?
 
^^ Yeah, what AdamC said. I'm pretty proficient with building computers and fixing things, but I wouldn't attempt to replace a mobo in a laptop. Especially if the laptop is under warranty, and Dell will replace it, which they most certainly will.

Did you buy it from Dell Thailand? Why not just call Dell in Canada/US/UK to get help? Whenever I have an issue with a multinational company I just call an office in a country where they speak English. I wouldn't call Dell in Spain, for example, if I needed a problem solved even if i had bought the laptop here... which I wouldn't because the keyboards are different.
 
I used to have this exact same issue every time I had a hard drive crash, but since last year I decided to try this online backup service called Backblaze for $5 a month. It backs up your entire computer then does continuous backups every time there are changes to your files. The thing I like the most about them is that if you're in a hurry to restore all your files and don't feel like downloading all of them over the Internet, they can fedex you a USB hard drive with all your files in it. (at an additional fee)
 
Had this issue not too long ago. What I ended up doing was taking the hard drive out, putting it in another working laptop (took that one out), live booting linux, copied data to external usb drive.

Then swap out the hard drives again and the usable computer is back to normal and I got my data on the USB drive. just make sure to boot using the live cd and not the other machines hard drive.
 
Would now be a good time to say

"back up your data!" ;P
 
-joe- said:
I'd STRONGLY recommend you don't try to replace the motherboard, I've taken many laptops apart, and I wouldn't even try that on an out of warranty laptop, it'd always be a case of getting a new one.
Click to expand...

Nah, I'd never even attempt it myself. One of the malls here has an entire floor dedicated to computer shops though. There's probably 10,000+ motherboards in there, so I'm sure one will fit, and someone can stick it in for me.


avatar33 said:
I used to have this exact same issue every time I had a hard drive crash, but since last year I decided to try this online backup service called Backblaze for $5 a month.
Click to expand...

Nah, I'm fine for backups. Have a bunch of servers and space here I can rsync things to. It's just there's a few small things (the most important) that I'm not willing to store online, like private SSH keys, GPG keys, server info, etc. If any of these servers get hacked, I'm the first to hear about it, so have to be careful.

Obviously, should have a USB stick backup or something, but guess I was waiting for things to stabilize. Lesson learned!
 
take the HD out, get a usb sata adapter cable ($20) and plug it into another working computer. Copy your files your files off and your done..
 
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