removing hard drive from an old computer

[#1]

I have an old computer, and need to download photos before disposal.  Unfortunately there is no output from the computer though the disk spins quite happily.  Is there an easy way to remove the hard drive, put it in caddy of some sort and connect it via usb to lap top to remove photos prior to disposal?

I have tried many leads, three different monitors , the mouse lights up, and the keyboard lit up once then stopped.

It needs to go, but I need to remove photo's first.

[#2 · Accepted solution]

What OS does it have?

Does it have a network connection?

Unscrew the case and check the drive - does it have a ribbon connector?
If not, then it is not truly old.

If not too old it is SATA and SATA <-> USB converters are quite cheap.

[#3]

Thanks,i  realised I had  another old PC in loft. Got that out, That fires up, so in process of taking side off to (hopefully) put it in as slave.  failing that, will look for a USB converter.

[#4]

USB caddies are the simplest solution for disused HDDs, plenty on ebay, just take out the drive, stick it in an appropriate caddy (SATA (small, thin cables) or IDE (wide 80-wire ribbons)), hook it up to your current PC and grab your files off it...

The only issue that you might come across is file ownership which denies access, but that's easy enough to bypass, because Microsoft don't think it's a good idea to keep files secured from such simple acts...

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753659%28v=ws.11%29.aspx

[#5]

It's quite hard to do that if only have a laptop.

[#6]

a search of ebay for    ide sata usb   will give suitable items, but make sure it is for 2.5 and 3.5 disks and has a psu. I have one which is very useful for attaching bare drives when needed.

Phil

[#7]

I have one of these and used it quite a few times successfully.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001A5SK56/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[#8]

That's quite pricey!

Lucky that the OP only has to swap a couple of cables between PC's - (power + SATA).

It's quite safe to run PC's with their cases off.

[#9]

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@VileReynard wrote:

It's quite hard to do that if only have a laptop.

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Uh? What??

USB caddies and Laptops get along fine, unless you happen to have a laptop that lacks USB, which is doubtful, the only issue (and a minor one at that) is a laptop can't supply 12v to run a 3.5" HDD, even in a caddy, but, they tend to come with a PSU for that so not really an issue, so, caddies work fine on laptops, I say so from experience (ex-computer shop tech and have various salvaged HDDs in caddies)...

[#10]

All done now thanks. Just changed jumpers on hd to slave and fitted on other old pc. Burned all photos to Dvd and used program to totally ease and rewrite the whole drive three times. Now giving away two complete computer systems on Facebook.