Member Avatar for Southerngirl

My Toshiba TE2100 finally bid farewell to normal life last night.
Orange light flashing, boots for 2 mins sometimes and then dies.... so I'm assuming it is the power board connection.
I'm ok with saying 'au revoir' to the laptop - it has given a lot of service - but am kicking myself that my last backup was a month ago and I have a program that I downloaded (freeware) ages ago that is incredibly useful but the download website has gone....

Visiting 3 computer shops today got me three different solutions to my 'retrieving data from Hard Drive query'
The one I most like was "buy Hard Disk Enclosure and plug old hard drive into new computer and transfer stuff across" cost of $30!
or
"We can do it for $60 if you buy a laptop from us"
or
"$300 to retrieve all data"

Will the enclosure idea work? (it seems so simple)
I will try disassembling the TE2100 and resetting the power board but only have girl tool kit so not sure how successful that will be..... (also have a tendency to be left with 'extra' screws when I disassemble/re-assemble anything)

Thanks in advance :)

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Dani AI

Generated

A focused checklist for recovering files from a pulled laptop drive (notes for , building on 's BIOS idea)

First, identify the drive interface before you buy hardware. Laptop drives are usually 2.5" and come in two common connector styles: PATA/IDE (a single wide row of pins — laptop PATA often uses a 44‑pin block) or SATA (a small L‑shaped 7‑pin data plug plus a 15‑pin power). Take a clear photo of the drive edge or read the label and buy a matching USB adapter, dock, or enclosure that explicitly supports that interface. If the drive is a 3.5" desktop type (unlikely in a laptop), it will need an external 12V+5V power brick; 2.5" drives typically run from USB power.

Safe handling and practical steps

  • Handle the drive by the sides, avoid static, and keep screws in a small container so nothing is lost.
  • Use a USB SATA/IDE adapter or put the drive in an enclosure and connect it to a working PC. Let the system detect it; do not initialize or format any disk prompts.
  • If the filesystem mounts, copy your most important files first (documents, photos, any original installers). Do not try to run installed programs copied from Program Files — many need registry entries or installers. If you only need an installer, search folders like Downloads or Desktop for .exe/.msi.

If the drive has errors or is not mounting

  • Check Disk Management (Windows) to see if the partition is present or marked RAW. If you see signs of trouble (clicking, not spinning, or RAW), do not run chkdsk yet. Make a full image of the drive first if the data is valuable (tools like ddrescue on Linux or imaging utilities on Windows can help). Then try recovery tools (TestDisk/PhotoRec are common choices). If the drive makes repeated clicking or fails to spin up, stop and consult a professional recovery service — further DIY steps can make recovery much harder.

About the laptop power issue

  • As suggested, testing the machine on AC with the battery removed can help isolate a power subsystem fault. Inspect power jack and visible capacitors for damage only if comfortable doing so; otherwise leave that to a repair shop.
Member Avatar for littlebusinessg

"Orange light flashing, boots for 2 mins sometimes and then dies.... so I'm assuming it is the power board connection."

If you can get into your BIOS, turn off the power management.
It's been a few years, but I had a Toshiba that wouldn't boot completely and when I turned off the power mgt, it worked fine - then the battery died and wouldn't hold a charge. But that 's another story.

AS far as the hard drive enclosure is concerened. I'm unfamiliar with your machine, but if you can remove the hard drive and it's functional, and yo can plug it in to a new machine, then yes it will work. I've done that with desktops without an enclosure. I just plugged the disk drive in and copied everything off of it that I wanted.

Member Avatar for Southerngirl

:) Thanks
I tried taking it apart last night and can get the hard drive out so I'll get a casing today and fingers crossed that that works.... :)

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