Member Avatar for kermie

Guys

After a bit of help please.

I have a toshiba laptop running windows 7 that wont let me log in. What I have done in the past with other laptops is to remove the hard drive, set the switches on it as a slave drive and install it into my old XP tower and then transfer the important files across to my other drive, then reinstall the hard drive back into the lap top where I can work on it without worrying about losing data

I have removed the hard drive from the laptop but it doesnt seem to have any switches on it to set it to slave. Is this now no longer required?. What arent I seeing

thanks

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Quick practical summary and extra steps that complement 's points: removing a laptop drive and attaching it to a desktop or a USB adapter is a normal, low‑risk way to recover files after a Windows login failure. Most 2.5" laptop drives use SATA and therefore have no master/slave jumpers; older IDE/PATA drives did. Also note that some modern laptops use M.2 modules or soldered eMMC — those look very different and need a specific M.2 enclosure or cannot be removed.

How to identify the drive: a 2.5" SATA drive is a small rectangular disk with a narrow data/power interface; an IDE/PATA 2.5" has a wide ribbon‑style connector and visible jumper pins; an M.2 is a flat "gumstick" card. If uncertain, read the model number on the label and check the part type before buying adapters.

Safe connection and basic workflow: power down the desktop and unplug it before installing the drive internally, or use a powered SATA/USB adapter or 2.5" enclosure for easy plug‑in. Most 2.5" laptop drives draw power from USB adapters; 3.5" drives need an external power brick. After connecting, open Windows Disk Management. If Windows offers to initialize the disk, cancel that if the goal is file recovery—initializing can overwrite partition data. Assign a drive letter if needed and copy files.

If access is denied because of permissions, ownership can be taken and rights granted from an elevated command prompt:

takeown /F "X:\Users\username" /R /D Y
icacls "X:\Users\username" /grant Administrators:F /T

Other notes and cautions: if the drive is BitLocker‑encrypted the recovery key is required. If the disk makes unusual noises or is not recognized, stop and consider a different cable/adapter or professional recovery. A Linux live USB can also be used to copy files while bypassing Windows account restrictions (but not bypassing full‑disk encryption).

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Member Avatar for JorgeM

I have removed the hard drive from the laptop but it doesnt seem to have any switches on it to set it to slave.

those switches you are referring to are found on parallel ATA (PATA) drives. I would think that this drive you have in your hand is a serial ATA (SATA) drive. There arent any master/slave jumpers to worry about on SATA. SATA uses a differen interface as well.

Edited by JorgeM
Member Avatar for kermie

thank you

If I make a further questions or two

So I should be able to just plug it in and it will know that its a slave

Also how do I tell what sort of drive it is

regards

Member Avatar for JorgeM

The pysical dimentions of the drive should be the same. You can quickly identify the type of drive by it's interface (where the cable plugs into).

So I should be able to just plug it in and it will know that its a slave
You only have to worry about the master/slave configuration on PATA drives connecting to an IDE interface. If the jumper pins are not on the drive, and this is a PATA drive?.. I would just plug it into the Secondary IDE connection on the motherboard so there is nothing to worry regarding your other primary PATA IDE drive.

What I would recommend is that you get an external USB/IDE connector. These connector/adapters, allow you to plug PATA and SATA drives into a USB device so you dont have to open up the target computer to connect the drive. For IDE PATA drives, you dont have to worry about the master/slave config either. You just connect the drive as master.

They cost about $20 US and are very handy. I have one and use it often in situations that you described.

Member Avatar for kermie

Thanks for the help. Much appreciated

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