Can you remove laptop internal HDD and plug it into PC to get data?

[FireVortex720]

Hey guys,

My current laptop is really slow and it has a HDD. I bought a new SSD but before I install it , I obviously want to backup the data on the old HDD. Becauseit is slow, I was just wondering if it would be possible to just remove the HDD and plug it into my PC via the usual SATA connectors and access the HDD files via my PC and do the backup from there.

Thanks

 

[richiestang_78]

Yes, although you may need to boot into BIOS to make sure the laptop drive doesnt prioritize itself as the boot drive. You can also buy a relatively cheap 2.5inc HDD/SSD Sata to USB3 cable like this https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATA-USB-Cable-USB3S2SAT3CB/dp/B00HJZJI84

You can even just clone the old HDD to the SSD and make a 1 to 1 copy using something like this
https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree. I used this software to clone my old laptop HDD to a Crucial MX500 SSD. If you buy the cable I linked or a HDD/SSD dock its really simple since you can just install it on the Laptop and do the clone right from there.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LClr3FPg4_4

 

[USAFRet]

Hey guys,

My current laptop is really slow and it has a HDD. I bought a new SSD but before I install it , I obviously want to backup the data on the old HDD. Becauseit is slow, I was just wondering if it would be possible to just remove the HDD and plug it into my PC via the usual SATA connectors and access the HDD files via my PC and do the backup from there.

Thanks

As a secondary drive, probably.
As the boot drive in the desktop? Probably not.

The best way to do this is via a USB-SATA dock.