As usual, there may appear to be a lot here, but the three big chunks
are _alternatives_.


In message , HB writes:

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
...
[]
Inside the desktop machine, does its own hard drive also have two small
connectors, or a wide ribbon cable with about 40 wires? Or, does its
CD/DVD drive? If both of those are connected with wide ribbon cables, read
no further, as we'll have to use the USB route (which isn't difficult).

I don't know because I never opened it. The last HP DT had the wide ribbon
cable. Then let's use the USB route because I really don't want to start
messing around iside the DT box.

OK. Notes on USB method follow lower.

I tried using a Rescue disc my son made a
few years ago. Nothing happened. I downloaded something from the net, a MS
repair disc and that didn't work either.

I suspect two possibilities he either you (or your son) didn't burn
the CDs in the correct way that makes them bootable, or you didn't set
the boot order in the laptop so that it booted from them.

Ubantu was an 8 GB download I don't have unlimited download data with

See Paul's posts; UbUntu apparently isn't that big, nor any other Linux
available at the moment; they're all under a single-layer DVD's worth (4
point something G), some under a CD's worth.

Verizon. It didn't look like anything that would boot a PC in the LT's
condition. There would be no way to execute it.

If the CD/DVD is burned properly, and the BIOS in the LT set to boot
from the CD/DVD drive, then it should boot and load; it loads into RAM,
and runs from there.
[]
To access the LT HD from another computer via USB, you'll need a USB (or
eSATA, but only if all your computers have an eSATA socket) interface.

This is something you should get anyway, for future backup purposes.
(Along with, obviously, a drive big enough to hold several backup images
from your various computers. As you've discovered, System Restore is no
good if the drive dies, or if its files get corrupted sufficient that it
won't boot even as far as safe mode.) So getting it - whichever of the
three options you choose - isn't wasted money, even if we do find the LT
drive is faulty.

I know nothing of eSATA, so what follows is just USB. And prices are
probably wrong (I'm in the UK, so don't know my way round ebay USA [I
assume you're in USA]), so I'm really just providing these as links so
you can look at the pictures.

There are roughly three sorts of USB interface, though presumably they
mostly have similar electronics in them. For future-proofing you'd go
for ones that have USB3, but USB2 would be fine, just slower; it's
likely that at least some if not all of your other computers won't have
USB3 anyway. (If you do pay the extra for USB3, it should _work_ with
USB2 computers, just at USB2 speed. Though 3 is tending to come as
standard now anyway so _may_ not cost more.) With all three types, when
you put the drive into them, apply power to them, and connect them to
the PC you are going to use, the drive in the interface should appear on
that PC just as another drive letter in Windows Explorer (or letters if
it has more than one partition, other than hidden partitions). [It
_won't_ appear as C: - that computer's own drive will be C.] Just like
plugging in a memory stick or card. It should also appear under the
utility - either Windows' own or any other, such as EaseUS - that sorts
out partitions (where you _should_ be able to see any hidden ones).

Right, the three alternatives:

The best (IMO) for general work is a dock; this is a thing that sits on
your desk, comes with its own power supply, and connects to a PC via a
USB lead; it has one or more slots on top, into which you insert the
drive(s) you want to access. This is the model I have:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/202052568442 - it does both IDE and SATA drives
(and has a card reader in it too, though I've never used it), and comes
- as you can see - with a power supply and USB lead. (And the little CD,
but I've never had to use that; it just worked as soon as I connected it
up.) It seems to be a common model. I paid something like
twentysomething pounds at a computer fair, and have seen them for 15 or
16 pounds online. You should be able to find a US seller: I just picked
that one as it has a nice clear picture. Although one of the pictures
shows 3.5" drives in it, it takes 2.5" ones just as well. Look at all
the pictures.

The next option is a "USB to SATA cable"; despite just being called a
cable, these do have electronics in them, though built into the plug, so
it's not obvious. Personally, I'd go for one like this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/172256326228 which can do IDE _and_ SATA and
comes with a power supply and all necessary cables (you want the SATA
[red] one and the power adapter one, as well as the USB "cable" itself)
- look at all the pictures; however, if you must save every dollar (I've
seen kits like the above for 5 or 6 pounds), just put "USB to SATA" into
ebay and you'll find hundreds of cables that just use USB power. If you
go for one of those, make sure it's one that has _two_ USB plugs (as the
power available from a single one may not be sufficient for the drive,
especially initial spinup).

The third option is an external housing - this sort of thing:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/112652273779 - last time I was involved in
buying one it was about 2 pounds, yes even including the little
screwdriver and the pouch! (I think ours had black rather than
transparent ends.) Again, make sure the USB cable has two plugs at the
computer end.

If you already have an external drive, you may be able to temporarily
take out the drive that's in it and fit your suspect one in its place.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

I'm the oldest woman on primetime not baking cakes.
- Anne Robinson, RT 2015/8/15-21