I recently moved out of my student accommodation, and when I powered on my laptop for the first time in a week, I was greeted with a cracked screen displaying a black background with colorful stripes. I suspect it got damaged during the move. I've tried connecting it to an external monitor via HDMI, but that didn't work. At this point, I'm not concerned about fixing the laptop itself since it was budget-friendly and I've had it for a few years. However, I desperately need to recover the files on it, especially family and friend photos as well as important class paperwork. Does anyone have suggestions on how to rescue my data? Thanks in advance!
5 Answers
The make and model of your laptop could influence your options since some have removable drives while others do not. Knowing that can help narrow down the best method for recovery. This situation also highlights the importance of having a backup strategy for the future, so you don't run into this issue again!
Before stressing too much, try out a different monitor. I had a similar experience where my laptop screen failed, but when I connected it to another display, it worked fine. Just make sure to double-check all the connections.
If HDMI isn’t working, it's likely not just the screen that's the issue. A good way could be to get a USB enclosure for your drive. Identify what type of drive it is (like SSD or M2) before buying an enclosure to ensure everything fits perfectly.
You've got a few options here! The easiest might be trying to connect to another external screen; sometimes the second screen can bypass issues with the built-in display. If that doesn’t work and you have access to the laptop's storage, you could remove the drive. Just grab an enclosure that fits your drive, and you can connect it to another computer via USB to access your files directly.
You can also take out the drive and connect it to another PC to copy your needed files. If you want the full desktop experience, you could install it in a compatible PC and boot from it. Just keep in mind, if the drive isn’t removable, it might complicate things a bit.
Related Questions
Lenovo Thinkpad Stuck In Update Loop Install FilterDriverU2_Reload