How to remove the hard drive from a dead laptop?

What if your screen is broken by impact or your laptop fall down to the concrete floor. Your monitor may be broken, or dim, or dark, or shattered but there is big possibility that the data and information, your files, folders and documents may still be intact in your hard drive...This article will discuss the instructions that are easy to follow in order to remove the hard drive from your laptop.

Turning an old hard drive into an external storage device
 
One of the cons of a laptop is when the screen gets damaged or is too dim and dark that you can not see anything. That is what happened to my wife's laptop. The screen had a built-in camera that she used for webcam while on chat and video calling. She also used the laptop to watch streaming videos that made the video card worked so hard. One time, after a long day of chatting and video calling, it was shut down like the usual way but when she started up her laptop on the following morning with the intent of checking her email...POOF!....the screen is totally dark, but the startup sound is still heard with the hard drive light still colored green and the sound of success can still be heard if the password is entered correctly. There were three options that came to my mind to remedy this problem.

First, is to replace the display screen but then the parts and labor is too expensive. Second, is to buy a monitor and plug it to the laptop using a monitor cable and connect it to the display port on the side. This seems to be a reasonable choice but then I will need some space and plus the awkwardness of a black dead screen beside a monitor. Third, is to remove the hard drive and buy a 2.5 inch Serial ATA (SATA) to USB 2.0 HDD enclosure and turn the hard drive as a portable storage device while keeping the original files, folders, media, data, music, photos, videos, and other essentials intact and accessible. The best choice for me turned out to be the third one.

Below I will discuss the step by step procedure of how to remove the hard drive from a dead laptop or one with a dark screen. These instructions are supported with illustrated photos and pictures to understand better for the reader:

1. Disconnect the adapter from the power source.

2. Remove the battery from the laptop.

3. Touch a metal surface to get rid of the static charge in your hands.

4. Turn up the bottom side of the laptop.

5. The hard drive is located inside a lid with an almost square shape. Loosen and remove the two screws.

6. Pull out the cover.

7. Pull out the plastic at the end of the hard drive.

8. Carefully pull the hard drive out, paying attention not to damage the sensitive pin area and connectors.

9. After removing the hard drive from the laptop, handle it with care and carefully place it in a safe, clean, no moisture, no sunlight, no magnetism, no vibration, in an area with no high or low temperatures, while it is not yet inserted and installed in an appropriate hard drive enclosure.

10. Insert and Install the laptop hard drive in a 2.5 inch hard drive enclosure.

How to insert and install a laptop hard drive into a 2.5 inch USB SATA hard drive enclosure:

http://computers-electronics-info.blogspot.ca/2012/12/how-to-insert-and-install-laptop-hard.html