No way to know without trying. Otherwise, most computer shops should have the necessary equipment and know-how to recover the files.

Hopefully a wakeup call for you, a reminder of the need to always backup important files. Good luck.

Your laptop is non-functional. To where do you plan to copy the data?

Elmer: Staples will do it for $89 plus the price of a backup drive, but they had only one in stock and I thought I could do it myself if I can get the proper cable. Most of my files ARE on my new computer, but I just want to check if some are missing. Plus, Staples is an hour away and they won't do it while I wait.

Dadoes: Either another computer or, preferably, a flash drive. Most of the files I have on my newer computer, but I want to browse the disk for possible missing ones.

You’ll need to connect the laptop hard drive to another computer to read it … via a docking port type of device that can handle whatever is the form factor of it. It will appear as a drive letter and you can explore through the files to copy whatever you wish to that computer’s hard drive or to a USB flash drive also plugged into the computer.

Yes, that's what I want to do and I'm asking if a SATA-to-USB cord (with power) would work. As I mentioned, the four pins on the drive, which I assume are for power, were not connected to anything on the laptop, so I assume the power goes through the multi-pin main connector.

It’s possible. investigate the specs & usage instructions for them. I haven’t used that type of connector. I have a docking bay with slots for two drives, connects to the computer via USB and has a dedicated power supply that plugs to a standard 120V receptacle. Each slot has a socket with sections to match the data and power sockets on the drives. It takes SATA drives of standard desktop form factor and smaller laptop form factor. Pressing a couple buttons on it initiates an offline (when not connected to a computer) cloning operation of the slot A drive to the slot B drive.

I got the appropriate cable from Amazon and my new computer recognizes it, but I get the message "Access is denied".

Permissions problem. Is your log-in a system administrator account?

My log-in on my current computer, or the one the disc came out of?

Update:

1. I took my laptop drive to Staples and they offered to resurrect my data for $289, which I seemed not worth it, and I probably will give up on that drive - at least, for now.

2. I also brought with me a hard drive from a WinXP-era desktop to the same Staples store with the same cable and they couldn't read the drive, but with another adapter they had, they could read that file and could copy it to a flash drive for $89. The reason for the difference in price is that the first case was a "data recovery" service, for which they had to a per-use fee to the software company they used, while the second case would have worked without that service. Being a cheapskate, I would rather buy a different interface cable than spend $89 for a one-time service. One hint from the Staples guy was that with their cable, they could feel the drive start up and could see data; with my cable, the drive never started up. I brought that drive home and, using my cable, plugged it in to my newer laptop and it recognized the drive, but thought it was a removable disk because it asked me to insert a disk. So, for me to purchase the proper interface cable, what features should I look for?

mtvhike, I think you're making something simple difficult.

You encountered a problem because you had files on a PC that weren't backed up. You've either recovered the data or decided you don't need it. Fine.

Next step - how to avoid the situation happening again going forward. The solution is to always backup data files. There is free software that will do this for you automatically, copying whatever you want to safeguard to external storage (whether another PC on your home network, or an external drive, a thumb drive, or an SD card). Done

Drives always fail. If there is such a thing as a Swiss Army knife cable that will connect with anything in the event of a drive failure, you don't need it, because your important info will always exist in multiple copies.

Regarding your hard drive conundrum, a SATA-to-USB cable should indeed do the trick for retrieving your data. It sounds like your drive might need both power and data connections, hence the extra connector. Those cables typically provide both. Now, while you're at it, it might be a good idea to think about a more long-term solution for backing up your data.