I did forget to mention another option or two. You can get an adaptor to hook up you Laptop HDD to an IDE cable and hook it up to a desktop system and retrieve files that way. You can also get a USB to IDE adaptor cable and hook it up externally by way of USB2 and retrieve your files. An adaptor for 5.25, 3.5, and 2.5 inch drives looks like the ones descibed in the following links.: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812156101 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812107114 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812156001 There are many available, but if you are looking to hook up a 2.5 inch laptop drive, be sure the one you get supports it, or at least make sure to get an adaptor if it is compatible. The adaptor looks like the one in the following link and you can find these for as little as $5 US, plus shipping.: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812116211