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about a laptop hard drive.?

One morning my Toshiba satellite 17.3" seemed to start all right apart from the screen remaining black. would replacing completely the hard drive with a new one solve the problem. And if so first would I need to install windows on it and second would there be a way to transfer all the pictures left in the memory? 

8 Answers

Relevance
  • 3 months ago

    A hard disk drive  is a non-volatile data storage device. It is usually installed internally in a computer, attached directly to the disk controller of the computer's motherboard They are powered by a connection to the computer's PSU. 

  • 3 months ago

    google sata to usb adapter, and take out the hard drive.  chances are your graphics card took a dump or the screen itself.  your data is fine, just get the stuff off of it or take the drive out and transfer the junk later.

    BTW youll NEED to use a sata to usb adapter, once you connect it to a working machine, the drive will display just like C:\ or D:\ or whatever.  shoot you really wouldnt even need to transfer anything if ya got an adapter, junk is on the drive.  It would operate just as an "external drive" like you'd buy at the store!

    Fudge, if ya want, transfer the junk over, then google NAS and plug it into your fancy wifi router, now ya got a "cloud" that all your devices can access, share, and save data to!

    Source(s): IT Pro, CCNA Certified, list goes on
  • 3 months ago

    You can take the hard drive out and there are cables that allow you to view what is on it on another computer. That way you can take off your pictures and other files but if you cannot view them there are professionals who can get some data off of damaged hard drives but for a price.  Some companies if you have a warranty may allow you to reinstall Windows 10 on a replacement hard drive but some charge you which seems unfair but they are often cheaper laptops so you get what you pay for;

  • 3 months ago

    replacing the hard drive likely won't solve the display problem ... so the real problem needs to be diagnosed by a technician.  and yes, a technician can recover your files from the old drive, as long as the drive itself still works

  • Norm F
    Lv 7
    3 months ago

    First I do not think that your hard drive is at fault.

    The first thing to check is Memory,ie Bios is not fully running Other than connection from Motherboard to screen faulty but very unlikely the motherboard is unfortunately is next because of the integrated Graphics

     

  • 3 months ago

    Normally when a hard drive is bad, you do not get a black screen.  You will see it boot part way.  Usually the manufacturer's logo will display.  That happens before the laptop even looks for the hard drive.  During that time it is loading information it needs to find the hard drive.  If the drive is bad, the you will get an error message telling you that it can not find a bootable device.

    Sometimes with laptops, they will get stuck in a "sleep" mode.  It turns on but then never completes the install.  Often if you can unplug the laptop, remove the battery, and let it set for 20 minutes, it will run out of power and fully shut down.  Plug it back in and it will no longer be in "sleep" mode and will boot for you.If it gives you the manufacturer's logos and then the Windows logo but goes not further, then your hard drive is most likely still good and it is the files that load Windows that are failing. You would need to have the Windows repaired or reinstalled on the computer.If you do replace the hard drive, you will need to install Windows on it.  they do not come with Windows preinstalled.  You will need to download the Windows Media Creator from the Microsoft site, run on it another computer, and it will give you an option to create a bootable USB stick that you can then move to your computer, boot it up, and run the install from the USB stick.  (You can also use this same process as one way of repairing a bad Windows install.)If the hard drive itself actually is bad, no one can predict if you can recover the files from it.  Depending on what is damaged on the drive, you may be able to use a special cable to attach it to a USB port, see the files on the drive, and copy off what you want. Of you may not.  No want to predict without seeing the drive and test it.But replacing the hard drive is NOT the first thing to do if the computer does not boot. 

    Source(s): 25+ years in IT. Do this for a living.
  • Lv 7
    3 months ago

    if the hard drive were the problem, the screen wouldn't be black, it would say it couldn't find the boot disk on screen.

    more likely the board is fried. time for a new laptop.

  • ?
    Lv 7
    3 months ago

    First thing to do is take the battery out unplug the thing hold down the power button for 40 full seconds with it unplugged and no battery on it. Now put the battery back in put the charger back on turn on the computer see if it lights up. On the screen until it gets to Windows. If it does you can recover the information on it by putting in a copy of Linux mint on a USB drive and booting to it once it's booted up you can transfer your information to any portable hard drive or USB stick. And then reinstall a brand new copy of Windows 10.

    If when you turn your computer on you see no writing on the screen like Toshiba before you get to the Windows screen and the screen is just black. Reinstalling Windows is not going to help you

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