So as I mentioned the other day, my laptop is dead. This is not really acceptable, as it contains a lot of data that is not otherwise backed up. Luckily, the problem is not with the hard drive, and it seems that the hard drive data is fine. I should be able to get it back. My problem is that I probably know about 70% as much as I should in order to do this.
First I ordered a cable online that should connect my Serial ATA hard drive to my desktop via USB. Yeah, that only made about 70% sense to me too. The cable came in the mail today and I got my hard drive out and it was quickly evident that these items were not compatible. The box said it was compatible with a 2.5″ Serial ATA hard drive. My hard drive SAID it was a 2.5″ Serial ATA hard drive. Why didn’t it work.
Aha! Turns out I have a 2.5″ Serial ATA RIGHT ANGLE hard drive. So I went down to Best Buy and got an enclosure kit that the guy there said would work. But he lied. Once again, it is not compatible with the right-angledness of my stupid hard drive.
So I went online and searched and searched and searched. Nothing. What is going on!? I KNOW if I took it to Best Buy and gave them $400 they could get my data off. I know such tools exist. Are they a secret? Am I not geeky enough to be on the squad? Do I need the secret handshake? Best Buy does sell a right angle cable, but only for the info part of the drive, not the 15 pin power source, and I need both. Walmart (of all places) does seem to have the cable I need and if I rush order it it can be picked up by me in the store on Tuesday. But I will be in New York on Tuesday.
This whole stupid brouhaha has really made me think about how much I depended on my laptop and the files it is currently hiding from me. It’s like a big piece of my life is gone. My mp3s and photos are backed up, because before “the crash” they were what I viewed as most important. And they are, and thank goodness I have them. But, my videos are not backed up. Ruby as a baby, trips we took, as well as picture I had transferred from my phone, all gone. All the music I had ever arranged or written, scanned music and arias, games I was in the middle of, and all sorts of other files are now beyond my reach. Even on a slightly smaller scale, all the passwords to websites I had saved and now cannot remember. I feel cut off from half of my life. And that’s sad. I don’t want to depend on my computer that much. But even more sad, mostly, I just want it back.
Try Ebay? I found some right angle ata cables on there 🙂