# Salvage Parts from old laptop?



## bkribbs

I have my moms old hp pavillion xz275. It wont work, so were going to just toss it soon. I was wondering what parts i should get out of it? As in, what parts are worth taking out? I am working on building up a stash of computer parts, so i will have them as necessary. I was thinking, maybe the keyboard and fan? Or what?

also, how can i get the files off of that hdd? will it fit in another hp laptop? 

bkribbs


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## CarlC

The parts i`d personally take our, are well,basically everything except the keyboard and monitor lol.
Have you got an external hard drive? as you`d be best to get one and then  copy the files to that,or you can just get an internal hard drive and buy an external case, so it becomes an external hard drive.Then that way you`ve got the best of both worlds.An external and an internal.


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## bkribbs

CarlC said:


> The parts i`d personally take our, are well,basically everything except the keyboard and monitor lol.
> Have you got an external hard drive? as you`d be best to get one and then  copy the files to that,or you can just get an internal hard drive and buy an external case, so it becomes an external hard drive.Then that way you`ve got the best of both worlds.An external and an internal.



if i switch out the hard drive between two laptops, like take the one from the broken comp, and but it in a working one, can i boot up with it and copy all files from it to a  disc?


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## deanj20

You can salvage just about all of it. I don't know that you would ever use any of it though - probably not. You'll end up like me a few years ago - a whole wall stacked full of old computer hardware from floor to ceiling in a tiny apartment. This stuff starts to accumulate and becomes more trouble than it's worth. 

I would pull the HDD and the RAM and sell the rest on Craigslist for $15 OBO. If that won't work, try $10 next week. If that won't sell, try $5. If still no one calls, just post it in the Free section.

You can use the RAM in any machine it's compatible with, of course. It should be 400MHz PC 2100 SO DIMM.

As for the HDD - when my HP lappy croaked, I bought a USB-SATA cable with a case - now I have a portable 100GB HDD. 

Your drive should be 2.5" IDE - something like this would work:



_New Aluminum External USB 2.0 to IDE 2.5" Hard Disk Drive HDD Case Enclosure 500GB Max Capacity - *$6.99 from Amazon*_


You could salvage the screen and the DVD drive too - but when's the next time you'll actually _need_ it? I always saved hardware for "someday - just in case" - but someday never came, and I ended up with a mountain of crap (still have a smaller version of the mountain).

My advice, save the RAM and HDD, get what you can for the rest before it becomes useless clutter.  :good:


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## bkribbs

deanj20 said:


> You can salvage just about all of it. I don't know that you would ever use any of it though - probably not. You'll end up like me a few years ago - a whole wall stacked full of old computer hardware from floor to ceiling in a tiny apartment. This stuff starts to accumulate and becomes more trouble than it's worth.
> 
> I would pull the HDD and the RAM and sell the rest on Craigslist for $15 OBO. If that won't work, try $10 next week. If that won't sell, try $5. If still no one calls, just post it in the Free section.
> 
> You can use the RAM in any machine it's compatible with, of course. It should be 400MHz PC 2100 SO DIMM.
> 
> As for the HDD - when my HP lappy croaked, I bought a USB-SATA cable with a case - now I have a portable 100GB HDD.
> 
> Your drive should be 2.5" IDE - something like this would work:
> 
> 
> 
> _New Aluminum External USB 2.0 to IDE 2.5" Hard Disk Drive HDD Case Enclosure 500GB Max Capacity - *$6.99 from Amazon*_
> 
> 
> You could salvage the screen and the DVD drive too - but when's the next time you'll actually _need_ it? I always saved hardware for "someday - just in case" - but someday never came, and I ended up with a mountain of crap (still have a smaller version of the mountain).
> 
> My advice, save the RAM and HDD, get what you can for the rest before it becomes useless clutter.  :good:



ok that sounds good. thanks.

if i switch out the hard drive between two laptops, like take the one from the broken comp, and but it in a working one, can i boot up with it and copy all files from it to a disc?

Actually, what if i use a ubuntu disc to boot?


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## tumiamar13

*Salvage Parts from old laptop*

There are many people who find themselves in a positions where they just don't know what to do with their laptop. They usually just let it collect dust or simply throw it away. Some people believe that they could use
[Show last ad]
 it for parts, but their new laptop or desktop isn't compatible with them. So you have to wonder if there are any other options than just throwing it away. Well you can actually use those old laptop parts on a desktop with the right desktop hardware.


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## deanj20

> if i switch out the hard drive between two laptops, like take the one from the broken comp, and but it in a working one, can i boot up with it and copy all files from it to a disc?


I wouldn't. You could try to do that, but chances are you will have many errors and possibly even BSODs since the old drive won't recognize any of the hardware, and will be going crazy the first time you boot it up trying to install the drivers for the new hardware. It might work, but bleh... not the way I'd go about it.



> Actually, what if i use a ubuntu disc to boot?


That's more like it.  I'd boot with a Live CD (like Ubuntu) and mount the HDD, then copy the files over to a flash drive or burn them to CD.

But why not just buy the USB converter? It's cheap and this way you'll have a new external HDD to save stuff on..?


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## bkribbs

deanj20 said:


> I wouldn't. You could try to do that, but chances are you will have many errors and possibly even BSODs since the old drive won't recognize any of the hardware, and will be going crazy the first time you boot it up trying to install the drivers for the new hardware. It might work, but bleh... not the way I'd go about it.
> 
> 
> That's more like it.  I'd boot with a Live CD (like Ubuntu) and mount the HDD, then copy the files over to a flash drive or burn them to CD.
> 
> But why not just buy the USB converter? It's cheap and this way you'll have a new external HDD to save stuff on..?



the hard drive is really small. but ill think about it.


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