1. Go to a Best Buy or any other store that carries a wide variety of computer parts and accessories. Ask the salesperson for a USB Hard Drive Enclosure. They come in a 2 1/2 inch size for laptop hard drives and a 3 1/2 inch size for the larger desktop hard drives.

2. Open the computer chassis to get the hard drive out of the broken computer.

3. Disconnect both cables that are attached to the back of the hard drive. Check for any screws which may still be attached to the hard drive.

4. Now it is time to open up the USB Hard Drive Enclosure box that you bought. There is no need to open the chassis of the working computer. A USB wire should have been included with your kit. You need to attach this wire to the working computers USB port.

5. You should see a message on your screen which reads New Hardware Found. Go to Windows Explorer or My Computer and find the hard drive from the broken computer. Depending on the number of hard drives or CD/DVD drives you already have on the working computer the letter of the newly attached hard drive most likely will be F, G, or H.

6. If the broken computer was truly broken and the hard drive survived you will now be able to move your data over to the working computer. If you receive an error message when trying to access the newly attached drive then the damage to the broken computer may be the drive itself and not a corrupt Operating System.

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