>>>My daughter's laptop seems to have breathed its last. It had been shutting itself down with messages warning that it was overheating, and now this morning it won't start at all. Even connected to a power outlet it won't boot and none of the indicator lights come on. I guess its time has come. My question is how I might go about getting the data off the hard drive. The only backup I have is a Ghost image, which I now realize is useless for restoring to a different machine. (Right?) Is there a way to get the data without going to a lot of trouble and expense?
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>>>Thanks in advance for any advice.
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>>How long ago did you create the Ghost Image? You should be able to use Ghost Explorer to view file contents of your image and extract the files you want.
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>>There are also converters for laptop hard drives that convert them to standard IDE drives, and you can slave it into a PC. I have one and it works well. Here is the link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812203012
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>I will try Ghost Explorer. Thanks!
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>UPDATE: I am recovering files using Ghost even as we speak. The last time I ghosted it was 2/26, not too bad. Not the 4 page essay she did a draft of on Monday and is due on Friday, oh well. She says it's pretty fresh in her mind and is glad her pictures and downloaded songs can be recovered.

Are you going to try the converter? I have one, and I would mail it to you to borrow, but I'm not so sure we would gain much after postage costs.