PSA: booting a dead Dell from a Linux USB and copying the client's files off first beats imaging the drive every time | Computer Technicians - HW Forums
PSA: booting a dead Dell from a Linux USB and copying the client's files off first beats imaging the drive every time
Did this on a Latitude last Tuesday after two failed clone attempts, and pulling the documents and photos off before touching the disk saved me from having to explain a wiped family album to the guy at the counter.
Copying the files off first is just common sense at this point. Half the people who bring in a dead laptop care way more about the photos than the machine itself. Clone the drive and you risk dragging the same problems onto a new disk anyway. Pull the data, hand it back on a stick, then do whatever you want with the hardware.