Recover data from a laptop hdd

[cj2k82193]

My alienware m17x r3's motherboard went today two days before I head off to college and I am trying to recover documents and other files from the Hard Drive. What is the best way to go about this and should I get someone that is a professional to do it. I am not a great hardware person but I have taken my computer apart before and installed ram. What i have been able to look up suggests that buying an enclosure with usb is the best route and if so is that simple enough for me to do myself?

 

[Alabalcho]

If you're sure the motherboard is faulty, and your HDD is OK, you can go to nearest BestBuy / Fry's / etc, and get an external 2.5" HDD case (empty), it should not cost more that $20. Put your hard drive inside, now you have an external HDD you can plug into (almost) any computer and read off the data.

 

[cmichael138]

What about one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002

You would pull your HD and connect it to the USB port of another computer to copy whatever files you want off of your HD.

 

[cj2k82193]

Best answer selected by cj2k82193.