Recovering OpenOffice files after laptop crashes

[Oneita]

My 4 yr. old Acer Espire laptop crahed taking all my documents stored in OpenOffice.org3.1. I have tried to re-install Open Office on my new Laptop (Lenovo Yoga 910)to see if I can recover my files. But it takes me to a newer version Of OO --4.1 & I can not find my acct. Every file with Open Office was saved. Can anyone help??

[Bill]

Document files and program files are stored separately. The version of OpenOffice doesn't matter. If you don't have an external backup for the document files, then you have to copy the document files from the hard drive of the old computer to the hard drive of the new computer. If the old computer is dead, you could try removing its hard drive and putting it in an external enclosure so it could be connected to the new computer, but there is no guarantee that the files could actually be recovered. A Google search for "how to recover files from a dead computer" will find more details and other options.

[John_Ha]

The old PC may not work for many reasons including a hardware fault (eg the motherboard is broken), a software fault (Windows has become corrupt) or the disk has broken. If the disk is completely broken there is little hope other than a professional recovery company and even that is likely to fail (and be really expensive).

The first thing to do is to restore the files from your backup - that is what it is for!

You have not been backing up? In that case, do as Bill suggests ...

1. Remove the disk from the old laptop - handle it with great care and don't touch any pins or circuitry.

2. Assuming it is a SATA disk, buy a USB to SATA Adapter.

3. Connect the old disk to the new PC using the adapter. This is just a temporary set up.

4. If you can see your files then copy them from the old disk. Disconnect the disk.

5. Buy an external disk and set up a daily backup, or backup to the cloud. You can use Google Drive for 15 GB of free backup.