I don’t think I can do it well enough. My best photos are stuck on a broken computer (won’t let me log in) and I can’t access them.
If I can take it to the shop and if they can get them off I may continue photography.
I’m just nervous I can’t get my best work back.
Has technology advanced to the point I can’t retrieve information from my old five year old laptop?
So sorry 
the latest technology frustrates me too
Do you think I can still retrieve it?
If you can take it to a shop, I imagine they can retrieve your data. Don’t get down until you ask; have hope!
That’s a relief! I’m just worried that the drive or whatever it’s called is too old
Nah, I doubt it. I think even Best Buy (if you’re in the states) can do an info pull off a hard drive.
My photography may continue then!
Only problem is the place I live in is unphotogenic. I need to drive to Saint Louis city because I focus on street photography
Any computer scientists have an opinion on this? I know nothing about computers.
Other opinions are valuable, too.
I will ask my husband in the morning for you
Thank you! That would mean a lot
The files on either a SSD (Solid State Drive) or traditional spindle HDD (hard disk drive) can be retrievable if BitLocker encryption is disabled. I assume that your 5-year laptop is using Microsoft Windows 10 and therefore you would have a Microsoft account with a @hotmail or @outlook.com domain name. You will have to access the keys to the “computer name” of your laptop to retrieve the files.
There are multiple scenarios in how a computer technician could retrieve your files depending on what the laptop operating system is and if the technician has the equipment to connect to a SSD drive or traditional HDD. @PhotoGuy you will have to provide your Microsoft account credentials and access the 25-digit key to the “computer name” of the laptop assuming your laptop is running Windows 10.
I wanted to do BMX or Motocross racing professionally. I sucked but it is something I love to do. They are now my hobbies for life.
Can the technician retrieve the information himself? Last time I retrieved info a few years ago I didn’t need it.
What information are you specifying the technician could retrieve?
In the Windows XP era, copying files from HDDs was easy. After the introduction of BitLocker in Windows Vista & beyond, encryption of hard drives have made the task of copying drives a lot more difficult.
My Microsoft 10 info and domain name. I may have misunderstood your post.
Do I need to supply any info in general or do I need to just supply the computer and a thumb drive I guess is the best question.
I retrieved info from it before and didn’t need any of that
Well, SSDs & HDDs are secured now so retreiving files has become more difficult for nefarious people to access.
You will need to access your Microsoft account on a web browser on another computer and see if you can get the 25-digit key to the “computer name” of your Windows 10 laptop. I had to supply this 25-digit key every time I swapped my 256GB SSD drive with my 512GB SSD drive.
For Windows 10? Are you sure?