OLD HARD DRIVE TO NEW ONE??

Assuming the system still recognizes the old drive (i.e., it's present in BIOS setup, F2 at powerup), mount the drive in a 2.5" USB case, attach it to the system after it's up and running with the new drive, and see what you can still read.

If the BIOS doesn't see the drive - it's beyond home recovery.  You'll need to consider whether data recovery at a professional level is worth the cost (think $1,000-1,500 for a basic recovery attempt - possibly much more depending on the scope of the work involved).

wHAT DOES THIS MEAN?? WHAT YOU WROTE. START SIMPLE. HOW DO I GET INFO FROM THE OLD DRIVE TO THE NEW DRIVE

Hello Mary Lynn,

Sorry about that. Most of us here want to help. If you need more information please don't hesitate to ask.

What enj63 was saying is that you should obtain a usb hard drive enclosure that is sized for a 2.5 inch hard drive. Click on the link for some examples:

www.newegg.com/.../ProductList.aspx

You would mount the old hard drive into the enclosure and then connect the enclosure to the computer's usb port. If the old hard drive is not too damaged then the computer should recognize it (a new drive letter will appear in Windows Explorer). If that happens, you can drag your data from the old hard drive to the computer.

If you don't understand what ejn63 just wrote, you have no choice but go spend $$ with Best Buy's Geek Squad.

Before buying anything, install the faulty drive in the notebook, press F2 at powerup , and verify that the drive shows up in setup.  if it does not - or if it's listed as "not installed", or "unknown", the drive is beyond home recovery.  Plan on needing a data recovery service (DriveSavers is excellent) to recover the data - and plan on spending $1,500+ for that job.