Damaged HDD, can see files but can't copy/paste

Hi all. 
My daughter dropped a laptop and the only damage was the HDD.  It was no longer recognized as bootable.

I took it out and connected it to my desktop via internal/eternal adapter.

The drive will spin up about half the time, and it shows up in Windows explorer.

I can't explore very deeply before it disappears from the explorer window and has to be reconnected.

All I want from the drive is some of my daughter's files that she has never backed up.

Part of the problem is that she stored her files in the Windows user folders (My Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc.)

So the files a multiple layers down: C:\users\accountname\documents\, etc.

By the time I click that far down, the drive disconnects itself.

I was able to recover a few files that were sitting right on the C drive.

I'm just wondering, under these circumstances, what the best approach to get some files back would be.

I don't intend to send the drive to a recovery service because it isn't worth it.
I won't be able to use recovery software because the drive won't stay spun up long enough.

I just feel a bit of hope because I can actually get into the drive, and I'm hoping somebody here knows something.

If you have an extra minute, what do I do about Windows that came with the laptop and Office that I bought and installed via download?
I already bought a new SSD to replace the HDD, but can I get the Windows replaced, or do I need to buy it again?
Thanks.
 

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/bootable-windows-pe-based-recovery-discs/

Anything I could suggest for the damaged drive would depend on it staying powered up and connected, hopefully others have ideas there.

As far as the new drive goes just install Windows on it (10 or 11 whichever she was using before) and it will automatically pick up the existing licence.
Use the Media Creation Tool to make a bootable Windows installer USB, you'll have to create the USB on a different machine then put it in the one with the new drive and boot from the USB.:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows11
When the install asks for a licence key you just say 'I don't have one' and carry on, it will then pick up and use the existing key.

Similar with Office, reinstall it.
I'm not sure if it will pick up the key for Office automatically or if you will need to enter it manually.
I would expect that if you are logged into a Microsoft Account then Office 365 should do it automatically, but I'm not sure.

PS. Teach your daughter to make regular backups to an external drive - full disk images for preferrence, they make it much easier to get up and running again with everything as it was before.
 

Edited by Nukecad, 02 March 2024 - 05:44 AM.

If your daughter had a Microsoft Account (not a local one) on her laptop, and let OneDrive do its usual default thing, then the files in those folders may well be sitting in the cloud on OneDrive.

Try logging into her Microsoft Account at https://onedrive.live.com/login/ and seeing if they are there.