hooking up hard drive from old laptop to new notebook laptop

[Rick Politte]

I need to know if there's a way to hook up my old hard drive which is a Toshiba with windows 7 to a HP laptop notebook with widows 8. will it damage my notebook? And how do I do it if it will work?

 

[USAFRet]

Is it a SATA drive?

If so, an external USB enclosure will work.
If not, a USB SATA/IDE cable or dock will work.

 

[Prostar Computer]

It will not "damage" it if it is a compatible connection (SATA -> SATA and PATA/IDE -> PATA/IDE). It won't physically interface with the computer if it's an opposing connection type.

Another thing to note is that if it is the correct connection, you may not be able to boot into Windows (even with the necessary BIOS adjustments). The Windows installation from the Toshiba drive will have different drivers than the HP laptop, and so you may be presented with blue screens.