My computer has crashed and is now stuck in a continual loop trying to resart and fix problem, Question is it posible to take the hard dive out and plug it into another laptop or PC to retrieve the data on it??

Notherdiver,
The answer is yes and no.

Yes:
First determine what type of hard drive is currently in the system.. a) Sata or b) IDE.
If it is the latter then there are 'gender' converters available. e.g. Plug the IDE device into the converter thereby making it USB compatible. After doing that plug the device into another system and you should be able to run diagnostics on the drive. PROVANTAGE: Addonics ADIDEU2 IDE to USB 2.0 Converter (http://www.provantage.com/addonics-adideu2~7ADDO17U.htm) That is the simplest solution. If you try to plug it into another system more than likely it will cause a blue screen.

2)
1.Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted.
2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
3. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you must access from the Recovery Console.
4. When you are prompted, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
5. At the command prompt, type the appropriate commands to diagnose and repair your Windows XP installation. e.g Chkdsk /r or chkdsk /f



No:
If you hear any ticking noise please kindly lay your hard drive to rest.

Regards,
Jay