JG-3219-33 2.5-Inch SATA HDD/SSD to USB External Enclosure

Every old laptop has a drive in it that still works, and this is five dollars to get the files off it — or to keep using it. Slide a 2.5-inch SATA disk or SSD in, plug the enclosure into USB, and the machine sees an external drive.

It is the cheapest data-recovery tool there is for a laptop that will not boot: the disk is almost always fine and only the machine around it has failed. Afterwards the same enclosure becomes a backup drive rather than going in a drawer.