"hook the drive to another system and get your data off" how do i do this on armada compaq 1700?

you can get a little device for about 10-15 dollars at a local computer store. its pluges the drive in and you can hook it up to a pc using usb, thus expossing the drive as a secondary drive. you can get info off but note not programs. IE picts, music and test files. sorry its not ez but it can be done.