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Data Extraction

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
Okay heres the deal, the hard drive on my laptop i need to the data off it, but i cant get past the windows loading screen, due to some big error on the hard drive im told it is possible to get the data off but i dont know how, ive been quoted by PC world 30 pound and my local show max 65.

any help?

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    It seems to be quite an easy/standard procedure, my mate did it for me a couple of months ago when I had to get a new hard drive and retrieved all the data - which I didn't actually think was possible..

    I'm sure someone here will know how to do it, but it's probably advisable to either take it in and have it done/call someone out.. or if you know anyone who's good with IT stuff then maybe ask them to have a crack at it.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    the thing is need it done by tuesday and i need it to be done asap and im trying not to spend money or get someone in to do it.

    Any other help people?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you have access to a desktop computer, buy a 2.5" laptop drive converter (let's you connect a laptop drive to a normal IDE channel) and copy the files off.

    Or you could try a live disc, such a knoppix, It should let you mount the NTFS drive and send the files off over the network...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Have you tried putting the windows cd in the drive and then boot, making sure it is booting from cd and not HD in the BIOS. Then you should be able to repair any errors using the windows recovery console.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nash wrote:
    Have you tried putting the windows cd in the drive and then boot, making sure it is booting from cd and not HD in the BIOS. Then you should be able to repair any errors using the windows recovery console.
    And even if you can't repair errors this way, you can use the windows boot from CD to copy the files using DOS commands...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nash wrote:
    Have you tried putting the windows cd in the drive and then boot, making sure it is booting from cd and not HD in the BIOS. Then you should be able to repair any errors using the windows recovery console.

    With the window CD you can just do a repair without using the recovery consol, just when ask if you want to use the recovery consol say no and say you want a fresh install. The CD will the detect any existing OS, if it detects the one you have it will ask you if you want to repair it, say yes and it will re-install all windows files without formatting the all thing.

    An other way to do it is to install the OS again but in a different window installation folder (e.g. c:/WINDOWS2) and you will have the choice between the two at start up whe install is finish.

    Log into the new installation and access your files. Also this second opition if your documents have been setup as private you won't be able to access them, so the first solution is the best im
    o.
    But if it the the HD that is fucked up and it is fucked where your files are store is more than likely that you ont be abe t access them even within DOS.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    nihilisticmadman wrote:
    Also this second opition if your documents have been setup as private you won't be able to access them, so the first solution is the best imo.
    You can still 'take ownership' of private files and folders on windows XP provided you use an administer's account...? I've done that before with old hard disks...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    A other way to do it is to use a Linux OS that run from a CD...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    wooooooooah wrote:
    You can still 'take ownership' of private files and folders on windows XP provided you use an administer's account...? I've done that before with old hard disks...

    Not too sure , can't remeber tbh, I had the trouble a long time ago...

    Now I don't keep anything in My Docs or on the OS HD anyway, that way if the OS crashed big time I just format the fucker and re-install...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yeah that's a good idea.

    Here is the info on taking ownership of private files and folders in case it's needed.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    wooooooooah wrote:
    Yeah that's a good idea.

    Here is the info on taking ownership of private files and folders in case it's needed.

    Cheers, could be helpful on day.

    Hum.. Microsoft helping you take over their own protection stuff....
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    nihilisticmadman wrote:
    Cheers, could be helpful on day.
    Yeah it's always easier to know the stuff in advance, in case you can't access the net on a different PC if yours dies... :yes:
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    nihilisticmadman wrote:
    With the window CD you can just do a repair without using the recovery consol, just when ask if you want to use the recovery consol say no and say you want a fresh install. The CD will the detect any existing OS, if it detects the one you have it will ask you if you want to repair it, say yes and it will re-install all windows files without formatting the all thing.

    An other way to do it is to install the OS again but in a different window installation folder (e.g. c:/WINDOWS2) and you will have the choice between the two at start up whe install is finish.

    Log into the new installation and access your files. Also this second opition if your documents have been setup as private you won't be able to access them, so the first solution is the best im
    o.
    But if it the the HD that is fucked up and it is fucked where your files are store is more than likely that you ont be abe t access them even within DOS.

    So if i put a windows os cd in and install windows on the SAME partiton but name it C:/WINDOWS2 i Could access my files?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    CoolMe wrote:
    So if i put a windows os cd in and install windows on the SAME partiton but name it C:/WINDOWS2 i Could access my files?
    It shouldn't matter which partition you install it on AFAIK, as you'll have a (hopefully) bootable OS and the files will still be accessible either way won't they?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    CoolMe wrote:
    So if i put a windows os cd in and install windows on the SAME partiton but name it C:/WINDOWS2 i Could access my files?

    Hmm, Woulden't that overwrite your previous C:/Documents and Settings/ ?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    dont have a clue what im doing at the moment is this,

    To complete part one, follow these steps: 1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or 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 to do so.
    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 want to access from the Recovery Console.
    4. When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
    5. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
    md tmp
    copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
    copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
    copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
    copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
    copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak

    delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
    delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
    delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
    delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
    delete c:\windows\system32\config\default

    copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
    copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
    copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
    copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
    copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

    6. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart.
    Note This procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the appropriate windows_folder if it is a different location.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    OH MY GOD! it all worked EXCEPT!

    copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system

    I dont know why, i typed exit like it said and now it says windows could not start becuase the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

    You can attempt to repair this file by starting the windows setup using the original setup CD-ROM.
    Select "r" at the first screen to start repair
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