MISSIE said:
Hi there, i also have this problem, i see you advise to backup. what can
i do if i cant even get my computer to start up, is there any way i can
backup or have i lost everything.
From a worried user!?
A reply would be appreciated:biggrin:
Since you didn't quote any of the previous post, I don't know what "this
problem" means. However, I'm going to guess that your hard drive has
failed. If the computer will not boot, there are a few things you can do
to try and get data off the drive. Success depends on how badly the
drive is damaged. When this is all over, create and implement a backup
strategy so you don't lose data again.
General data recovery methods:
*IMPORTANT* - If there is any question that the drive is at fault - it's
making noises for instance - and the data is crucial DO NOTHING FURTHER
ON THE DRIVE. Every time you spin that drive up you may be destroying
data. If this is the case, send the drive to a professional data
recovery company like Drive Savers (my preference) or Seagate Data
Recovery. General prices run from $500USD on up. Drive Savers recovered
all the data on a failed laptop drive for one of my clients and it cost
$2,700. He thought it was worth the money; only you know what your data
is worth. I understand that some insurance companies are now covering
data recovery charges so check with yours.
Drive Savers -
http://www.drivesavers.com
Seagate Data Recovery Services -
https://www.seagatedatarecovery.com/
If you don't want to send the drive to a professional data recovery
company, you can try:
1. Pull the drive and slave it in a computer running a working install
of XP. Depending on the target drive's characteristics, you may need a
drive adapter; i.e., laptop-to-IDE or a SATA controller card, etc. A
usb/firewire external drive enclosure works very well, too. Use the
working Windows Explorer to copy the data to the rescue system's hard
drive and then burn the data to cd or dvd.
2. Often XP will not boot with a slaved drive that has a damaged file
system. In that case, boot the target computer with either a Bart's PE
or a Linux live cd such as Knoppix and retrieve the data that way. Here
is general information on using Knoppix for this:
You will need a computer with two cd drives, one of which is a cd/dvd-rw
OR a usb thumb drive with enough capacity to hold your data OR an
external usb/firewire hard drive formatted FAT32 (not NTFS). To get
Knoppix, you need a computer with a fast Internet connection and
third-party burning software. Download the Knoppix .iso and create your
bootable cd. Then boot with it and it will be able to see the Windows
files. If you are using the usb thumb drive or the external hard drive,
right-click on its icon (on the Desktop) to get its properties and
uncheck the box that says "Read Only". Then click on it to open it. Note
that the default mouse action in the window manager used by Knoppix
(KDE) is a single click to open instead of the traditional MS Windows'
double-click. Otherwise, use the K3b burning program to burn the files
to cd/dvd-r's.
http://www.knoppix.net
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ - Bart's PE Builder
If you can't get data off by attaching the drive to a working XP system
or by booting with Knoppix, then data recovery software will in all
probability not work because the hard drive is too physically damaged.
Malke
