Backing up files

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I have an OEM version of WinXP on my computer and I have to do a system
repair because the computer will not start. None of the options you get with
F8 will start the computer. It tries to start then I get a Fatal Error and
it shuts down. I want to backup some data files. How do I back them up? I
tried an MS Dos floppy but you can not see the hard drive. I want to move my
data from My Documents folder to another folder on drive C.
 
howhar said:
I have an OEM version of WinXP on my computer and I have to do a
system repair because the computer will not start. None of the
options you get with F8 will start the computer. It tries to start
then I get a Fatal Error and it shuts down. I want to backup some
data files. How do I back them up? I tried an MS Dos floppy but you
can not see the hard drive.
Click to expand...


If the drive hasn't crashed, the reason DOS can't see the drive is because
it's NTFS. DOS can't see NTFS drives (at least not without special
software).

I want to move my data from My Documents
folder to another folder on drive C.
Click to expand...


Several points:

1. You should want to move your data *off* the drive entirely, to another
medium (CD or another hard drive). Depending on how bad your problem is and
what you have to do to repair your XP installation, and what tools your OEM
has provided you, you may or may not lose the entire contents of the drive
when you try to repair it..

2. The time to think about backup is *before* you have the problem, not
after it. It may well be too late to back anything up. For example, it's
possible that the drive has crashed and everything on it has been lost, not
just Windows.

3. As I said, plain DOS can't see your NTFS drive. If the drive is still
readable, you may be able to access it with a DOS diskette onto which you've
loaded speacial software like NTFSDOS or NTFS4DOS.

If this fails, your only other recourse is to take the drive to a
professional file recovery company. This kind of service is very expensive
and may or may not work in your case.
 
howhar said:
I have an OEM version of WinXP on my computer and I have to do a system
repair because the computer will not start. None of the options you get with
F8 will start the computer. It tries to start then I get a Fatal Error and
it shuts down. I want to backup some data files. How do I back them up? I
tried an MS Dos floppy but you can not see the hard drive. I want to move my
data from My Documents folder to another folder on drive C.
Click to expand...

You have several options:
- Slave the disk to some other WinXP/2000 PC.
- Boot the machine with a Bart PE boot CD (www.bootdisk.com),
then copy the data to some other disk.
- Boot the machine with a Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com),
then run ntfsdos.exe (www.sysinternals.com), then copy your
files to some other medium. Note that you will see short file
names only.

After saving your files, consider if it is a good idea to defer
your regular backup until disaster stares you in the face.
Using a hard disk in an external USB enclosure makes it
extremely easy to back up your important files every week.
 
howhar said:
I have an OEM version of WinXP on my computer and I have to do a system
repair because the computer will not start. None of the options you get
with
F8 will start the computer. It tries to start then I get a Fatal Error
and
it shuts down. I want to backup some data files. How do I back them up?
I
tried an MS Dos floppy but you can not see the hard drive. I want to move
my
data from My Documents folder to another folder on drive C.
Click to expand...

You can boot to DOS. Does your BIOS show that you have a hard drive
installed? If so, you will likely be able to access it with the proper
software. If not, you likely will not be able to access the drive unless a
program like Spinrite can see the drive.

Since you plan to start backing up, you may want to consider Norton Ghost or
other image program that permits you to boot your computer to a DOS like
operating system and can access NTFS drives to do an image. If you choose
Norton Ghost, you can boot your computer with the installation CD and then
image the drive to DVDs, CDs, or a compatible external drive. You would not
want to restore the image in full, as that would just recreate the problem
you have now. However, programs like Norton Ghost allow you to restore
selected folders and files without restoring the full image. After, you fix
your computer, install the image program, restore selected folders and files
and then create a new image of your working system.

Don
 
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