disk boot failure and windows recovery

[Guest]

My power supply failed last week. i got a new power supply (slightly more
powerful). Once that was installed it powered up fine but now I received a
disk boot failure and it asked for the recovery disk. I inserted my recovery
cd and it took me to windows setup where it loaded a bunch of drivers and
files and such. Then it went to another screen where I have the option of
windows installation/setup or recovery console, or quitting and restarting
the machine.

I have gone through the help and support stuff on Microsofts website so this
is my last resport. I don't know what to do to get my machine back up and
running. My computer is 3 years old so I am not heart broken if it dies
completely and I might be open to a new machine but I want try recovering my
machine and ultimately recovering digital photos of the first two years of my
twins life that I stupidly don't have backed up on CD.

If anyone has been in a similar situation before or know what to do I would
appreciate some help.

Thanks.

 

[Jose Gallardo]

It seems that your operating systems came installed from the manufacturer, doesn't it? If so you have to request further support to that manufacturer.

 

[John John]

It sounds like you have one of these factory restore disks. DON'T tell
it to reinstall Windows!!! If you do it will most likely erase
EVERYTHING on the hard disk! Ask a friend or colleague who is a bit
knowledgeable with computers if they can help you. Ask them if they
have an Windows 2000 or Windows XP computer and if they could help you
by mounting your disk in their computer to see if they can retrieve and
save your files. If they are somewhat knowledgeable they should know
how to do this and they should know about file ownership and NTFS
permissions needed to access and save the files.

If you can't find anyone to help you another thing you could do is
remove the disk from the computer, get yourself a second hard disk and
install Windows on it then mount the disk containing your files and try
to retrieve them. If you go that route MAKE SURE that you remove the
old disk before you install Windows, that will avoid mistakes that might
lead to the loss of all the files on the disk. If that is not possible
get help from a competent computer repair shop.

John

 

[Bob Harris]

There are ways to recover your files, first, before attEMpting to fix XP.
After that, use the restoration CD and to attempt to fix XP. But, be
warned, the restoration CD will likely erase the hard drive first. The
"recovery console" OPTION will not erase the hard drive, but can only fix a
few things. It can be used to check the file system, and that would be a
good thing to try before erasing everything and starting over: CHKDSK C:
/R

To get fileS from a crashed XP installation, boot the PC from a CD
containing a self-contained operating system. There are many such CD images
available for download, and nearly all are free. See links further down.

My favorite is KNOPPIX, which is a variation of the LINUX operating system.
The nice things about KNOPPIX are (1) free, (2) easy to use,
self-configures, (3) feel a lot like XP or 98, (4) reads NTFS formnatted
partitions, which is what XP normally uses, (5) supports USB 2.0 and
firewire, so you can copy to external disk, (6) by default does not write to
the hardrive, so it is "safe"; you can change that if you wish, (6) includes
a bunch of applications programs, whiCH can be useful, (7) includeS a
CD-writer.

The main down-side of KOPPIX is that it is a large download, about 700 Meg
for the CD image and over 2 Gig for the DVD image. But, with a high-speed
connection, both are possible. TheSE images are in "ISO" format, so you
need software like Nero or Easy CD Creator to "burn form image". Do not
simple copy&paste to a CD/DVD.

http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php list of rescue CD images
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html main KNOPPIX link
http://www.shockfamily.net/cedric/knoppix/ using KNOPPIX to
fix/rescue (slightly out of date)
http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Main_Page main KNOPPIX on-line
help page

 

[Guest]

Yes the operating system did come pre-installed from the manufacturer.

If I use a self contained operating system like you suggest will that then
enable me to get to my files, and be able to burn the files off onto a CD?