how to copy documents if windows xp wont boot

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G

Guest

Hi
I have the <windows root>\system32\hal.dll missing error message.

I have tried using the repair console on the OS disk but no joy.

Is there any way to recover my documents from the pc, I have loads of photos
and my wife will kill me as I have not backed them up.

Thanks
Rob
 
First, you need to figure out if the drive is dead or not. One way would be
to attach it to a working system as a second hard drive, and see if you can
access it. If you only have the one system, you could buy a new drive,
remove the old one, install Windows on the new drive, then add the old one
as a second hard drive.

An easy way to add the old hard drive as a second drive would be to purchase
a USB hard drive enclosure (usually around $50 or so).

If you've tried variations on the above and can't access the drive, there
are companies that will recover data from dead hard drive -- for a *lot* of
money (at least several hundred dollars). You have to decide if the photos
are worth the price.

Good luck!
 
There is a free program that will do what you want called NTFSDOS that you
can download from company called Sysinternals at
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/NtfsDos.html. The program does not
actually copy files but does give you access to NTFS formatted drive from
DOS. You will have to know some basic DOS commands such as COPY and CD.

Pavel
 
Hi Michael.

I have another laptop here that is running windows xp home, can I use this
to see if the drive is dead, if so how do I do this.

Thks
Rob
 
rob said:
Hi Michael.

I have another laptop here that is running windows xp home, can I use
this to see if the drive is dead, if so how do I do this.

Thks
Rob
Click to expand...

You've gotten lots of good advice. Here's another way to get files off a
hard drive that won't boot into Windows - use Knoppix, a Linux distro
on a live cd. 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. To get Knoppix, you need a computer with a fast Internet
connection and third-party burning software. Download the Knoppix .iso
from www.knoppix.net 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, 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.

Of course, the hard drive must be viable and not physically damaged. If
the drive is damaged, then you will need to contact a professional data
recovery company. I like DriveSavers (www.drivesavers.com) but there
are others. These companies' services are not inexpensive, but only you
can determine the worth of your data.

Malke
 
rob said:
Hi Michael.

I have another laptop here that is running windows xp home, can I use this
to see if the drive is dead, if so how do I do this.
Click to expand...

The easiest way would be to buy an external USB hard drive enclosure. They
became popular enough last year that you shouldn't have any trouble finding
one (I suppose it may depend on where you live).

I found several on amazon.com by searching for "usb drive enclosure".

Make SURE it's for a 3.5" disk (which is what you have in your desktop), not
the smaller 2.5" disks that are in laptops.

Good luck!
 
Hi,

I really prefer using NTFS Reader utility to access NTFS in DOS. This
is a really useful tool, moreover, it never failed me, it is really
reliable. the tool can be found among other great data utils at Active@
Boot Disk CD set. Others are also really powerful and allows you to
restore, erase or backup data. Give it a try.

http://www.ntfs.com/boot-disk.htm
 
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