WINDOWS XP CRASHED. NO DISKS

[spydersweb34]

I went to africa with my HP laptop plus every CD I own EXCEPT I FORGOT
THE WINDOWS XP HOME INSTALL DISKS... now windows has crashed and needs
reinstallation. i bought a new copy but then to my horror found out
that all my personal files in MY DOCUMENTS will not be accessible. is
there a fix for this or perhaps a way to recover my peronal files
without the original windows install CDs?

 

[Malke]

I went to africa with my HP laptop plus every CD I own EXCEPT I FORGOT
THE WINDOWS XP HOME INSTALL DISKS... now windows has crashed and needs
reinstallation. i bought a new copy but then to my horror found out
that all my personal files in MY DOCUMENTS will not be accessible. is
there a fix for this or perhaps a way to recover my peronal files
without the original windows install CDs?

Your post is unclear as to what you wish to do - completely reinstall
Windows or do a repair install? Did the hard drive physically fail?
Without more details from you as to what actually happened and what you
are trying to do, I can only give you general advice.

In any case, you do not need the original Windows install CD to retrieve
data. Here are methods of retrieving your data before doing anything
further on your machine. Not everything may be applicable to your
situation but since you didn't tell us what your situation is, take the
bits that you need.

Data Recovery:

*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/

Note: These companies work internationally.

*IMPORTANT* - If you think the drive is physically healthy, it may be
possible to retrieve the data by software methods. DO NOTHING FURTHER ON
THE DRIVE. The data is still on the hard drive but if you overwrite it,
it will be extremely difficult or impossible to recover it. If you use
data recovery software, install it on another machine and either use it
from that operating system or create a bootable cd/floppy and work with
that. If you don't have the skill and/or equipment to do these
procedures and the data is crucial, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop that has experience in doing data recovery. This
will not be your local version of BigStoreUSA. In-shop data recovery is
usually not exactly cheap (for ex., my charges are generally
$150-350USD), but it normally costs less than sending the drive to a
company like Drive Savers. You need to make the determination of the
value of your data and decide what to do.

So, here are some things to try to recover your data:

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

3. If a Bart's PE or Knoppix won't work, you can try using data recovery
software. Here are some links to various programs. I use Easy Recovery
Pro, but it is expensive. People whom I respect have recommended
R-Studio and Restoration. YMMV.

http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html
PCInspector File Recovery -
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm
Executive Software “Undelete” -
http://www.execsoft.com/undelete/undelete.asp
R-Studio - http://www.r-tt.com/
File Scavenger - http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm
Ontrack's EasyRecovery - http://www.ontrack.com/software/


Malke

 

[Neil]

If you are trying to restore your data using windows XP Cd then there
is no chance. Windows XP Cd is going to restore your operating system
to the factory setting leaving you with no data.
To recover your inaccessible data from my document folder you can take
the help of data recovery software. Some which are discuss above will
help or you can even try this one Stellar Phoenix Windows Data
Recovery Software a file and partition recovery utility.
You can download the software from: http://www.stellarinfo.com/partition-recovery.htm

 

[spydersweb34]

Malke thanks for the wealth of info. You asked some specific
questions so here's more info.

The file that was corrupt was a system file D347BUS.SYS and the techs
told me that there was no way to repair this andthat if I didn't have
the original XP Home install disks then we would have to recover the
data another way and start over.

There was nothing physically wrong with the hard drive. But I thought
it a good idea to buy a new hard drive and of course they sold to me
and intalled FRENCH Windows XP Home (that's another story as I am
hoping to be able to switch it to English). Most of my files were in
My Documents and therefore not viewable from the new windows. They
used some sort of secret tools (look I wasn't born yesterday but I am
in Africa and at their mercy) to get the My Documents files. Recovery
worked well.

But if I understand what you are telling me, there was a way to
recover the corrupted system file? and this was all I needed to fix
the original problem? I guess at this pt, I it's the barge that's
gone down the river and there's no stopping it. I just need to know
how to switch the native language on XP Home to Engleesh.

many thanks

 

[Malke]

Malke thanks for the wealth of info. You asked some specific
questions so here's more info.

The file that was corrupt was a system file D347BUS.SYS and the techs
told me that there was no way to repair this andthat if I didn't have
the original XP Home install disks then we would have to recover the
data another way and start over.

There was nothing physically wrong with the hard drive. But I thought
it a good idea to buy a new hard drive and of course they sold to me
and intalled FRENCH Windows XP Home (that's another story as I am
hoping to be able to switch it to English). Most of my files were in
My Documents and therefore not viewable from the new windows. They
used some sort of secret tools (look I wasn't born yesterday but I am
in Africa and at their mercy) to get the My Documents files. Recovery
worked well.

But if I understand what you are telling me, there was a way to
recover the corrupted system file? and this was all I needed to fix
the original problem? I guess at this pt, I it's the barge that's
gone down the river and there's no stopping it. I just need to know
how to switch the native language on XP Home to Engleesh.

many thanks

There is no way for me to accurately assess what was wrong with your
computer without having seen it.

The only way to get English XP on your machine is to buy and install an
English version. You can't switch it. Sorry.


Malke

 

[spydersweb34]

Malke thanks once more. I have also searched a bit on this topic and
I find this tantalizing piece of info. http://blogs.msdn.com/michkap/articles/279998.aspx

Indeed there is a control panel in my Windows Francais called Regional
Settings that looks just like this. It has a bunch of language
options. So with this is it possible to change languages or not? And
if not, what is the purpose of this regional control panel? I would
like your expert opinion before proceeding as I could not take it if
Windows nukes out on me twice in the same week.

 

[Malke]

Malke thanks once more. I have also searched a bit on this topic and
I find this tantalizing piece of info. http://blogs.msdn.com/michkap/articles/279998.aspx

Indeed there is a control panel in my Windows Francais called Regional
Settings that looks just like this. It has a bunch of language
options. So with this is it possible to change languages or not? And
if not, what is the purpose of this regional control panel? I would
like your expert opinion before proceeding as I could not take it if
Windows nukes out on me twice in the same week.

It is possible to use a different keyboard layout and the format used to
display dates, money, etc. It is not possible to change the operating
system language without purchasing a new version in the desired language
and doing a clean install.

This link to a Microsoft article explains the Regional and Language
Options Overview (TinyURL'd):
http://tinyurl.com/ms9wq


Malke

 

[spydersweb34]

Malke thanks for the info. I guess I can always upgrade to XP Pro and
get back the English?

 

[Malke]

Malke thanks for the info. I guess I can always upgrade to XP Pro and
get back the English?

I don't believe anything but a clean install will work. I understand
that this is not what you wanted to hear, but asking three times isn't
going to get you a different answer. I'm very sorry for your troubles,
but I don't have anything else to add to this thread.

Best of luck to you (EOT for me),


Malke

 

[spydersweb34]

Malke you are a very straight shooter. And being in a foreign land it
is at least good to have it straight from the horse's microphone. My
thanks for your well considered responses and your attention to
detail. I am sure that your customers benefit greatly from having you
around.

I will say this. Boo on Microsoft for this regressive language
policy. With all the other Windows hurdles I've jumpd this week, this
really takes the cake, and especially so considering that technically
the solution is viable. As a customer I feel that if I pay for a copy
of Windows, I should be able to get it in the language of my choice,
period. You can do this with Mac OS, no problemo. Double Boo on MS.

 

[Alias]

Malke you are a very straight shooter. And being in a foreign land it
is at least good to have it straight from the horse's microphone. My
thanks for your well considered responses and your attention to
detail. I am sure that your customers benefit greatly from having you
around.

I will say this. Boo on Microsoft for this regressive language
policy. With all the other Windows hurdles I've jumpd this week, this
really takes the cake, and especially so considering that technically
the solution is viable. As a customer I feel that if I pay for a copy
of Windows, I should be able to get it in the language of my choice,
period. You can do this with Mac OS, no problemo. Double Boo on MS.

Ubuntu can be installed in any language and it's free. Windows Vista
Ultimate can be installed in any language but it's expensive. Check out
Ubuntu at www.ubuntu.com

Alias

 

[spydersweb34]

Thanks and nice to know abt the free OS Ubuntu, but this doesn't help
me get my Windows back

 

[Alias]

Thanks and nice to know abt the free OS Ubuntu, but this doesn't help
me get my Windows back

Ubuntu is easier to install than XP will ever be. So, if you want your
Windows XP back, you'll have to reformat your hard disk and clean
install. Your choice.

Alias

 

[gomer pyle]

Ubuntu is easier to install than XP will ever be. So, if you want your
Windows XP back, you'll have to reformat your hard disk and clean install.
Your choice.

Alias

Ubuntu is still a piece of undeveloped crap; it has always been. Now why
would you suggest this piece of crap in this group? Ignorance perhaps?

 

[Alias]

Ubuntu is still a piece of undeveloped crap; it has always been.

Your opinion. Care to back it up (as if)?

Now why
would you suggest this piece of crap in this group? Ignorance perhaps?

I don't think it's a "piece of crap" obviously.

Alias

 

[gomer pyle]

I don't think it's a "piece of crap" obviously.

Alias

Ignorance is assumed, therefore.

 

[Alias]

Ignorance is assumed, therefore.

Your opinion. Again, care to back it up (as if)?

Alias

 

[gomer pyle]

Your opinion. Again, care to back it up (as if)?

Alias

Sure, I'll back this up. I no longer use this piece of shit after trying to
get it to work for months without any succes. I lost a lot of time searching
in this garbage bin. The newsgroup for this piece of malware is full of kids
who can't afford to pay money for an OS and the funny thing is, most of them
in that news group pretend as if they are software gurus, like you, for
instance.

 

[Alias]

Sure, I'll back this up. I no longer use this piece of shit after trying to
get it to work for months without any succes.

What was the problem? I would venture to say that the problem was you,
not Ubuntu.

I lost a lot of time searching
in this garbage bin. The newsgroup for this piece of malware is full of kids
who can't afford to pay money for an OS and the funny thing is, most of them
in that news group pretend as if they are software gurus, like you, for
instance.

We just did a poll of ages on alt.os.linux.ubuntu and most posters are
over 50 so you were saying?

I never claimed to be a guru but I obviously know more than you do
because I have never had a problem installing Ubuntu. Try the new
version that came out last month.

Alias

 

[Frank]

Ubuntu is still a piece of undeveloped crap; it has always been. Now why
would you suggest this piece of crap in this group? Ignorance perhaps?

Your name fits the statement.