Getting files from the hard drive without windows being engaged

[Guest]

for some reason xp will not load on start up. I'm planning on reformatting
the hard drive but i would like to get the files that i need out of there
before reformating. How do you get files from a hard drive without windows
being activated?

 

[Doug Kanter]

for some reason xp will not load on start up. I'm planning on reformatting
the hard drive but i would like to get the files that i need out of there
before reformating. How do you get files from a hard drive without windows
being activated?

Does the machine get at least as far as a C: prompt, awaiting DOS commands?

 

[Yves Leclerc]

A few ways:

1) Try with the Recovery Console (???)

2) Physically remove the hard drive and set it up as a "slave drive" in
another PC, which already has an XP "master drive"

Also, your could do a "repair" re-install on top of your installed version.
This should replace any missing files which XP requires to boot. (Note: You
must have an original XP install CD that also has the last Service Pack
"slipstreamed" into it.)

 

[Yves Leclerc]

XP does not use DOS therefore there will not be a C: prompt.

 

[Doug Kanter]

Oops - right - I missed that. What's it doing when you start a DOS box?
Imitating?

 

[Plato]

for some reason xp will not load on start up. I'm planning on reformatting
the hard drive but i would like to get the files that i need out of there
before reformating. How do you get files from a hard drive without windows
being activated?

Many ways. Here's one if your drive is in NTFS:
http://www.bootdisk.com/ntfs.htm

 

[Guest]

how would i get the files out of the hard drive usings ntfs4dos and put them

 

[Malke]

how would i get the files out of the hard drive usings ntfs4dos and
put them on a usb key?

I'm not sure if ntsfs4dos will see a usb thumbdrive since I've never
used it. To retrieve data off a non-booting Windows hard drive (where
the hard drive itself is still viable and this isn't a hardware
problem) I find the easiest thing to do is to use Knoppix, which will
give you an easy graphical user interface. Here is information about
that:

Knoppix is 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.

Other ways of getting the data off:

1. Slave the drive in a working XP machine. If your working XP will boot
(and sometimes it won't with a damaged slave), then just copy over the
data using Windows Explorer. Scan it with your av first of course.

2. You can also create a Bart's PE, but I think Knoppix is easier.
Here's a link to Bart's: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Malke