hardrive failure

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pat
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Pat

The hardrive on a computer has been damaged and I am unable to boot it up
(even in safemode) so I can retrieve important files. It gets as far a the
blue screen of death where it tells me that windows xp has halted the
operation and to reboot and start up in safemode. I have removed the
hardrive and installed it unto another computer to see if there was another
underlying problem, but it is indeed the hardrive that has become damaged.

Anyone know what else i can do to retrieve the data.

Pat
 
Pat said:
The hardrive on a computer has been damaged and I am unable to boot it up
(even in safemode) so I can retrieve important files. It gets as far a the
blue screen of death where it tells me that windows xp has halted the
operation and to reboot and start up in safemode. I have removed the
hardrive and installed it unto another computer to see if there was another
underlying problem, but it is indeed the hardrive that has become damaged.

Anyone know what else i can do to retrieve the data.

Pat
Click to expand...
Use your time machine to go back, then backup your data.

No time machine? At least, get prepared for the next HD failure.
 
Pat wrote...
The hardrive on a computer has been damaged and I am unable to boot it up
(even in safemode) so I can retrieve important files. It gets as far a the
blue screen of death where it tells me that windows xp has halted the
operation and to reboot and start up in safemode. I have removed the
hardrive and installed it unto another computer to see if there was another
underlying problem, but it is indeed the hardrive that has become damaged.

Anyone know what else i can do to retrieve the data.
Click to expand...

You can plugin a OS CD, install a new OS on the same OS partition.
But do not format the drive. Once you have install a new OS, you
can boot up the HDD and get back (hopewfully) some, if not all, of
your important data.

Alternatively there is some bootable CDs you can get from the web.
E.G. Knoppix (Linux)
UBCD4Win (Ultimate Boot CD for Win).

Google for them.

And once you learn the lesson in a hard way, you should start backup
your system to external media (e.g. HDD, USB drive).
Acronis TrueImage is one of the good backup programs.
 
The hardrive on a computer has been damaged and I am unable to boot it up
(even in safemode) so I can retrieve important files. It gets as far a the
blue screen of death where it tells me that windows xp has halted the
operation and to reboot and start up in safemode. I have removed the hardrive
and installed it unto another computer to see if there was another underlying
problem, but it is indeed the hardrive that has become damaged.
Click to expand...

What effect do you get in the second PC ?
Anyone know what else i can do to retrieve the data.
Click to expand...

Depends on what effect you get on the second PC.
 
Harry said:
Pat wrote...
Click to expand...
You can plugin a OS CD, install a new OS on the same OS partition.
Click to expand...

That is a very BAD approach with that problem.
But do not format the drive. Once you have install a new
OS, you can boot up the HDD and get back (hopewfully)
some, if not all, of your important data.
Click to expand...
Alternatively there is some bootable CDs you
can get from the web. E.G. Knoppix (Linux)
UBCD4Win (Ultimate Boot CD for Win).
Click to expand...

Those are better, but wont necessarily
help depending on how the drive has failed.
 
Previously Pat said:
The hardrive on a computer has been damaged and I am unable to boot it up
(even in safemode) so I can retrieve important files. It gets as far a the
blue screen of death where it tells me that windows xp has halted the
operation and to reboot and start up in safemode. I have removed the
hardrive and installed it unto another computer to see if there was another
underlying problem, but it is indeed the hardrive that has become damaged.
Click to expand...
Anyone know what else i can do to retrieve the data.
Click to expand...

Consult a professional data recovery company and stopp messing with
the drive immediately, since that will only make professional
recovery even more expensive.

Arno
 
Pat said:
The hardrive on a computer has been damaged and I am unable to boot it up
(even in safemode) so I can retrieve important files. It gets as far a the
blue screen of death where it tells me that windows xp has halted the
operation and to reboot and start up in safemode. I have removed the
hardrive and installed it unto another computer to see if there was another
underlying problem, but it is indeed the hardrive that has become damaged.

Anyone know what else i can do to retrieve the data.

Pat
Click to expand...
If you get as far as a BSOD, then the drive isn't completely dead.

How you proceed depends on how much your data is worth, I guess.
If it's worth a lot, there are professionals who deal with such
problems, but they're not cheap. If it's worth less, you can try
some other techniques. If you decide to try to go it alone, a good
first step is to do a "forensic" copy and work on the copy rather
than the original. Or maybe make a copy of the copy and work on
that, since you might only have one opportunity to read the original
before it's gone.
 
Harry said:
Pat wrote...

You can plugin a OS CD, install a new OS on the same OS partition.
But do not format the drive. Once you have install a new OS, you
can boot up the HDD and get back (hopewfully) some, if not all, of
your important data.
Click to expand...

If the drive is physically crashed this will almost certainly end up
destroying the contents beyond any hope of recovery.
 
J. Clarke wrote...
If the drive is physically crashed this will almost certainly end up
destroying the contents beyond any hope of recovery.
Click to expand...

OK, my perception on BSOD is that they are usually associated with
driver conflicts or corruptions, making the boot up process fails.

And of course I cannot rule out the possiblity of BSOD assoicated
with physical HDD damage. So, in view of this, my suggestion would
be risky. My apology.
 
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