i/o error

[zane]

pc crash,
hard drive down, bad spin noises
boot up fail
os not found
disk i/o error, replace disk press any key

important info needed off disk, how to reboot w/ info if
poss?

 

[Dan Seur]

zane - your best bet is to install a new hard drive as primary master
and install W2k to it (with the failed drive not cabled.) Then, jumper
the old drive as slave (or on another controller cable). Then see if W2k
can see any part of the failed drive.

If it can, then copy as much as you can from that failed drive. When
you've done that (or if the drive is inaccessible), download a disk
diagnostic utility from the failed HDD's manufacturer. This will be a
bootable floppy image. Run it against that drive. Report what it says to
the manufacturer's tech support.

When drives make bad spin noises, most often they're irredeemably
trashed... It's a bad situation. Good luck with tech support; if you
call them, they'll ask for the model/serial number and tell you whether
you're eligible for a warranty replacement drive...but it's unlikely
they'll have a special utility other than the diagnostic that will help
you retrieve data from the drive.