Fenrry said:
Hi, I was trying to access some files from a hard drive that has a Win
Vista installation using my Xp laptop, I have done it before but this time
it simply crashed my laptop, I tryed another Vista laptop and still
crashes the OS.
Does anybody know why or what can be done so I can access the drive,
thanks everyone.
Possibly the drive is physically failing or the enclosure in which you put
the drive is bad. Since you forgot to tell us how you are accessing the
drive (USB drive enclosure, other adapter, etc.) that's as specific as I
can be. Assuming that you are using a USB drive enclosure (must be
self-powered), I would try booting one of your laptops with Knoppix (Linux
Live CD) to see if the same thing happens. If it doesn't, then you know
getting the data off with Linux is the best way. It will be a bit tricky
with a laptop since you only have one optical drive which will be in use.
You can try connecting another external hard drive (must be self-powered).
Otherwise, perform this data retrieval on a desktop computer.
If Knoppix can't access the drive, try it in a different enclosure/adapter
(must be self-powered) to make sure the enclosure isn't the culprit. If you
still have no luck, the drive has physical problems and you'll need to send
it to a professional data recovery company.
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. If you want to burn CD/DVDs, use
the K3b program.
*My understanding is that you can now write to an NTFS partition from Linux.
If you wish to do this, Google for instructions.
http://www.knoppix.net
Professional 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
If you can't do the work yourself (and there is no shame in admitting this
isn't your cup of tea), take the machine to a professional computer repair
shop (not your local equivalent of BigComputerStore/GeekSquad).
Malke
