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    How can I get my files off a corrupt HDD?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by optimustarzan, Jul 18, 2009.

  1. optimustarzan

    optimustarzan Notebook Deity

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    Yesterday the hard drive in my Dell desktop died. It was 7 years old. Didn't give me a warning or anything. I just turned it off one day and the next it wouldn't boot to windows. I think only the boot files are corrupt. Windows CD won't let me make a repair. Thank god I have 2 laptops.

    I have no idea how I am able to get the 7 years of pics and stuff off of it. I've heard you can make it a slave drive and plug into your laptop and copy the info off. Can someone explain how to do this? It is an internal drive. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
     
    optimustarzan, Jul 18, 2009
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  2. Althernai

    Althernai Notebook Virtuoso

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    If only the boot files are corrupt, then the easiest way (in the sense that it doesn't require messing with hardware) would be to boot from a Live CD and transfer the files to a USB stick (or boot directly from the USB stick, but I'm not sure if a 7 year old BIOS will allow you to do that). There are many Live CD installations, but you have to know a bit about UNIX/Linux in order to use them properly.

    If you want to make the drive into a slave drive, you will have to take it out of the desktop and connect it to one of the laptops. You will probably need an adapter cable from whatever 7 year old interface it uses (PATA?) to USB or eSATA.
     
    Althernai, Jul 18, 2009
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  3. J&SinKTO

    J&SinKTO Notebook Deity

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    If the drive is still installed - try (on another computer) downloading Puppy Linux (and burning it as an iso). Very small but powerful live cd - key point is - installs & operates solely from your ram. Then you can mount the bad drive and usually extract the various files. (has worked for me a failing drive) Good luck.
     
    J&SinKTO, Jul 18, 2009
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  4. eyclai

    eyclai Notebook Enthusiast

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    If you are not familiar with Linux, this is what I'd do. Get an 2.5" drive USB enclosure. Pull the drive out of the laptop and install it in there. Plug the USB drive into your 2nd laptop. If the hard drive is not completely busted, you should see it as removable hard drive. Copy your content off.

    When copying from corrupted drive I always use the "robocopy" commandline tool, included in XP Resource Kit or native in Vista. There I choose the single re-try option so that corrupted files are skipped and good files are copied with a single command.
     
    eyclai, Jul 19, 2009
    #4