how to copy important files

[dshodson]

my operating system is inoperable. i cant even get windows to repair it and probably need to wipe the entire hd and try a clean install

i however have some files i want to copy off the hd before doing this in the documents folder and a folder that i had on the desktop

i can get to dos by going through the windows repair function but i dont recall how to select these directories since the documents one has a longer name than dos allows and i dont recall where windows writes folders that are normally on the desktop.

any advice would be appreciated

D

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

Put the HDD in a 3.5 IDE external usb box and hook it to another comp.

 

[dshodson]

prb is that it is a sata drive
do they have cheap sata boxes and where would i find the files that were on the desktop?

D

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: dshodson
prb is that it is a sata drive
do they have cheap sata boxes and where would i find the files that were on the desktop? D

There are SATA external enclosures - but "cheap" is a relative term. They run about $70 as I recall. But a cheaper solution would be to get a SATA to IDE converter and then use it to connect the drive to another computer.

SATA2IDE

 

[dshodson]

thanks

where does the OS store files that were on the desktop?


D

 

[tyanni]

%SYSTEMDRIVE%\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\USERPROFILE\DESKTOP

 

[TGS]

The path names are truncated to an 8.3 standard.

It truncates paths such as Documents and Settings down to something like Documen~
Also you could try the trusty USB thumb drive, and a Linux bootcd. That way you wouldn't have to buy an adapter unnecessarily. A thumb drive on the other hand, may have uses down the road. Depending on how large a thumb drive you need, you can pick up smaller sizes 32-128MBs for fairly cheap.

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

Originally posted by: corkyg

Originally posted by: dshodson
prb is that it is a sata drive
do they have cheap sata boxes and where would i find the files that were on the desktop? D

There are SATA external enclosures - but "cheap" is a relative term. They run about $70 as I recall. But a cheaper solution would be to get a SATA to IDE converter and then use it to connect the drive to another computer.

SATA2IDE

Good find Corkyg... Was wondering if someone made something like that.

 

[P0ldy]

Use a Linux live CD instead and just drag and drop if you don't want to use CLI to copy files.

 

[dshodson]

where do u get linux live?
ive never seen that
i assume it is an os that runs from a cd and doesnt require installation

D

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: dshodson
where do u get linux live?
ive never seen that
i assume it is an os that runs from a cd and doesnt require installation

D

Even better, use Bart's PE

 

[TGS]

I'm struggling to come up with the name of the filesystem. Though it creates a filesystem on the system memory, decompresses the files from the CD onto that FS, and boots the complete OS. IIRC it doesn't load everything into memory, such as KOffice and the such until you try to access.

When you boot with something like knoppix or any other livecd, you should automagically get all your devices NTFS or otherwise mounted. For NTFS I would say that I have never had a livecd automagically mount a volume as anything but Read-Only. I'm certain that's due to the evaluation type purposes livecds as usually used for.

There are also options to install knoppix to disk, so you can have the exact same environment that the livecd is presenting. Along with other various options for loading different kernels, etc. Those livecds are a very impressive package. Let alone the recovery capabilities of having a complete OS without the need for a harddrive.

 

[dshodson]

is there a particular version of livecd u recommend?

D

 

[Slowlearner]

While Knoppix is one frequently mentioned, and I tried it on a dead hd it did find the partitions and even read files in the good partition - but my question is then what - this will only tell you if the drive is readable and some data may be recoverable. Check and make sure what kind of drive it is - then slave it on good PC.

 

[dshodson]

well my dell is still under warranty and once i move the files to the good HD (i have two 160 gig satas in this xps system), im going to have them come in and fix the drive so it works correctly. I just want to move all my files first since i dont trust them to do that. I imagine that they would for whatever reason be unable or unwilling to do it.

I assume livecd must be purchased so where is a good place to get it?

D

 

[MrColin]

Get a new HD at best buy, install windows on it copy the files from your old HD have the dell guys come over to fix yur old drive(s) copy the files from your best buy drive, format it and return it to best buy for a refund.

 

[dshodson]

well that linux live is very cool

unfortunately it didnt solve my prb

i can see 4 HDs when i boot into it (i actually only have 2 and didnt put multiple partitions on them although it is possible the primary HD was partitioned by dell and i never noticed)

the 4th one i see is my 2nd hd and it is fine
the 1st one pops up only with the dell directory (one of the directories which was on my 1st HD)
the other 2 i see dont have anything on them

What do people think about putting another OS on the 2nd hd such as win2k which i have. Is that likely to get me access to those folders i am looking for? Im also a little scared that it would mess up the 2nd hd since i dont know what caused my original prb but maybe im being paranoid.

D

 

[dshodson]

additionally can someone recommend a good sata drive
i may buy another large one just to have more HD space in this thing

D

 

[dshodson]

bumparoo