Hard drive failure

I would say your best bet would be to load the drive as a secondary drive to another with an operating system on it. This way you may be able to copy off some data (be aware when you hit a bad spot on the drive, you may still crash your system, but with patience, you should be able to get most data off the drive.

I would say your best bet would be to load the drive as a secondary drive to another with an operating system on it. This way you may be able to copy off some data (be aware when you hit a bad spot on the drive, you may still crash your system, but with patience, you should be able to get most data off the drive.

First remove the old HDD from the system and fit the new one that you have got.

Next load Windows onto the new HDD and any other drivers that are required.

Then shut down and fit the old HDD as a Slave to the secondary IDE plug on the cable or remove any Optical Drives and fit the old HDD to the end of the second IDE Lead.

Now if you haven't messed things up totally by attempting to install Windows you should be able to access the files on that drive even if you can not actually read your Data Files. If you can read any files on the system then you can just copy your DATA to your New HDD but you may need to take ownership of them first. Top do that follow the directions at the following URL

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

If you have allowed the Windows Installer to perform a Format you'll have wiped all the data so you'll then need to decide just how valuable your Data actually is as it starts getting expensive from this point on.

The best option if a Format has happened or the Master Boot Records become corrupt is to take the drive to an Approved Data Recovery Place and get then to recover the data off the drive [b]but it isn't CHEAP![/b]

Be prepared to pay at the very least several K $ if you've formatted the drive.

If you can read your old drive just copy the data across to the new drive with Windows Installed and then install an AV program update it and then you can start installing your software and Windows Updates.

Once everything is up and running again you'll need to instigate some form of Disaster Recovery Plan so you do not find yourself in this same mess ever again. That involves backing up all your Data on a regular basis to a safe storage medium that can be removed from the computer and stored elsewhere. Please Note Internal HDD [b]DO NOT[/b] make a good DR alternative as they are subject to the same things that the computer is subject to and can be killed as easily.

Col

First remove the old HDD from the system and fit the new one that you have got.

Next load Windows onto the new HDD and any other drivers that are required.

Then shut down and fit the old HDD as a Slave to the secondary IDE plug on the cable or remove any Optical Drives and fit the old HDD to the end of the second IDE Lead.

Now if you haven't messed things up totally by attempting to install Windows you should be able to access the files on that drive even if you can not actually read your Data Files. If you can read any files on the system then you can just copy your DATA to your New HDD but you may need to take ownership of them first. Top do that follow the directions at the following URL

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

If you have allowed the Windows Installer to perform a Format you'll have wiped all the data so you'll then need to decide just how valuable your Data actually is as it starts getting expensive from this point on.

The best option if a Format has happened or the Master Boot Records become corrupt is to take the drive to an Approved Data Recovery Place and get then to recover the data off the drive [b]but it isn't CHEAP![/b]

Be prepared to pay at the very least several K $ if you've formatted the drive.

If you can read your old drive just copy the data across to the new drive with Windows Installed and then install an AV program update it and then you can start installing your software and Windows Updates.

Once everything is up and running again you'll need to instigate some form of Disaster Recovery Plan so you do not find yourself in this same mess ever again. That involves backing up all your Data on a regular basis to a safe storage medium that can be removed from the computer and stored elsewhere. Please Note Internal HDD [b]DO NOT[/b] make a good DR alternative as they are subject to the same things that the computer is subject to and can be killed as easily.

Col

First remove the old HDD from the system and fit the new one that you have got.

Next load Windows onto the new HDD and any other drivers that are required.

Then shut down and fit the old HDD as a Slave to the secondary IDE plug on the cable or remove any Optical Drives and fit the old HDD to the end of the second IDE Lead.

Now if you haven't messed things up totally by attempting to install Windows you should be able to access the files on that drive even if you can not actually read your Data Files. If you can read any files on the system then you can just copy your DATA to your New HDD but you may need to take ownership of them first. Top do that follow the directions at the following URL

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

If you have allowed the Windows Installer to perform a Format you'll have wiped all the data so you'll then need to decide just how valuable your Data actually is as it starts getting expensive from this point on.

The best option if a Format has happened or the Master Boot Records become corrupt is to take the drive to an Approved Data Recovery Place and get then to recover the data off the drive [b]but it isn't CHEAP![/b]

Be prepared to pay at the very least several K $ if you've formatted the drive.

If you can read your old drive just copy the data across to the new drive with Windows Installed and then install an AV program update it and then you can start installing your software and Windows Updates.

Once everything is up and running again you'll need to instigate some form of Disaster Recovery Plan so you do not find yourself in this same mess ever again. That involves backing up all your Data on a regular basis to a safe storage medium that can be removed from the computer and stored elsewhere. Please Note Internal HDD [b]DO NOT[/b] make a good DR alternative as they are subject to the same things that the computer is subject to and can be killed as easily.

Col

If you try answers 3,4 & 5, be sure to install a good firewall (like the free Zonealarm) before you ever go online to update anything. Otherwise, you can very easily pick up a malware infection during the updating process.

can your comments be specific "how to" answers. I am a bit techie...but could use a bit more help than an IT person...thanks so mcuh!

All the answers are on the mark. If it is a laptop harddrive you can buy a usb to ide adapter. I use one of them to backup data and transfer data from the old harddrive to the new harddrive both in PCs and Laptops. It works most of the time, some times I am not able to retrieve any data, it is because the board on the harddrive is bad. I usually work if the MBR is bad on the disk.

good Luck

By far and away the easiest way to recover from this is exactly what I have done recentely: get an IDE drive external enclosure (about 20-30 from most online stores, NewEgg is one). You through the old drive in it, and after you have xp up and running (keeping in mind that you need your firewalls and AV in place, I use ZoneAlarm over XP), you plug the drive enclosure into your USB port, and voila! access is restored, no messing around inside or with jumpers, or master slave stuff. This is simple and easy, but is not a great way to mess with problems from outside sources etc. If you get access, run an AV/spyware scan and see if it is clean, before accessing any files.

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