Hardware
If your laptop will boot from an external drive via USB or Firewire, you should be good to go. If not, you may be able to connect a thumb drive, boot from a CD or DVD, and then move the files. You can also get an inexpensive adapter that will allow you to connect your laptop drive to the IDE cable in a desktop computer.
All of this assumes your problem is witht the hard drive controller or the boot sector, and that the HD isn't totaled.
by jdance4fun
by fred123456
If the HD is an IDE drive you should be able to find a converter to allow you to connect the drive to a regular IDE cable. Plug in to a working PC and set it up as a slave drive.
Then try and pull your data off..
by denisehenry
I did what you suggested before reading any of this. My notebook is toast (puffs of smoke) and I removed my harddrive and put it in one of those cases that makes it an external drive. I moved the jumpers and got it working. However, it won't let me access the Documents and Settings\DJH (my logon). This user was password name was protected (I have the password) and can't figure out how to access the data to move it to a new hard drive...
HELLLLLLLLLLLLP! Compaq support was useless...
by m.dupont
With Bartpe i have always manage to get back data even when it was protected (in Docs and settings in xp pro).
Make sure you build BartPe using XP pro.
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
by m.dupont
You could use a Boot Disk like BartPEbuilder
or Reatgo. They will boot an ntfs based system.
by nicknielsen
by m.dupont
Maybe he is has a laptop,he may also have another computer. Maybe is friend has a computer one too and I bet since he is a student that is most likely.
Or prehaps is a using another computer to post a message here about his hard drive failing.
No malice intended! :)
by nicknielsen
This discussion is closed to new replies.
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