How do I back up a drive that won't boot?

Question

I have a Windows XP system from Dell. They are currently sending me the operating disc and drivers because I did a system restore (dumb move, I know), and now my computer will not boot up into XP. I can get to boot options (safe mode, last known good configuration, etc.), but screen goes blank after choice is entered.
I am planning on booting the XP cd and choosing repair console to attempt to fix boot files, but I want to back up the data on my hard drive before that.
What is the best way to back up my data (knowing I cannot boot up)? I am willing to buy another hard drive.

Answer 1

easiest - buy a new HD, make that primary, and put old in as slave. Install XP to new drive. Then get the data from the old drive.

get a boot CD like Ubuntu or MiniPE or something, boot to an OS that runs from the CD and copy the data off. You can use these live cds to partition the drive. Partition it, copy the data to the new partition and then install XP on the old XP partition.

plug the old drive into another PC (either with a USB cable/adapter or inside) and copy the data off. Then burn it to CD/DVD. Or after XP is reinstalled, copy it back

Answer 2

Buy a new hard drive to put into your computer, space is cheap these days, and then an external enclosure for the unbootable drive. Reinstall your OS on the new drive in your computer. While waiting for that, put the old HD in the enclosure. When you are done you will be able to plug in your old drive and pull anything you want off of it. Also after you are done, use your old drive to back up your things so that you will not be in this predicament again. You might consider Macintosh, data such as photos and work documents are a terrible thing to lose.

Answer 3

If you choose a repair, instead of a clean installation, you data should be fine.

However, I understand you concerns and would want to attempt salvaging my data too. Try this:

Replace the cable. If that don't work:

Take the hard drive out of the system. Simply unplug your system, use a grounding device such as a wrist band and hook it up as instructed, (veery inexpensive, a couple of dollars at the most) fold it up into a soft cloth, place it into a freezer bag, seal it up tight, and place it in the freezer for a few hours. Once it has frozen up well, take it back out, and then shake it like you would throw a frisbee, but don't let go of course! lol Sometimes the internal peices, (no need to get into the details) get stuck. Once you have done this, re-install it into the machine, using the grounding wrist band again, plug in the machine and see if it will boot correctly.

If it does, make sure you have the media ready for quick copy too, and get your data off. Because, once you turn it off again, it will most likely not boot again, until you replace the OS, or do the repair operation.

Good luck and I hope you are able to recover you data.

By the way, performing a System Restore, using Windows System Restore is not a "dumb move". In fact, it is one of the first tools you reach for when something goes wrong with a system. Now, if you are referring to the Dell Restore option, then you should only use that while being guided by a Dell technician.

One thing which really irritates the crap out of me with Dell is how they do not send the OS CD along with the system. They send off a silly paper square with a photo of a CD, and the announcement that due to their superior Restore partition technology the owner does not need the disk! We buy the OS with the system, and should receive the disk it came on, or at the very least the restore disk. Dell is also one of the worst at sending out hard copy such as User Manual, troubleshooting tips, and basically many other types of documentation that a purchaser should receive when paying such amounts of $$ on hardware. Every other peice of hardware you buy comes with a manual at the very least!

I spent over 3,000.00 on a new Dell system and it came without any paperwork other than the invoice, not even a, "Thank you for choosing Dell", letter, or my warranty information, or a User Manual, or any other documentation, no OS disk, etc. I phoned in to complain and was told that nonscience about how the Manual was ON the system, (how do you read it when the system is not yet up and running?) and that the warranty could be had by writing off for it, and that there was indeed a Thank You, on line 36 of my invoice! Well, that just fits the bill now doesn't it?

When I had to replace my system I insisted on receiving the disk, but had to go through the business section to do so. Home Users get less than nothing from Dell.

When we purchased an HP, we got a slew of paperwork. From the hard copy User Manual, to the Warranty info, to Troubleshooting steps, step by step insructions on how to finish setup, phone numbers of tech support, and a nice Thank You for choosing HP letter!

Sorry to vent here, but don't you think it is bad business to not send out the proper paperwork when spending that type of money?

Five weeks after that purchase my system experianced a major crash. The crash was so severe, that the Dell Repair partition was wiped out, and I had to wait fifteen days to receive the disks you are now waiting on because it was the July 4th holiday, my request got lost, then they had to "find" it instead of creating a new one, (didn't want to accidently send me two sets of disks, not trusting a customer to send one set back if that were the case) and finally, after receiving the disks, and hour later my system was up and running again.

If Dell had sent the disks out originally, when I made the purchase, I wouldn't have had my system down for over two weeks, instead, I would have been back in business within the hour, instead of having them tell me that they needed to mail out the disks they had claimed where not needed. They said my situation was "rare". Yeah, it seems very rare indeed. lol

Anyway, try to freezer trick, it actually does work, I have used it myself and I learned it from PC World on a video they have on their site. You can go track it down if you wish. It is very imformative. Good luck and I hope, due to it being Chritmas and all, that you don't have to wait over two weeks to receive your disks.

Answer 4

Hi friend You need a secondary harddrive 20gb marked as
master boot in bios and yours first harddrive with crashed XP
in slave/secondary mode jumper setting.
If you want to repair just XP With your bootable cdrw/dvdrom/rw
you need to use options R repair or reinstall windows
in another FOLDER as like C:\WINXP or C:\WIN or
just another partition if you have in D:\WIN or D:\winxp
but you need a program as like partition magic to create
a new partition from fly working, only after defragmenting
you need to backup data on another harddrive/or disc partition special created/ ideal on another harddrive or usb flash drive/penflash in your situation with no nero writer
active installed is difficult to write a DVD.
Active website where to documenting http://www.driverguide.com www.bootdisk.com www.linspire.com
Happy New Year! Sandu Felix , social networker, computer tech, http://www.computernet.home.ro

Answer 5

Very simple and easy to do.

Boot with a Linux LiveCD, mount your drive and back it up to whatever you want to, even another computer on the internet.

I have to do it quite often with anyone I know that still runs windows.

Answer 6

You would have to connect your drive to another working computer and then copy onto either another drive or burn to cDs