How to Recover Data from an Inaccessible Hard Drive in WinXP Ontario CA

Need to get some data from a hard drive that is inaccessible? In this article you'll find a techy trick called an "XP Parallel Install" where a second copy of Windows is installed beside the inaccessible version, so that data can be accessed and backed up onto CD-Rs.

Local Companies

Human Interface
(909) 391-4320
Ontario, CA
Agiline Inc
(909) 605-2729
1800 S Milliken Ave
Ontario, CA
Triware Networld Systems
(408) 378-8289
4701 Patrick Henry Dr Bldg 15
Santa Clara, CA
Pmg Network
(626) 782-2227
2410 Del Mar Ave
Rosemead, CA
Covad Communications Co
(408) 952-6400
110 Rio Robles
San Jose, CA
Tria Systems
(949) 276-8742
32422 Alipaz St
San Juan Capistrano, CA
Help-U-Compute
(805) 461-5262
9080 San Gabriel Rd
Atascadero, CA
Enhanced Technologies Group Inc
(714) 970-9330
4875 E La Palma Ave
Anaheim, CA
Qlogic Corp
(916) 797-1958
1680 E Roseville Pkwy
Roseville, CA
Alltech Computers Inc
(805) 474-1169
Arroyo Grande, CA

Provided By:

Steps

  1. Put the XP CD in the top CD/DVD drive
  2. Turn off computer (you may need to hold the power button down until the system shuts off).
  3. Turn on the computer and tap 'F12' every 3 seconds (if you tap too rapidly and get a keyboard error, return to step 2)
  4. In the Boot Device Menu that comes up, highlight your CD-ROM drive then press 'ENTER'. Press 'ENTER' again when it says "press any key to boot from CD"
  5. Press 'ENTER' when it says "Welcome to Setup"
  6. Press 'F8' to agree to the MS Windows EULA license.
  7. Press 'ESC' key when it asks you which Windows installation you'd like to repair.
  8. Highlight the partition in the list with 'C:' to the left of it and press 'ENTER'.
  9. This screen should say "You chose to install Windows XP on a partition that contains another operating system..." Press 'c' to continue.
  10. Select "Leave the current file system intact (no changes)" and press 'ENTER'
  11. This screen should say "CAUTION:..." Press ESC key to install into a different folder.
  12. Change "\Windows" to say anything else, for example type "\Windows2" to identify the second copy you're installing.
  13. Go through the normal Windows setup. Use a new/different user name than the one you had before. Make sure you've got your Windows product key to put in!
  14. To access your data (finally): go to Start -> My Computer -> Local Disc C: -> Documents and Settings -> Your old user named folder will contain all of your precious documents.
  15. Burn them onto CD and reinstall windows so that there's only 1 copy of Windows on the machine. Or if you can't stand doing that, install your drivers and applications and let the bad copy of Windows haunt your computer for the rest of it's life.
  16. Go have a coffee/beer/cold drink and pat yourself on the back.
  17. OR!
  18. If you have access to another machine and a cd burner, go download the Mepis** Linux LiveCD, and boot to that instead. You should be able to access all of your data, even for older versions of Windows.

Tips

  • Have a CD burner and blank CDs to backup your files.
  • You'll need your original Windows XP installation CD, including your product key, and all of your driver's CDs.

Warnings

  • Disclaimer: There is no guarantee that this will save your files in all cases.

Sources and Citations

  • XP Parallel Install Walkthrough with pictures
  • XP Reinstall emulation Animated walkthrough
  • Mepis

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to How to Recover Data from an Inaccessible Hard Drive in WinXP. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Featured Local Company

Hitachi Data System

(949) 892-2700
2020 Main St
Chula Vista, CA


Rss   Delicious   Digg   Add To My Yahoo   Add To My Google   Bookmark   Search Plugin

Topics:
Advertising Family Home Services Real Estate Resources
Business Services Fashion Industrial Goods & Services Retail & Consumer Services
Career Financial Services Insurance Software
Cars Food & Beverage Internet Technology
Computer Hardware Franchise Legal Telecommunications
Construction Health Miscellaneous Trade Shows
Education Holidays Nightlife Travel
Entertainment Home Appliances Online Database Weddings
Environmental Home Electronics Pets World History