I am pretty sure I have a crashing hard drive and just want to boot up at least one more time to recover some files before the hard drive crashes completely. The problem is that CHKDSK runs every time I turn the computer on and freezes at around 30%. I can't seem to abort CHKDSK so that the boot will continue.

I can't even boot up in safe mode. If I yap F9, I do get to the Safe Mode screen, but the computer won't complete the boot up. It runs a page full of text lines and then nothing. The text lines appear to be the same as usual when booting in Safe Mode, except that the system won't complete the booting process.

Any ideas on getting one last boot from the HD?

Thanks

I understand that I may be able to recover text, music, and photos from a failed hard drive by attaching it to an operating system with some sort of IDE-USB cable. My questions are:

1. Is there a particular cable to get?

2. Do I need any special software to do this?

Thanks

Boot the XP CD into the Recovery Console.

Try the command: FIXBOOT


Otherwise run the manufacturers diagnostic on the hard drive:

HDD Diag .................................................. ..........................

Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.

As to recovery of a non bootable drive just set it as a slave/IDE in an operating computer or install it into an exterior case/USB.

Wow, thanks so much for the prompt response! Sorry for the basic questions, but...

As to recovery of a non bootable drive just set it as a slave/IDE in an operating computer or install it into an exterior case/USB.

1. How do I set the drive as a slave/IDE?

2. The crashed drive is from a laptop. I do have another operating laptop and an operating desktop. Is my only option an exterior case/USB or is there a way to install the laptop drive into the desktop computer?

Thanks again

Steve

Laptop to IDE Hard Drive Adapter

I have a crashed laptop HD that has been replaced and I need help salvaging files (pictures and music) from the crashed hard drive.

As to recovery of a non bootable drive just set it as a slave/IDE in an operating computer or install it into an exterior case/USB.

I have a USB/IDE cable and have been able to salvage most of the files from the crashed HD, but am now having problems with the last 500 files or so.

I moved all the files to the root directory of the crashed HD to make them easier to move. I have moved many one at a time, many in small groups (under 10). Windows Ex[plorer seems to freeze if I try to move too many at a time. Since they all seem to respond differently, I have used a combination of:

1. Windows Explorer to move the files to my new HD
2. Windows Explorer to copy and paste to the new HD
3. Windows Explorer to cut and paste to the new HD
4. Opening files and saving onto the new HD
5. Moving files in DOS

I have also tried to backup the files onto the new HD using XP and have tried to run an error check on the drive through control panel, but both utilities seem to freeze.

I have around 300 JPEG files and a dozen MOV files that I really need to move. I have another 500 music files (m4A, MP3, and WMA) that I would like to move as well, though not as important. When I try to move these last few files, Windows Explorer just seems to freeze and I need to unplug the crashed HD from the USB port to get Windows Explorer to shut down. I assume that's because these last files are damaged, but I can actually see some of the pictures in the Windows Explorer Thumbnail view.

I also downloaded a couple of file management freeware programs, but couldn't figure out how to use them.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Steve