Vista Tutorial - Can't access broken Vista OS drive as an external drive on XP

Hi.
My notebook hard drive (Vista Home) was failing (I botched the install of SP1) and I was unable to backup my files before it wouldn't boot anymore.



I hoped I could use the drive externally on my XP P4 desktop to transfer the files over. XP sees the drive as D & E (main partition and recovery partition). But when I try to access the drive, it just runs. I guess its trying to boot the disk. I am wondering what steps I need to take to be able to get the files off the disk.



1. How to remove the MBR or otherwise stop the drive from trying to boot Vista. I thought about using jumpers to make it a slave. But I have no idea where they would go or if I could use them.



2. Can I use another method to get the files?



I am strictly software and not really too familiar with the inner workings of the notebook components. This is my 1st one after many many desktops.



Anything that could potentially delete the user files is not an option (pictures, videos, etc.) Okay if the system files don't work anymore. I have recovery disks to format another hard drive.


Thanks so much.

I posted this in General, but I guess this is the appropriate forum. I am going to delete that other post.

You can fix the MBR, by booting from Vista DVD and choosing repair option.
There you'll find the option to fix the MBR.

Can you try to connect the disk to another Vista machine, where you could
possibly have more luck?
--
MCSA, MCDST, MCP, MCTS, MCITP
http://www.wincert.net


"mynameisstolen" wrote:

I don't have the Vista Install DVD, I only have the system recovery disks from HP. As far as I know you can't do a repair from the recovery disks.

I do not have access to another Vista machine. I have a P4 XP machine and a 98 iMac running Tiger (kids machine).

mynameisstolen wrote:
I very much doubt that the laptop drive is trying to boot Vista since Vista
will not boot from an external USB drive. Therefore, the drive has already
failed. The only way to get data off it now will be to send it to a
professional data recovery like Drive Savers (my preference) or Seagate
Data Recovery. General prices run from $500USD on up. Drive Savers
recovered all the data on a failed laptop drive for one of my clients and
it cost $2,700. He thought it was worth the money; only you know what your
data is worth. I understand that some insurance companies are now covering
data recovery charges so check with yours.

Drive Savers - http://www.drivesavers.com
Seagate Data Recovery Services - https://www.seagatedatarecovery.com/

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

The tech at HP Support told me that it was probably trying to boot and I would have to set it as a slave. Pfft.

I am going to make some cookies and deal with this later. Dropping off the drive at California Data Recovery later this afternoon.

Hi, mynameisstolen.

Is that you, mariaceleste?

Did you see my response in vista.general?

Too bad I don't live in California anymore. Those cookies sound like A Good
Thing! ;<)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)

"mynameisstolen" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
news:8cc47a144cb7b0e8b7b8cbd799e84ff8@xxxxxx-gateway.com...

Yes RC thanks. I got the message in the other thread. I had posted that through google newsgroups then I found the vistax64 site. I thought I deleted the other thread but it didn't actually delete it. The cookies were good. Zucchini chocolate chip. Anything to get the kids to each their veggies, right.

I am going to try that software solution. My friend suggested SpinRite as well. Will post on the outcome.

I tried to use SpinRite and I got an "Unable to read drive sector 0" error.

So I am not sure what to do next. The IT guy at my office said the only option is to take it to a data recovery service.

mynameisstolen wrote:
The IT person is correct. Your hard drive has died and the only way to get
the data is by sending the drive to a professional data recovery company.

http://www.drivesavers.com

Some insurance companies cover the cost so it is worthwhile to check with
yours.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ