help please: laptop data recovery!

[joelmold]

Ok, I'll try to make a long story short:

The OS (XP Home) was corrupted on my Toshiba Satellite 1105. "ntoskrnl.exe" not found is the error. Windows will not boot. I cannot repair the installation using the XP CD because Toshiba only gives recovery CDs that use Ghost images, not the actual OS.

So, I need a way to recover a few critical files off the laptop harddrive before I format and reinstall. Luckily most were backed up. I can boot to DOS using a boot disk, but the drive is in NTFS so I can't access it.

Is there a way I can access the files in DOS using an NTFS driver? Or a way I can access the drive over a network from my XP desktop?

Any suggestions? I really don't want to spend $60/hour to go to the data recovery place.

Thanks!

 

[Lord Evermore]

Get an adapter for a standard IDE port to a laptop drive connector and plug the drive into another XP computer.

or

Get a bootdisk that has NTFSDOS on it, which allows reading NTFS from DOS. You can also make DOS disks with network card drivers on it (assuming your laptop's network card can be accessed through DOS). You won't be able to access the drive over a network unless the OS on the laptop is able to read it in the first place.

or

Do the same thing with a Linux bootdisk.

Does your laptop not allow booting to CDROM in any way?

Can you not make the XP boot floppies in order to get into XP Setup and use the repair/recovery system?

 

[joelmold]

Thanks, I'm going to try NTFS bootdisk first.

I can boot to CD, but I don't have the XP home CD. All toshiba gives is a ghost image to restore the whole harddrive, and I can't do that until I recover my files.

For the first option, I assume I would have to take the drive out of the laptop? Would there be any warranty issues doing this?

Thanks again for the replies.

joel

 

[dmurray14]

Acutally, the first option is probably the least time-consuming once you have the adapter and have the laptop out of the computer. Just pop the laptop drive into a desktop and then you can copy your important files to the desktop and be done.

There are tons of these adapters on eBay; a search for "3.5 laptop adapter" turned up a bunch of results, here's one for example.

Good Luck!

Dan

 

[dmurray14]

oops...i meant "...and once you have the laptop drive out of the computer..."

Sorry, I don't know how to edit on these boards.

 

[thorin]

Sorry, I don't know how to edit on these boards.

Click the 'Edit' button (Hint: It's down and to the right as you view this)

Thorin

 

[joelmold]

Originally posted by: dmurray14
Acutally, the first option is probably the least time-consuming once you have the adapter and have the laptop out of the computer. Just pop the laptop drive into a desktop and then you can copy your important files to the desktop and be done.

OK, this sounds like a good plan. The only thing is I need these files today or early tomorrow at the latest. Can I buy one of these adapters in any major stores? I assume places like CompUSA wouldn't have something like this? I live in Seattle if that helps...

Thanks again!

 

[joelmold]

OK, CompUSA lists a 2.5 to 3.5 IDE adapter on their website. I'm heading over there now to see if they have them in stock.

 

[bacillus]

remember if you configure the laptop hdd as slave you'll have to jumper the hdd as such!

 

[Lord Evermore]

It should be illegal to only provide a Ghost image of an installation. All applications and operating systems should be provided in a form that makes them each fully functional standalone products unless the specifications explicitly state otherwise.

 

[joelmold]

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
It should be illegal to only provide a Ghost image of an installation. All applications and operating systems should be provided in a form that makes them each fully functional standalone products unless the specifications explicitly state otherwise.

I agree. In fact, I've been pretty unhappy with my Toshiba laptop overall. Costco says you can return it within 6 months, I might try that.

 

[joelmold]

My mission to CompUSA was successful! Wish me luck, trying it now.

Originally posted by: bacillus
remember if you configure the laptop hdd as slave you'll have to jumper the hdd as such!

Not a problem, I'm just going to plug it in as master on my IDE expansion card...

Thanks again for all the great ideas!

joel

 

[joelmold]

Ran into a new problem now.

I can't seem to get the laptop open to take out the HD. I removed all the screws on the back but it seems to be stuck still in the back. I don't want to force it and break something.

Any ideas?

I posted for help also at: The Official Toshiba Support Forums

Thanks,

joel