How do you copy files off laptop if WinXP crashed? (No A:\ or cd rom drives)

[JEDI]

i have my friend's AMD Sempron laptop.

WinXP is taking forever to load. it takes about 5min for me to get the 'Press F8' screen. i missed pressing it twice. so while i wait for the 3rd time, i thought about how to get his Word files off his laptop.

and i have no idea how since i usually use the A:\ drive to boot to dos on my desktop if anything should happen to WinXP.

THe laptop doesnt come w/a floppy drive. and his cd rom drive is dead.

i have a USB key, but how do i get it to work w/o WinXP?

And any other suggestions on getting the files off?

THX


update:
Got his sata laptop drive connected to my desktop.

but I dont see any of his files?!

i dont even see the Windows directory, or Documents and Folders.
all i see on his laptop drive:
cmdcons
i386
miniNT
preload
recovery

He was using WinXP Home.

is he using NT file format? (my machine is WinXP SP2 (fat32)).

if not, then how come i dont see any of the normale WinXP stuff?

if so, then how do i see his files?

 

[Ipreferspam]

I recently purchased a USB floppy drive @ Best Buy for about $40. It works great for loading RAID drivers for computers w/o a floppy drive. It should also allow you to insert a boot disk just as if the laptop had an actual floppy drive.

 

[cubby1223]

Pull the hard drive out and connect it to a desktop machine.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: cubby1223
Pull the hard drive out and connect it to a desktop machine.

thought laptop hd and desktop hd arent inter-changable?

 

[robisbell]

you'll need a usb external enclosure for 2.5" hdd's

 

[jackschmittusa]

You don't even need an enclosure. You can get a cheap adapter/cable kit.

 

[jaythespacehound]

It's also possible to boot off a usb stick on some motherboards.

 

[octopus41092]

Get an external 2.5" enclosure. Stick the drive in there and connect it to another computer.

 

[Old Hippie]

A 2.5" SATA HD will hook directly to normal 3.5" SATA cables.

Other than that, it's either a converter or 2.5" external case.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: cubby1223
Pull the hard drive out and connect it to a desktop machine.

thought laptop hd and desktop hd arent inter-changable?

If it's sata, it hooks straight up. If it's pata, either an external enclosure connects it through usb, or an adapter like this connects it internally:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16812203012

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie
A 2.5" SATA HD will hook directly to normal 3.5" SATA cables.

ahh.. tHX!

now the problem:
I dont see any of his files?!

i dont even see the Windows directory, or Documents and Folders.
all i see on his laptop drive:
cmdcons
i386
miniNT
preload
recovery

He was using WinXP Home.

my machine is WinXP SP2 (fat32). is he using NT file format?

if not, then how come i dont see any of the normale WinXP stuff?

if so, then how do i see his files?

 

[bruceb]

First you must mean NTFS on his drive.
Next I am surprised you still use FAT32
but that is a personal choice. NTFS is the
better more reliable method. Well proven.
If XP can't see the drive, boot with a live cd
such as Ultimate Boot CD or something similar.
That will let you get at the files.

 

[cubby1223]

You're seeing the recovery partition, not the main partition on the drive. The filesystem on the main partition likely has problems, and I bet is the cause of the laptop starting up very slowly.

You might try going into the disk management screen and see what drive letter the main partition was given, then try to run chkdsk against it. Sounds like you might have to go through a couple options before finding one that'll finally get you access to the files.

 

[robisbell]

that's the recovery partition, means the main partition that had all of his files are gone.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: robisbell
that's the recovery [artition, means the main partition that had all of his files are gone.

huh? what!??!?!?!?!?!?

 

[robisbell]

you stated "all i see on his laptop drive:
cmdcons
i386
miniNT
preload
recovery"

that is the recovery partition on their HDD, the main Partition that held all their data is gone, finito, hasta la vista.

 

[RebateMonger]

Yeah, you are seeing the Recovery Partition. It's probably about four to seven GB in size. None of your data is on that partition. Need to find the System partition....

Try some data recovery software. Your choice will depend on whether you are using FAT32 or NTFS. And have a discussion of ongoing backups for next time.

 

[earthman]

Before taking any drastic action, I would try to boot to something like Super Boot Disk, or EBCD, or an Acronis boot CD, and find out if you can even see a partition available where the files would be. If not, there isn't much you can do, unless you want to pay data recovery fees. If the disk is damaged somehow and not allowing access to a partition, it's really not going to matter what you try.

 

[imported_BadBlock]

I assume you are sticking this drive in a windows machine. Open the "Disk Management" window and see what partitions are visible there.
If you don't know how to get there you right-click on "my computer" > manage > storage > disk management
If you see the laptop drive in there and there is only one partition visible, and that is a recovery partition you may need to use some software to restore the lost partition.

If you are in that situation I would recommend you make a byte-for-byte copy of the drive first, so if it fails or if you screw up something on the drive you can go back. If you have a Linux machine around and free space equal to the total size of the laptop drive you can do this with the dd command. If you don't have a Linux machine you could use a Linux live cd/usb like knoppix.

Once you have verified that the data partition is missing and you have made a backup of the drive you could use a program like TestDisk which is a free open source program for locating lost partitions and fixing boot sectors.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk