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Need help with a friends laptop...EDIT: Found Solution

L

leeland

Diamond Member
I was asked by the wife to look at a co-worker of hers laptops...

The first one I booted up is totally borked...it logs in but sits at the desktop and is unusable...EVEN in safe mode I can't do anything.

She of course has a large number of files that she would like off of it and I can't get to them.

What options do I have to get them off, if any?


Thanks in advance!
Lee
 
I would simply remove the laptop HDD, put it in an external USB case and access the files on any system anywhere.

Similarly, if the system can be booted at all (like from the optical drive) you can use Acronis to either clone or backup the drive to a different external drive.

If the system is borked due to hardware, removing ther drive is the way to go.
 
Originally posted by: VinDSL
BlacX is your friend... 😀

http://www.xpcgear.com/st0005u.html
Click to expand...


I asked a co-worker and she had a similar device Coolmax Converter

which I am going to give a try...it should work just fine...thanks for the recommendation!



Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
or boot it with a linux live cd
Click to expand...

I was curious how the Linux solution would work...lets say I had a pen drive / thumb drive and a linux live cd...could I boot with that linux live cd and then have the live cd recognize the thumb drive?

If so would it be as simple as copy and paste inside of linux? (Linux Noob question)

Lastly, is there a link you could provide for the linux live cd? It would be something I would like to try out!


Thanks again guys

Lee
 
Originally posted by: leeland
Originally posted by: VinDSL
BlacX is your friend... 😀

http://www.xpcgear.com/st0005u.html
Click to expand...


I asked a co-worker and she had a similar device Coolmax Converter

which I am going to give a try...it should work just fine...thanks for the recommendation!



Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
or boot it with a linux live cd
Click to expand...

I was curious how the Linux solution would work...lets say I had a pen drive / thumb drive and a linux live cd...could I boot with that linux live cd and then have the live cd recognize the thumb drive?
Click to expand...

Yep that would do it or you could have the laptop connect to the network and transfer it over to another computer. Pretty much every version of linux out there now is a live CD so you can check it out without installing it. Ubuntu is the noob linux and what I use but something like puppy, dsl, or tinyme are smaller and have a quicker boot up as live CDs for this kind of thing.

 
Originally posted by: leeland
I was curious how the Linux solution would work...
Click to expand...
I DO NOT recommend experimenting on a co-worker's HD, but...

For future reference, you might want to familiarize yourself with SystemRescueCd:

http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page

Unless the drive has a PHYSICAL problem (like a head fell off, controller died, or whatever) you could fix it with this collection of utilities.

The thing is, you have to know a little bit about Linux BEFORE attempting a recovery! It's easy enough, but there's a learning curve involved, like 'all-things-computer'.

For instance, since it's a Windows drive, you would have to enable Ntfs3g during bootup for whichever NTFS partition you want to read from/write to. If you overlook this step during bootup, or choose the wrong partition, you'll bone the data even worse - so it's best NOT to experiment with someone else's HD!!!

LoL!

Unless you don't like someone, and want them to leave you alone in the future... 😀
 
ok so I got the drive out and attached it with the usb tool I listed above...the drive shows up however I am faced with an issue.

When I explore the drive I attempt to open the document and settings for the account I need to get the "My Documents" folder.

I try to get into the folder and I am getting an access denied message...

In the couple of times I have messed around with mounting a drive like this I have never gotten an issue...is this some how security related?
 
Its partly NTFS Security. You need to add yourself to the access list in Properties -> Security and add your Domain\Username into it. And set it to have full access, if it prompts you for a password, most likely you'll need the said co-worker's pw.
 
Stupid question time...

I did look for a security tab after right clicking on the drive (H:\) to see if there were some sort of security I could set and all I have is a Sharing tab which allows me to "share" the folder...nothing regarding setting security.

I was able to get into that accounts "My Documents" folder when the drive was in her laptop but it was so FUBAR'd I couldn't do anything with the files.

When I hover over the folder it says it is empty...


On a side note I did download Ubuntu 8.10 and loaded it from the cd drive, but it wasn't able to mount the drive when I clicked on it...

I suspect it has something to do with what VinDSL mentioned above...

Vin...I did go to that site and downloaded that software suite, got it on my thumb drive and was able to boot to it...but it looks far advanced to what I am able to do...I messed around with it for about an hour and gave up 😀


Any help on what I am obviously missing is appreciated!

Thanks,
Lee
 
This LOOKS promising 😀 I will give it a try tomorrow as I am DONE dealing with this one tonight!

BTW I think the drive is failing as I am running a hard drive test on it right now and it is tossing up bad sector errors...so hopefully I can still do something with it.


Thanks DarkWolf...

I will report back with my results hopefully tomorrow!


 
i used slax (www.slax.org) on a usb drive to recover some data recently. the latest version recognized the NTFS hard drive without any issues or special configuration for me.
 
Originally posted by: vshah
i used slax (www.slax.org) on a usb drive to recover some data recently. the latest version recognized the NTFS hard drive without any issues or special configuration for me.
Click to expand...

looks pretty cool...I will give that a try as well.


I do have a question regarding getting the files off...

Did you configure the network inside of "slax" to connect on your home network and copy the files to another device...

Or can you simply navigate to the hard drive of the computer you are on and copy the contents of the files you want directly to the USB drive?


Thanks,
Lee
 
OK...I was able to get the files off the hard drive FINALLY after F'ing around with it for 2 nights.

I borrowed a copy of a site tech's Ultimate Boot CD and man all I can say is that program is SWEEET!!! It booted from the disc, and loads a windows XP like interface and I was able to navigate to the folder I was trying to get to and FTP off the files to my FTP server in less than 15 minutes...

Wish I had the program initially it would have saved me a bunch of screwing around.

SO...between two laptops both of them have bad drives...but at least I was able to get the files off and I ordered new drives and extra RAM today!

Thanks for the recommendations guys!

Lee
 
Originally posted by: leeland
Thanks for the recommendations guys!
Click to expand...
And, thanks for the follow-up!

Heh! I digress...

I just realized that we're running the same cooler, according to your sig - Tuniq Tower 120. I own 2 of them.

Too bad you can't put 'em on a lappy!

Back on topic...

Are you gonna install a new HD in your co-worker's machine?

If so, I'm running a Hitachi TravelStar 7K320 (320 GB version) - highly recommended!

Official Website: http://www.hitachigst.com/port...ucts/travelstar/7K320/

MP3 PODCAST: http://www.hitachigst.com/asse...ts/travelstar7k320.mp3

I wouldn't steer a fellow Tower 120 owner wrong! 😀
 
I love the cooler...back when I first got it I took a picture of it sitting next to a beer I was having at the time of building my computer...

I remember saying to myself "Holy F#ck" how is this monster going to fit into my case!!!

It did...barely!


As for the new drives...I did some searching on google for a "replacement" drive for the laptops which happens to be a Compaq nc6230.

I couldn't find anything on hp's site...nor the internet that led me down a path that said I could go get any specific model hard drive and it would work.

I did find a couple of forum posts on HP's site where people did just that and got F'd as the drives were not recognized in the BIOS...SOOO

I decided to play it safe and went on eBay and got two drives which are supposed to be new and have a 36 month warranty and were listed specifically as replacements for the nc6230...they are only 54oo rpm drives but I don't really care to be totally honest.

1. they aren't my laptops...
2. the person who owns the laptops is concerned more about the cost of the drive vs. performance...so I ain't gonna sweat it.

I am also going to harvest the RAM module from one and put it in the other (giving it 1 GB of RAM) and then purchase an additional 1 GB of RAM for the other laptop...which I also got on eBay for 13 bucks free shipping...

Hopefully it all works out...


I do have one snag...they have the cd-keys on the laptops but I believe they will only install on a HP xp pro disc and not a general xp pro disc...

Is that correct? If so do vendors have general install discs or am I screwed there too?
 
Originally posted by: leeland
I love the cooler...back when I first got it I took a picture of it sitting next to a beer I was having at the time of building my computer...

I remember saying to myself "Holy F#ck" how is this monster going to fit into my case!!!

It did...barely!
Click to expand...
I gotta run in a couple of minutes, I'll revisit this thread later tonight, but...

In the meantime, here's a couple of snappys, if ppl wanna see what we're talking about... 😉

Bareback: http://www.lenon.com/images/benchbuild4.jpg

Benchbuild: http://www.lenon.com/images/benchbuild7.jpg

Sitting in my Mountain Mods case: http://www.lenon.com/images/Tuniq_Twins2.jpg

Latez...
 
Originally posted by: leeland
I do have one snag...they have the cd-keys on the laptops but I believe they will only install on a HP xp pro disc and not a general xp pro disc...

Is that correct? If so do vendors have general install discs or am I screwed there too?
Click to expand...
Many commercial PCs have a built-in System Recovery Partition. If the hard drive is functional, but Windows is borked, you hit a special combination of keys on bootup and are given the option to restore the PC to its original (factory) condition. Look at the manual for her laptop and see if that's an option. It's a LOT faster than re-installing XP from scratch. I restored a Dell laptop yesterday with the Ctrl-F11 keystrokes. It took about ten minutes for a total restore, with all device drivers pre-installed.

If you don't have a restore partition on the HP, or if the hard drive must be replaced, it's preferable to have a set of factory restore disks or an HP XP Install CD. You can use a "generic OEM" Install CD (as long as it matches the original version (Home, Professional, or MCE), but you'll have to call Microsoft to Activate it.

Perform a random act of kindness today. Ask five people if they have a recovery CD for their computer. When they say, "No", suggest they make one or get one. They won't do it, but when their computer gets borked, you can tell them, "I told you so." 😉
 
Originally posted by: RebateMonger
Originally posted by: leeland
I do have one snag...they have the cd-keys on the laptops but I believe they will only install on a HP xp pro disc and not a general xp pro disc...

Is that correct? If so do vendors have general install discs or am I screwed there too?
Click to expand...
Many commercial PCs have a built-in System Recovery Partition. If the hard drive is functional, but Windows is borked, you hit a special combination of keys on bootup and are given the option to restore the PC to its original (factory) condition. Look at the manual for her laptop and see if that's an option. It's a LOT faster than re-installing XP from scratch. I restored a Dell laptop yesterday with the Ctrl-F11 keystrokes. It took about ten minutes for a total restore, with all device drivers pre-installed.

If you don't have a restore partition on the HP, or if the hard drive must be replaced, it's preferable to have a set of factory restore disks or an HP XP Install CD. You can use a "generic OEM" Install CD (as long as it matches the original version (Home, Professional, or MCE), but you'll have to call Microsoft to Activate it.

Perform a random act of kindness today. Ask five people if they have a recovery CD for their computer. When they say, "No", suggest they make one or get one. They won't do it, but when their computer gets borked, you can tell them, "I told you so." 😉
Click to expand...

I have to replace both hard drives in both laptops as both came back with scan errors (BIOS hard drive checks)...SO...I am left with trying to use a default XP pro install disc and hope that the keys work or figure out something else...

I don't think that I can use a HP restore disc on a different hard drive (the new ones I have purchased)...so I either need to get my hands on an OEM HP xp pro disc or have them some how get a new cd key for regular xp pro...

 
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