Need to get files off of hard drive on PC that won't boot

[Slick5150]

My friend's WinXP installation is completely screwed up, so I was going to just copy her files off the Hard Drive, format, start over. I was going to just take her hard drive and put it in my PC, but she has a SATA drive and I don't, so that's out.

I tried using Knoppix (Linux Live CD) thinking I could copy the files off over a network, but the Konqueror file browsing utility can't seem to read the drive. When I click on that drive, it opens a window (/mnt/sda2) and just sits there. It will either say "No Items - No Files - No Folders" or it will say "Stalled". Eventually, it will show the folder listing, but if I try to open any of those, it goes right back to "stalled".

Any clue as to how to get this working? Or other ideas for getting the files off?

 

[Fardringle]

If Knoppix can't read the drive, it's likely a problem with the hard drive itself, and not just Windows.

The only way to know for sure is to run the drive manufacturer's diagnostic utility on the drive, or plug the drive into a different computer as a slave drive (which would also allow you to copy the files as well if the drive is not permanently damaged).

 

[Slick5150]

I'll try to find the diagnostic utility and run that.

I was hoping I could do it the simple way and just plug the drive into my PC, but like I said above, it's a SATA drive and I don't have a SATA PC.

 

[Slick5150]

Ah, ran Maxtor diagnostics on it, and it came back "Fail. Return Code: 7" so I guess there is something physically wrong with the drive. I'd still like to help her get the photos off of it though if they are still intact.

 

[hobbkins]

If you have corrupted sectors, you most likely will have to plug it into another computer as a slave, I don't believe a drive thats corrupted can run indepentantly in a computer. ONce you have it installed in another computer you can try to copy the file to the master drive, or run recovery software.

But I've never had much luck recovering from a corrupted drive :-(

 

[WookE]

Just bring a bootable drive to her system and slave her sata.

 

[crimson117]

Originally posted by: WookE
Just bring a bootable drive to her system and slave her sata.

Great idea,