USB based CD-ROMs and DOS

[Juddog]

I have a D430 Dell laptop. I need to get some information off of the hard drive, which is encrypted, and the encryption software only decrypts via CD. When I try and boot to the CD, it doesn't see the drive as the docking station is USB based (the boot CD works fine on any laptop I have ever tested with a direct port CD-ROM, IDE or SATA).

I contacted Dell and they don't seem to have a DOS based USB CD-ROM driver. Has anybody ever heard of any kind of CD or ISO that can be used with USB based CD-ROM's?

 

[techmanc]

What if you put the hard drive from laptop into a computer that has a normal CD drive?

 

[mpilchfamily]

You need to go into the BIOS and set it to boot from USB device if it has that option.

 

[Juddog]

Originally posted by: techmanc
What if you put the hard drive from laptop into a computer that has a normal CD drive?

The hard drive is a 1.8" format... it won't fit in the standard laptop bay, and I don't have any other types of laptops which accept this form factor drive.

 

[Juddog]

Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
You need to go into the BIOS and set it to boot from USB device if it has that option.

You mean try and boot to a USB stick? Are there any good places to find a bootable DOS system that you can use on a USB stick? If so I can try that.

 

[techmanc]

What the CD contain that you need to boot up?

 

[mpilchfamily]

No you'll need to enable booting from a USB device so the system will recognize the USB docing station and the availible Optical drive.