oakville_guy

My computer won't start anymore. I get "inaccessible boot device error". I have important files I need to recuperate. Is it feasible? Where do I go and how much do I expect to pay?

PC eye

If you have a second hard drive with a working partition not necessarily any OS but the same type of partition, Fat, NTFS, etc. you can use a free live OS for the cost of a cd-r to gain access until the drive is restored. That would be a live for cd Linux distro like ubuntu. The image here shows how files are being copied from a usb external drive to an internal sata model while booted from a live cd.



If you are running XP the recovery console can be used for seeing the boot information rewritten at no charge with two simple commands. Or if you have a full install disk for XP a repair install of XP could make that happen as well since that will replace any corrupted boot files.

For Vista the full install disk now sees an automatic startup repair tool that will repair most problems when booting from that to select the repair tools not install now option. All this will depend on a working drive however. If the read/write heads failed then a pro service for a high price would be needed! ouch alright!

__________________
Geek Goliath: Gates Says G'Bye to Microsoft
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/sto...5246378&page=1

Nitendo DS hits the classroom
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=5250297

tyttebøvs

Why should the other harddrive be formatted with the same file system?

PC eye

If you are running Windows why would you want VFat on a spare drive? If the current drive is failing the second drive would then become the replacement with the same partition type seen there like NTFS for XP or Vista. If Apple/Mac the same would hold true there as well.

__________________
Geek Goliath: Gates Says G'Bye to Microsoft
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/sto...5246378&page=1

Nitendo DS hits the classroom
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=5250297

oakville_guy

Please speak in simple terms. I am just an everyday user. My pentium III won't start. I need to get my files from the harddrive. So are you saying I can install another hard drive on my system and transfer files?

PC eye

If the current drive is still good there are different methods for data recovery. But if the drive has failed for some reason like bad heads then you would need to bring it in or send it out to a professional service that specializes in data recovery.

A spare drive allows for copy + pasting files and folders or for using a data recovery software even one for cloning an entire partition from one drive to another. A free drive partitioning tool known as GParted live for cd also has the option for copying entire partitions from drive to drive as well. All this depends on whether the drive is still in working shape.

You may only need something simple like replacing the data cable or repair to the boot sector if the drive is still good in order to see the system running again. On older system with an ide drive the grey colored flat ribbon type cables tend to get hardened up and no longer usable from age. Some information like the operating system Windows and system information would be usefull since there are different methods for the different versions of Windows and other operating systems.

__________________
Geek Goliath: Gates Says G'Bye to Microsoft
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/sto...5246378&page=1

Nitendo DS hits the classroom
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=5250297