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pull data off HDD without accecing the OS


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#1
surfwchris

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Hi, it’s me again, Compaq mini 1000 laptop, I got a virus and the OS is dead! I need to pull data off the HDD before reinstalling the OS. How can I do it? the laptop has no cd rom so I have to copy it to external HDD of flash drive! I can not access the OS normally or in the safe ode! I tried removing the HDD but its one of the small new once and I don’t have the cables for that! is there any way??? thank YOU for all support!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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#2
rshaffer61

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Get Puppy Linux from my signature below...Get puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso download it and burn it to cd or USB drive. You have to make sure your system will boot to a USB device like a flash drive or usb pen drive.
..
if you don't have a burning program that will burn .ISO files get Burncdcc from my signature...it is a small FAST no frills iso burning program...

NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start BurnCDCC
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ....in this case its memtest86.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start

make sure in the bios the cd drive is the first boot device....

put the cd in the cd drive..boot your computer....puppy will boot and run totally in ram...if your hardware is is good working order you will know...
after you get it running and your at the desktop...you take the puppy linux cd out and then you can use the burner to copy all your data to cd/dvds
you can also use it to backup your data to a external usb harddrive..just have it hooked to the computer when you boot up with puppy...

==========================
quick guide for saving data...music..files on a system that will not boot using puppy Linux..


after you get to puppy desktop..
click on the drives icon...looks like a flash drive...top row..it will list all the drives connected to

your computer...

click on the red icon for the drive you want to mount...in this case its a flash drive ...puppy will

mount the drive..the drive icon turns green when its mounted...
minimize the drives mounter window..you will need it again in a few minutes..
drag the right edge of it sideways to shrink it to its narrowest size...about half the width of the screen...then drag the window to the right edge of the screen...

now click on the icon that looks like a filing cabinet (kind of yellow) on the main drive...it should
already be green..
you will see a list of all the folders on the main drive Usually your C: drive..shrink that window to
the narrowest you can..about half the width of the screen...drag that window to the left side of the screen...
at this point you should have 2 windows open on your desktop..the flash drive on the right side..
go back to the folders on the C: drive...click on the documents and settings folder...then your user
name or all users..find the folders that has your data..
drag and drop the folder with the data you want to make copies of to the flash drive window...

your options are to move ..copy ect...JUST COPY..if its to big you will have to open the folder and
drag and drop individual files until the flash drive is full...(I have a 120 GB external USB drive for
big data recovery jobs and a 4 GB flash drive for the smaller jobs)..after you get the files copied to
the flash drive...
Click on the drives mounter you minimized earlier
UNMOUNT THE FLASH DRIVE by clicking on the green icon..you will once in awhile get error messages when
unmouting the drive..ignore them..when the flash drive icon turns red again its safe to remove the
flash drive..trot on over (stroll if you want to look cool) to another computer and plug in the flash

drive and copy all the data files ( I drag and drop) to the other computer..
make sure the other computer can read them...

now delete the data on the flash drive...take it back to the misbehaving computer and plug it in

again..click on the drives icon again and repeat until you have all your data transferred to the working
system..

Thanks to happyrock
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#3
surfwchris

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hi, thank YOU for help, i got the puppy but i can not set the laptop to boot from USB. i dont see it in BIOS, when i click f9 for boot order i can select the USB but anyways it boots from HDD!!! any other ideas? thank you for help!!!
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#4
surfwchris

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hi, sorry i got it to boot from a USB but it gives me a error: error loading operating system
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#5
rshaffer61

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Did you burn the ISO as a image or did you burn it as data?
If you did the latter it will not work.
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#6
surfwchris

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hi, if i could let me explain my steps and maybe you can tell me what i did wrong....
http://puppylinux.or.....oad Puppy.htm - thats the site for puppy

http://distro.ibibli...ons/puppylinux/ - thats for the packages

puppy-2.16.1-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso 23-May-2007 22:09 90M - thats the one i downloaded

it downloads as zip file, i extract it and copy to flash drive, plug the flash drive in other laptop and boot from the USB? did i do anything the way i should?
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#7
rshaffer61

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It sounds like you Copied the ISO file instead of burning it as a Image file.
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#8
happyrock

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go here and get burncdcc ..a small FAST no frills iso burning program...

NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start BurnCDCC
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ....in this case its puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start...
it only burns .iso files so it will burn it as a image...and that is what you want
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#9
rshaffer61

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I think that is the problem Happyrock. The file is not being burned correctly.
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#10
surfwchris

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hi, thanks for the tips! i did as you mentioned, i got the BurnCDCC file, i burned to a dvd (sorry dont have any cd's) using that software, after it burned i copied to flashdrive USB (no cd or dvd rom on the compaq mini) i swiched bios to boot from the usb and it gave me the same error message "error loading operating software" - any other ideas? another questions for work later is how can i load win XP?? i have a cd and i have the key but again no cd or dvd rom on the laptop??? thanks as always!!!
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#11
Hello71

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Has anyone realized the fact that on the broken computer, surf HAS NO OPTICAL DRIVE WHATSOEVER?
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#12
rshaffer61

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Yes and that is why the USB booting option is being discussed.
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#13
happyrock

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now that you have a bootabl puppy dvd burned you need to boot it up in another computer that DOES have a optical drive and once booted up use puppy to burn the image to a usb flash drive...YOU CAN'T JUST COPY IT or it will not work..
Simply burn the ISO to CD/DVD and boot the PC or laptop with it. Once booted, you can then install it to USB flash (see the Setup menu), so you can use it for booting the PC when a CD is not available.
if you need more help with puppy go here
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