[Phlegmbot]

OK, so I accidentally slammed the side of my PC into a wall (walking quickly wasn't paying attention), and I must've messed up the HDD. Windows won't load.

I have another drive I can use but it's my backup. I need to transfer files OFF of it before loading the OS onto it... Unless I can load the OS onto a different area of the new HDD without losing those backed up files. I even have a 2nd backup drive I can use for the files.

I tried loading Windows from my Dell OS disk, but I got a BSOD.

So what do I do at this point?

Thank you!!

-PBot

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Hello -PBot,

 

It may not be the HDD but attempting to back up your data quite rightfully should be done first, see Puppy Linux info below;

 

=================== 

***Required Hardware*** 

CD Burner (CDRW) Drive, 

Blank CD, 

Extra Storage Device (USB Flash Drive, External Hard Drive)

=================== 

 

1. Save these files to your Desktop/Burn Your Live CD:

• Download Latest Puppy Linux ISO (i.e.: lupu-528.iso) 
  

   

  Download BurnCDCC ISO Burning Software 

   

  There are instructions on how to boot from flash drive with puppy here; / 

   

  For computers that have UEFI as opposed to legacy BIOS, to be able to boot from your USB device you may need to disable secure boot and change UEFI to CSM Boot, not all computers and BIOS are the same, please refer to your user manual if you have one as the following steps are only one such example.

   

  Restart the computer, Windows 8 and 8.1 from the Start or desktop screen move your mouse pointer over the upper or lower right corner of the screen, when the Windows Charms appear click the Settings Charm, click on Power and then the Restart option.

   

  Windows 10, Click on Start,Power and then Restart.

   

  While the computer is re-starting,you will need to continually tap or hold down the particular key that will allow you to access the BIOS on your computer, we will use the F2 key as an example here;

   

  After restarting the computer, when the screen goes black, press and hold down the F2 key, wait for the BIOS to load.

   

  Select Security -> Secure Boot and then Disabled.

  Select Advanced -> System Configuration and then Boot Mode.

  Change UEFI Boot to CSM Boot.

  Save the changes and Exit the BIOS, commonly F10.

   

  If your computer will not boot into Windows at all, power up or restart the computer continually tap or hold down the key that will allow you to access the BIOS on your computer and then do the following;

   

  Select Security -> Secure Boot and then Disabled.

  Select Advanced -> System Configuration and then Boot Mode.

  Change UEFI Boot to CSM Boot.

  Save the changes and Exit the BIOS, commonly F10.

   

   

   



• Open BurnCDCC with Windows Explorer 
  

   

   



• Extract All files to a location you can remember 
  

   

   



• Double Click BurnCDCC 
  

   

   



• Click Browse and navigate to the Puppy Linux ISO file you just downloaded 
  

   

   



• Open/Double Click that file 
  

   

  IMPORTANT: Adjust the speed bar to CD: 4x DVD: 1x 

   



• Click Start  
  

   

   



• Your CD Burner Tray will open automatically 
  

   

   



• Insert a blank CD and close the tray 
  

   

   



• Click OK 
  

   

   

Puppy Linux Live CD will now be created

 

 

2. Set your boot priority in the BIOS to CD-ROM first, Hard Drive Second 

 

•  
  

   

   



• Start the computer/press the power button 
  

   

   



• Immediately start tapping the appropriate key to enter the BIOS, aka "Setup" 
  

   

  (Usually shown during the "Dell" screen, or "Gateway" Screen) 

   



• Once in the BIOS, under Advanced BIOS Options change boot priority to: 
  

   

  CD-ROM 1st, Hard Drive 2nd 

   



• Open your ROM drive and insert the disk 
  

   

   



• Press F10 to save and exit 
  

   

   



• Agree with "Y" to continue 
  

   

   



• Your computer will restart and boot from the Puppy Linux Live CD 
  

   

   

   

   

 

 

 

 

3.  Recover Your Data 

 

• Once Puppy Linux has loaded, it is actually running in your computer's Memory (RAM).  You will see a fully functioning Graphical User Interface similar to what you normally call "your computer".  Internet access may or may not be available depending on your machine, so it is recommended you print these instructions before beginning.  Also, double clicking is not needed in Puppy.  To expand, or open folders/icons, just click once.  Puppy is very light on resources, so you will quickly notice it is much speedier than you are used to.  This is normal.  Ready?  Let's get started. 
  

   

   

  3a. Mount Drives[list] 

   



• Click the Mount Icon located at the top left of your desktop.  
  

   

   



• A Window will open.  By default, the "drive" tab will be forward/highlighted.  Click on Mount for your hard drive. 
  

   

   



• Assuming you only have one hard drive and/or partition, there may be only one selection to mount. 
  

   

   



• USB Flash Drives usually automatically mount upon boot, but click the "usbdrv" tab and make sure it is mounted. 
  

   

   



• If using an external hard drive for the data recovery, do this under the "drive" tab.  Mount it now. 
  

   

   

 

 

3b. Transfer Files.

•  
  

   

   



• At the bottom left of your desktop a list of all hard drives/partitions, USB Drives, and Optical Drives are listed with a familiar looking hard drive icon. 
  

   

   



• Open your old hard drive i.e. sda1 
  

   

   



• Next, open your USB Flash Drive or External Drive. i.e. sdc or sdb1 
  

   

   



• If you open the wrong drive, simply X out at the top right corner of the window that opens. (Just like in Windows) 
  

   

   



• From your old hard drive, drag and drop whatever files/folders you wish to transfer to your USB Drive's Window. 
  

   

   

 

 

For The Novice:  The common path to your pictures, music, video, and documents folders for XP is: Documents and Settings >> All Users (or each individual name of each user, for Vista and above  C:\Users\$USERNAME\[...]. CHECK All Names!) >> Documents >> You will now see My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos. 

 

Remember to only click once!  No double clicking!  Once you drag and drop your first folder, you will notice a small menu will appear giving you the option to move or copy.  Choose COPY each time you drag and drop. 

 

YOU ARE DONE!!!  Simply click Menu >> Mouse Over Shutdown >> Reboot/Turn Off Computer.  Be sure to plug your USB Drive into another working windows machine to verify all data is there and transferred without corruption. Congratulations! 

 

 

 

 

[phillpower2]

Hello -PBot,

 

It may not be the HDD but attempting to back up your data quite rightfully should be done first, see Puppy Linux info below;

 

=================== 

***Required Hardware*** 

CD Burner (CDRW) Drive, 

Blank CD, 

Extra Storage Device (USB Flash Drive, External Hard Drive)

=================== 

 

1. Save these files to your Desktop/Burn Your Live CD:

• Download Latest Puppy Linux ISO (i.e.: lupu-528.iso) 
  

   

  Download BurnCDCC ISO Burning Software 

   

  There are instructions on how to boot from flash drive with puppy here; / 

   

  For computers that have UEFI as opposed to legacy BIOS, to be able to boot from your USB device you may need to disable secure boot and change UEFI to CSM Boot, not all computers and BIOS are the same, please refer to your user manual if you have one as the following steps are only one such example.

   

  Restart the computer, Windows 8 and 8.1 from the Start or desktop screen move your mouse pointer over the upper or lower right corner of the screen, when the Windows Charms appear click the Settings Charm, click on Power and then the Restart option.

   

  Windows 10, Click on Start,Power and then Restart.

   

  While the computer is re-starting,you will need to continually tap or hold down the particular key that will allow you to access the BIOS on your computer, we will use the F2 key as an example here;

   

  After restarting the computer, when the screen goes black, press and hold down the F2 key, wait for the BIOS to load.

   

  Select Security -> Secure Boot and then Disabled.

  Select Advanced -> System Configuration and then Boot Mode.

  Change UEFI Boot to CSM Boot.

  Save the changes and Exit the BIOS, commonly F10.

   

  If your computer will not boot into Windows at all, power up or restart the computer continually tap or hold down the key that will allow you to access the BIOS on your computer and then do the following;

   

  Select Security -> Secure Boot and then Disabled.

  Select Advanced -> System Configuration and then Boot Mode.

  Change UEFI Boot to CSM Boot.

  Save the changes and Exit the BIOS, commonly F10.

   

   

   



• Open BurnCDCC with Windows Explorer 
  

   

   



• Extract All files to a location you can remember 
  

   

   



• Double Click BurnCDCC 
  

   

   



• Click Browse and navigate to the Puppy Linux ISO file you just downloaded 
  

   

   



• Open/Double Click that file 
  

   

  IMPORTANT: Adjust the speed bar to CD: 4x DVD: 1x 

   



• Click Start  
  

   

   



• Your CD Burner Tray will open automatically 
  

   

   



• Insert a blank CD and close the tray 
  

   

   



• Click OK 
  

   

   

Puppy Linux Live CD will now be created

 

 

2. Set your boot priority in the BIOS to CD-ROM first, Hard Drive Second 

 

•  
  

   

   



• Start the computer/press the power button 
  

   

   



• Immediately start tapping the appropriate key to enter the BIOS, aka "Setup" 
  

   

  (Usually shown during the "Dell" screen, or "Gateway" Screen) 

   



• Once in the BIOS, under Advanced BIOS Options change boot priority to: 
  

   

  CD-ROM 1st, Hard Drive 2nd 

   



• Open your ROM drive and insert the disk 
  

   

   



• Press F10 to save and exit 
  

   

   



• Agree with "Y" to continue 
  

   

   



• Your computer will restart and boot from the Puppy Linux Live CD 
  

   

   

   

   

 

 

 

 

3.  Recover Your Data 

 

• Once Puppy Linux has loaded, it is actually running in your computer's Memory (RAM).  You will see a fully functioning Graphical User Interface similar to what you normally call "your computer".  Internet access may or may not be available depending on your machine, so it is recommended you print these instructions before beginning.  Also, double clicking is not needed in Puppy.  To expand, or open folders/icons, just click once.  Puppy is very light on resources, so you will quickly notice it is much speedier than you are used to.  This is normal.  Ready?  Let's get started. 
  

   

   

  3a. Mount Drives[list] 

   



• Click the Mount Icon located at the top left of your desktop.  
  

   

   



• A Window will open.  By default, the "drive" tab will be forward/highlighted.  Click on Mount for your hard drive. 
  

   

   



• Assuming you only have one hard drive and/or partition, there may be only one selection to mount. 
  

   

   



• USB Flash Drives usually automatically mount upon boot, but click the "usbdrv" tab and make sure it is mounted. 
  

   

   



• If using an external hard drive for the data recovery, do this under the "drive" tab.  Mount it now. 
  

   

   

 

 

3b. Transfer Files.

•  
  

   

   



• At the bottom left of your desktop a list of all hard drives/partitions, USB Drives, and Optical Drives are listed with a familiar looking hard drive icon. 
  

   

   



• Open your old hard drive i.e. sda1 
  

   

   



• Next, open your USB Flash Drive or External Drive. i.e. sdc or sdb1 
  

   

   



• If you open the wrong drive, simply X out at the top right corner of the window that opens. (Just like in Windows) 
  

   

   



• From your old hard drive, drag and drop whatever files/folders you wish to transfer to your USB Drive's Window. 
  

   

   

 

 

For The Novice:  The common path to your pictures, music, video, and documents folders for XP is: Documents and Settings >> All Users (or each individual name of each user, for Vista and above  C:\Users\$USERNAME\[...]. CHECK All Names!) >> Documents >> You will now see My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos. 

 

Remember to only click once!  No double clicking!  Once you drag and drop your first folder, you will notice a small menu will appear giving you the option to move or copy.  Choose COPY each time you drag and drop. 

 

YOU ARE DONE!!!  Simply click Menu >> Mouse Over Shutdown >> Reboot/Turn Off Computer.  Be sure to plug your USB Drive into another working windows machine to verify all data is there and transferred without corruption. Congratulations! 

 

 

 

 

[Phlegmbot]

Hi, Phill!

Thanks for the reply. Am I misunderstanding your instructions, b/c the first step above says to save files to my desktop, but I can't get into Windows (as mentioned in first post).

What I didn't mention is that I am also getting the "your hard drive is failing" warning as a result of the big bump.

I MIGHT already have a boot USB from the last time I had HDD failure... But I have already tried booting from a cd (again, mentioned above ) and I still couldn't get in.

Again, what I'd like to do is install the OS onto my backup HDD. But I'd like to know if there's:
A. Some way to do that without overwriting all the files backed up to this HDD.
B. And if not, I'd like to use Robocopy at a prompt to try to back up files from HDD2 to a 3rd smaller drive and perhaps a couple of DVDs. And then put Windows onto HDD2.

Thoughts?
Thank you!

[phillpower2]

Hello -PBot,

 

Sorry should have mentioned that you need a second computer with internet etc, as you had post on here I thought you were on a working computer and overlooked the fact that you could be using a mobile phone or tablet.

 

Again, what I'd like to do is install the OS onto my backup HDD. But I'd like to know if there's:

A. Some way to do that without overwriting all the files backed up to this HDD.

 

 

For this to be possible you would need to be able to boot into Windows and then clone the drive.

 

B. And if not, I'd like to use Robocopy at a prompt to try to back up files from HDD2 to a 3rd smaller drive and perhaps a couple of DVDs. And then put Windows onto HDD2.

 

 

As above but Puppy Linux will hopefully be able to access the failing HDD and retrieve your data.

 

If you do not have a Windows disk you will need to download an ISO for the reinstall.

[Phlegmbot]

Ok, Phill. Thanks.

Will post back when I get somewhere with all this.

[phillpower2]

You are welcome -PBot and good luck 

[RolandJS]

How are things going?  Will you be needing a couple of data recovery utilities?  MiniTools Power Data Recovery is one of many very good programs.  Naturally, you will need the portable version[s] to avoid writing on the problematic HD.

[Phlegmbot]

Hi, Phill. Well, b/c I got no sleep due to the stress, I'm only getting to it now. The only ISO I have on USB is for Windows 10 (I was on Win 7 when this happened, but I had upgraded at one point before a PREVIOUS HDD failure).

Anyway, using that brings me to a Windows Repair screen. The choices are Install or Repair. Do I try installing since it'd be an upgrade? (Yes, Win10 did work on my PC, I just never got to upgrading the new HDD to it.)

If not, I'm thinking what I might do is just buy another HDD. If that's the route I go, cab you briefly tell me how I install the OS into that new Drive? As said, I do have cd/dvd player and cd with the OS on it.

[Phlegmbot]

Sorry, Roland, I just realized you weren't Phill. (reading all this on a phone isn't easy.)

[phillpower2]

Hello -PBot,

 

If you reinstall you will lose all the data on the HDD which is something that you wanted to avoid but in answer to your question that would be the correct option, Windows 10 cannot be used to repair Windows 7.

 

If me, I would not bother with a reinstall on the present HDD but instead wait for a new HDD.

[Phlegmbot]

Wait, I'm confused. I'm talking about installing an upgrade of Win10. Is that what you meant too?

That would erase the files??

Just trying to ensure I understand. Thank you SO much!!

[phillpower2]

What you are referring to is called an "in place upgrade" which on a good storage device would save the OS and personal data in a Windows old folder, I would not risk doing this on a flaky HDD as the drive may fail with the loss of all data on it.

 

Btw, it is slightly confusing the in place upgrade being listed under an install heading. 

[Phlegmbot]

Got it. Fair enough.

Yeah, last time I did the upgrade -- with a working HDD -- I got nervous about the upgrade because it just says install. It was all okay. But I get what you're saying here.

Another question: If the HDD is beyond any recovery software, is there another option? Like an affordable something or other to buy or companies that can get the info in spite of what is likely a broken mechanism?

[phillpower2]

Upgrade info acknowledged 

 

About the only HDD repair that can be done is replacing the PCB, anything else is normally only done in a cleanroom to avoid contamination on the platters, data recovery companies are notoriously expensive and they are unable to guarantee that any data recovery is possible,

[Phlegmbot]

Hi, Phill,

OK, what's a PCB?

Also, a new drive is on its way to me, van you please tell me:
1. How exactly do I install my OS onto the new HDD. I don't recall how I did it last time.
2. In case I have trouble getting my info off the drive, what apps do you recommend to help?

Thank you!!

PBot