Recovering Data From Hard Drive, Please Help

This is the situation. I have a friend who has a computer with
Windows 98. Win 98 had crashed and can not start in Windows or
Windows Safe Mode. Windows starts but there are no icons and there
is no mouse support. Can't do anything. So I start in the DOS prompt
and I hook up my Zip USB drive and use the Iomega Guest software which
is used to run a Zip Drive in DOS mode but the Zip drive is not being
recognized therefore there is no assignment of the drive.

The Zip Drive is good because I use it in Windows on a good computer
and also I downloaded the right Guest version for my drive as well.
I am able to boot to the C drive and it is accessable. If I can only
get the Zip drive to work then I can recover her data. She has data
that needs to be recovered and the Zip would be perfect if I can get
it to work. I can see the data by doing the DIR command but can not
get the Zip drive to work.

Besides the Zip drive to you have any tips other than a floppy disk to
copy data off her hard drive? Yes the hard drive is good and the data
directories are still in tact but I need to get some sort of device
that works in DOS to get the data off. I don't think those USB key
chain hard drives will do the trick because they need to work in
Windows and Windows won't run right. I thought of reinstalling
Windows over the old Windows and that should not wipe out her data
then it we can get back into Windows but I rather just recover the
data before I actually reinstall Windows.




Thanks,



James

why don't you remove her hard drive and conect to your computer as a
slAve then just COPY THE DATA YOU NEED.

(brews boy) wrote in message news:<. com>...
> why don't you remove her hard drive and conect to your computer as a
> slAve then just COPY THE DATA YOU NEED.

That's a good idea but I forgot to mention it's a laptop computer and
I don't know if that's possible to with another laptop or even a
desktop computer.



Thanks,



James

James Lynx wrote:
> (brews boy) wrote:
>>why don't you remove her hard drive and conect to your computer as a
>>slAve then just COPY THE DATA YOU NEED.
>
> That's a good idea but I forgot to mention it's a laptop computer and
> I don't know if that's possible to with another laptop or even a
> desktop computer.

I do not know if this will be useful considering your last post was
three days ago. Hopefully you have already recovered the data.

Based on what you have stated, data recovery is a simple process,
depending on your handiness and willingness to learn a few new things.
You should be able to recover this data but my information is three days
old.

There are IDE adapters you can purchase at a computer supply store that
will allow you to connect a laptop hard drive to the IDE cable in your
desktop machine. Of course, this assumes you have the ability to remove
the hard drive from the laptop. Not always a simple maneuver. The
laptop producer should have manual(s) available on the web. Look under
"product support" on that company's website. There may be a manual
describing how to remove the harddrive. Just be careful since you are
working with someone else's machine. In such a situation, I may not be
doing you a favor by telling you how to accomplish this task. An
important thing to remember, whenever you go inside a computer, whether
it is a laptop or a desktop, is to be cautious of static electricity.
Any static electricity can harm the electronics inside the computer. On
a desktop, it is best to touch a metal part of the case before touching
any of the electronics inside. Try not to work while standing on carpet
or wearing a heavy sweater. Also, always unplug your desktop machine
before opening it up. Similarly, always remove the battery from a
laptop before opening up the laptop.

I will not be held liable for any damage that may be caused by any
mistakes. I am providing you what information I can in good faith
without any harmful intention.

You need to go to a computer supply store and purchase an adapter that
will connect your laptop hard drive to your desktop IDE cable. You also
need to obtain a jumper that will fit the laptop hard drive. Laptop
hard drive jumpers need to be smaller, in height, than standard hard
drive jumpers, otherwise the adapter to the desktop IDE cable will not
connect properly over the jumper. This all assumes you have IDE hard
drives and not SCSI. I doubt you have SCSI, if you do not know what it
is, then you do not have it. You would then have standard IDE hard
drive(s).

So, you need to remove the hard drive from the laptop without breaking
anything in the process. Then open your machine and install the laptop
hard drive. You will need to review and understand jumper settings on
the hard drives. You may need to change your desktop hard drive from
"single" to "master" and then place the jumper on the laptop hard drive
in the "slave" position. This is if they are on the same IDE cable.
You may have a cdrom as a slave on the same cable as your (main?) hard
drive. You would probably want to disconnect the cdrom and any other
hard drives you may have installed, so you do not make any mistakes with
your data or your friend's data.

Once the hard drives are set up properly and you reboot your desktop
computer, you should be able to see the files on the laptop hard drive.
Probably on drive d: if you only have your hard drive and the laptop
hard drive connected. If you can see the files, it should be a simple
copying of the necessary files that will finish the job. You can then
replace the laptop hard drive and reinstall the os on the laptop.
Possibly using a "recovery cd" provided by the laptop's manufacturer or
whatever method you have available.

If you cannot see the files you need to recover, you may wish to try a
data recovery program. I have had success with GetDataBack from
http://www.runtime.org/
They provide data recovery software for both fat and ntfs filesystems.
There are numerous data recovery programs available. Other people may
recommend different. You can also see what is available by doing a
Google search for "data recover software" or "data recovery".

This should help. If you are lost or confused you can either forge
ahead on your own and learn in the process, hoping nothing goes wrong,
or you can ask a knowledgable technician to do the work for you. The
data recovery is possible as long as the hard drive is not physically
broken.

Good Luck,
Scott

Scott Nightlinger <> wrote in message news:<B1jsb.19978$ gy.com>...
> James Lynx wrote:
> > (brews boy) wrote:
> >>why don't you remove her hard drive and conect to your computer as a
> >>slAve then just COPY THE DATA YOU NEED.
> >
> > That's a good idea but I forgot to mention it's a laptop computer and
> > I don't know if that's possible to with another laptop or even a
> > desktop computer.
>
> I do not know if this will be useful considering your last post was
> three days ago. Hopefully you have already recovered the data.
>
> Based on what you have stated, data recovery is a simple process,
> depending on your handiness and willingness to learn a few new things.
> You should be able to recover this data but my information is three days
> old.
>
> There are IDE adapters you can purchase at a computer supply store that
> will allow you to connect a laptop hard drive to the IDE cable in your
> desktop machine. Of course, this assumes you have the ability to remove
> the hard drive from the laptop. Not always a simple maneuver. The
> laptop producer should have manual(s) available on the web. Look under
> "product support" on that company's website. There may be a manual
> describing how to remove the harddrive. Just be careful since you are
> working with someone else's machine. In such a situation, I may not be
> doing you a favor by telling you how to accomplish this task. An
> important thing to remember, whenever you go inside a computer, whether
> it is a laptop or a desktop, is to be cautious of static electricity.
> Any static electricity can harm the electronics inside the computer. On
> a desktop, it is best to touch a metal part of the case before touching
> any of the electronics inside. Try not to work while standing on carpet
> or wearing a heavy sweater. Also, always unplug your desktop machine
> before opening it up. Similarly, always remove the battery from a
> laptop before opening up the laptop.
>
> I will not be held liable for any damage that may be caused by any
> mistakes. I am providing you what information I can in good faith
> without any harmful intention.
>
> You need to go to a computer supply store and purchase an adapter that
> will connect your laptop hard drive to your desktop IDE cable. You also
> need to obtain a jumper that will fit the laptop hard drive. Laptop
> hard drive jumpers need to be smaller, in height, than standard hard
> drive jumpers, otherwise the adapter to the desktop IDE cable will not
> connect properly over the jumper. This all assumes you have IDE hard
> drives and not SCSI. I doubt you have SCSI, if you do not know what it
> is, then you do not have it. You would then have standard IDE hard
> drive(s).
>
> So, you need to remove the hard drive from the laptop without breaking
> anything in the process. Then open your machine and install the laptop
> hard drive. You will need to review and understand jumper settings on
> the hard drives. You may need to change your desktop hard drive from
> "single" to "master" and then place the jumper on the laptop hard drive
> in the "slave" position. This is if they are on the same IDE cable.
> You may have a cdrom as a slave on the same cable as your (main?) hard
> drive. You would probably want to disconnect the cdrom and any other
> hard drives you may have installed, so you do not make any mistakes with
> your data or your friend's data.
>
> Once the hard drives are set up properly and you reboot your desktop
> computer, you should be able to see the files on the laptop hard drive.
> Probably on drive d: if you only have your hard drive and the laptop
> hard drive connected. If you can see the files, it should be a simple
> copying of the necessary files that will finish the job. You can then
> replace the laptop hard drive and reinstall the os on the laptop.
> Possibly using a "recovery cd" provided by the laptop's manufacturer or
> whatever method you have available.
>
> If you cannot see the files you need to recover, you may wish to try a
> data recovery program. I have had success with GetDataBack from
> http://www.runtime.org/
> They provide data recovery software for both fat and ntfs filesystems.
> There are numerous data recovery programs available. Other people may
> recommend different. You can also see what is available by doing a
> Google search for "data recover software" or "data recovery".
>
> This should help. If you are lost or confused you can either forge
> ahead on your own and learn in the process, hoping nothing goes wrong,
> or you can ask a knowledgable technician to do the work for you. The
> data recovery is possible as long as the hard drive is not physically
> broken.
>
> Good Luck,
> Scott


Hi i have found this information very helpfull, i know someone who has
been having the same problem.