How to salvage data from SATA drive

adasgupta · 07-01-2009, 09:01 AM

While trying to reinstall Windows XP home in my Dell Dimension 4600 desktop I ran into a problem that it will proceed up to a certain point (such as 39 minutes to complete) and then it would not proceed any further. I would like to reformat the SATA drive and do a clean new install. But I would like to retrieve a whole bunch of files before I reformat. How can I do that?

I tried connecting the SATA drive to another PC running Windows XP. The system would not boot with this SATA drive in there. If I boot the machine and then attach the SATA drive, the system sees the drive but when I click on it, it says that it is not formatted and asks me if I would like to format it.

MaverickUK · 07-02-2009, 05:46 AM

When installing Windows XP many machines don't like it when there is more than a single stick of RAM installed, so, the best solution for formatting and installing XP would be to do it with just one single module installed on your computer. As for the data, you can try attaching the drive to a known working computer, make sure the 1st boot device (in BIOS) is set to the WORKING drive - once loaded et al, see if you can search your old drive for the files you need (it should appear in My Computer).

After doing this then go to Start > Run > type "diskmgmt.msc" and hit enter.

This will bring up the disk management screen, please tell us what is says to the right of each drive (you will know which is which by looking at the sizes of the drives, unless both are identical).

**simpswr** · 07-02-2009, 06:19 AM

The halt at 39 minutes often indicates that you did not disconnect all external peripherals except the monitor, keyboard and mouse, and be sure those are not USB, or wireless.

07-01-2009, 09:01 AM	#1 (permalink)
adasgupta Registered User Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1 OS: Windows XP Home	How to salvage data from SATA drive While trying to reinstall Windows XP home in my Dell Dimension 4600 desktop I ran into a problem that it will proceed up to a certain point (such as 39 minutes to complete) and then it would not proceed any further. I would like to reformat the SATA drive and do a clean new install. But I would like to retrieve a whole bunch of files before I reformat. How can I do that? I tried connecting the SATA drive to another PC running Windows XP. The system would not boot with this SATA drive in there. If I boot the machine and then attach the SATA drive, the system sees the drive but when I click on it, it says that it is not formatted and asks me if I would like to format it.

07-02-2009, 05:46 AM	#2 (permalink)
MaverickUK Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Cheshire, England. Posts: 861 OS: XP Home My System	Re: How to salvage data from SATA drive When installing Windows XP many machines don't like it when there is more than a single stick of RAM installed, so, the best solution for formatting and installing XP would be to do it with just one single module installed on your computer. As for the data, you can try attaching the drive to a known working computer, make sure the 1st boot device (in BIOS) is set to the WORKING drive - once loaded et al, see if you can search your old drive for the files you need (it should appear in My Computer). After doing this then go to Start > Run > type "diskmgmt.msc" and hit enter. This will bring up the disk management screen, please tell us what is says to the right of each drive (you will know which is which by looking at the sizes of the drives, unless both are identical). __________________ Currently studying: CompTIA A+ CompTIA N+ Cisco Certified Network Associate Last edited by MaverickUK; 07-02-2009 at 05:52 AM.

07-02-2009, 06:19 AM	#3 (permalink)
simpswr Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: May 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 11,879 OS: XP, Vista, Win 7	Re: How to salvage data from SATA drive The halt at 39 minutes often indicates that you did not disconnect all external peripherals except the monitor, keyboard and mouse, and be sure those are not USB, or wireless. __________________ Rich MemTest86 \| BenchTest \| Virus/Trojan/Spyware Help How to post a Screen Shot \| PC running slow?