[InkyDog]

Hi there, everyone. I'm trying to recover some crucial and irreplacable data after a very scary few days.

My computer refused to boot, so I ended up having to boot it up with Reatogo-X-PE. I can now see the files that I need to save to an external hard disk. But I can't get this external hard disk to show up in Reatogo-X-PE's "My Computer" screen. I am, however, able to see the external hard disk when I look for it under the Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Disk Management.

Can anyone tell me how to get files off my hard disk (C onto my external drive? I am guessing that I will first need to somehow get Reatogo-X-PE to "see" the external hard disk.

Any and all help will be tremendously appreciated. This data is very important. Thank you.

 

[Old Rich]

and welcome to the Forum

You can take the drive out and temporarily attach it to a working pc to salvage the data.

Hard Drive Recovery Tutorial - How To Slave A Hard Drive

You may have to take ownership of the files first: How to take ownership of a file or a folder in Windows XP

. . or, You can use an adaptor like this: or an external enclosure like this.

or, you could use Ubuntu - this would eliminate the need to physically remove the Hard Drive.

You can get it from here: Download | Ubuntu

Step #2 on that page shows you how to create the USB/CD.

Once you boot into Ubuntu, (choose the option where it runs off the USB/CD) you can use it to copy your files from the Windows Partition to an external hard drive (Note: Do not copy anything to the Ubuntu Filesystem as it will not be saved on shut-down)

 

[InkyDog]

Thanks very much for the info, Rich. I'm just wondering whether, since I am able to see the files I need, there might be some simpler way to just transfer them from C: to my external drive.
I'm not sure whether your response to me factored in the fact that I am able to see the files with Reatogo-X-PE.

 

[Old Rich]

I have never used Reatogo-X-PE so can't comment . . I know you can copy the files any of the way I suggested

 

[sobeit]

Thanks very much for the info, Rich. I'm just wondering whether, since I am able to see the files I need, there might be some simpler way to just transfer them from C: to my external drive.
I'm not sure whether your response to me factored in the fact that I am able to see the files with Reatogo-X-PE.

then you can boot to a linux disk (ubuntu) as suggested by old rich.

 

[InkyDog]

Thanks again, folks. I'll let ya know how it goes. :smile:

 

[Old Rich]

Great ! !

 

[InkyDog]

Thanks again, Rich (and sobeit)! Using your link, I was able to create an ISO disk of Ubuntu and run it off the CD. That allowed me to get all of my critical data off the old hard disk and onto my external HDD.
Now I'm flirting with making Ubuntu my regular OS. I'm reading up on how to use it.
Thanks again!!! :thumb:

 

[Old Rich]

Glad you were able to salvage the data . . Probably worth running diagnostics on the hard drive by downloading the diagnostic tool for the hard drive brand and making a bootable disc.

Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.

 

[InkyDog]

Thanks again, Rich. I appreciate the link and will be running diagnostics. The prospect of an unreliable hard disk is terrifying.
Your help has been educational and appreciated! :smile:

 

[Old Rich]

Let us know how the tests come out