Computer problem, advice needed.

[powerdesal]

I (we ) need some advice.

Mrs PDs laptop has died. It's an Acer Aspire which will not boot up. It asks if 'automatic repair' is required and eventually indicates that the registry is corrupted.

The first thought was to use the recovery discs, unfortunately they appear to be lost in the move from Sharjah to France a few years ago.

The main problem is that we really need the data from the computer - yes, I know we should have backed it up but we didn't.

The question is - if we remove the hard drive and convert it to an external hard drive will we be able to read the data, given that the registry is corrupted on the vista OS.

Any ideas will be more than welcome.

[Pierre ZFP]

The answer is 'Yes probably'.  My son does this sort of stuff all the time.

But before you do that, have you tried booting in Safe Mode ?

Turn the laptop on and while it's booting, repeatedly hit the F8 key.  Once in Safe mode you may be able to get in enough to at the very least copy your data off

[woolybanana]

Try your local computer shop. It may seem trite, but they often have efficient solutions and are not so expensive.

Normally you can get the old disc drive out and use it. I have one. There are kits to put them in boxes and connect up easily which make life easy.

[PaulT]

You do not need a box - just plug it in to a spare power lead and HDD lead inside the PC.

The registry will not stop you from viewing as a drive - if you have a DVD on the PC this drive will probably show as the E: drive.

Copy all data off then try to sort the laptop drive.

[AnOther]

Use the problem as an excuse to get rid of that awful Vista !

If you attempt to install Windows 7 or 8, or even XP - ANYTHING except Vista ! -  it will ask if you want to keep your old version of Windows so if you choose that option when the new OS has been installed you should find a folder called Windows_Old, or something similar, and everything from Vista will be in it.

[powerdesal]

PaulT,

''You do not need a box - just plug it in to a spare power lead and HDD lead inside the PC''

Pardon my 'igorance' but I would really appreciate a simple Engineers guide to how I can do that.

ps Mechanical Engineer. :-)

[woolybanana]

Should have done Electrical!!

[PaulT]

[quote user="powerdesal"]PaulT,

''You do not need a box - just plug it in to a spare power lead and HDD lead inside the PC''

Pardon my 'igorance' but I would really appreciate a simple Engineers guide to how I can do that.

ps Mechanical Engineer. :-)[/quote]

As an ME then you should have attacked the PC and only asked when something had gone bang :)

Remove the side cover of the PC and inside you will see a cable going to the DVD/CD drive and there will also be a cable going to the PC hard drive.

Remove the hard drive from the laptop - will be under a screwed cover on the base of the laptop (under one you might find the memory but keep taking covers off until you find the hard drive. You normally push it back from the connector and then lift it out.

Now identify the type - if the centre of the power connector and data connector have a piece of plastic that turns down at the end then it is a SATA drive and if the data connector has about 40 pins then it is an IDE drive (do not worry about the terms you just need to identify the type).

If the PC has SATA drives - the data connector is smaller than an IDE drive then:

If the DVD/CD drive is also SATA take the leads from that and connect to the drive from the laptop. However, there may also be spare cables inside the box.

If laptop drive and DVD/CD are both IDE then use these connectors.

If laptop drive is IDE and DVD/CD SATA you can get connectors to go from SATA to IDE and vice versa.

Or, there are probably spare connectors on the motherboard if SATA and possibly an IDE connector as well.

Hope that is not too confusing.

[AnOther]

Paul, one word - LAPTOP !

[powerdesal]

Paul,

Very interesting and probably understandable but.......

We only have two laptops, mine is good, running Win 7, SWMBO has a dead Acer laptop running Vista ( or did !!! ). The dead laptop has all the financial data on money files etc. That's the data we are interested in recovering. It covers all this year and, unfortunately, cannot be duplicated any other way.

Yes - we really should have backed it up to an external store but we didn't. We will next time.

[Pierre ZFP]

I would still try the safe mode option, costs nothing and does no harm

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ss/safe-mode-vista.htm

[dave21478]

If safe mode and other recovery attempts dont work and the final solution is removal of the hard drive, then open up the laptop and remove the drive. Search the model number on youtube - there is probably a guide to taking it apart.

Identify if it is a SATA or IDE drive. Google images will show you which is which. It will be a 2.5" drive in either case.

If you have an ebay account, search for "2.5 SATA ( or IDE, whichever) enclosure". There are thousands to choose from, normally only three or four quid, often direct from for Far East. any will do. Bung your drive into it and connect to a working PC via the USB lead supplied with it and you should be able to access everything from the old drive.

If you dont use ebay, I would imagine you could find one in a computer shop, but probably quite a bit dearer.

When done, format the old drive and use it as a portable backup storage device to prevent repeat offences!

Alternatively, put the formatted drive back into the laptop and install a new operating system like Ubuntu. This may take some fiddling though, I am doing exactly this with my old Acer and while it works, the wifi and sound cards dont yet work - workarounds are available but take a little research and patience.

[Pickles]

I think there are two options, since you have 2 PCs:

1: download and install ubuntu or another Linux onto a USB stick and boot the dead PC from that

2: Take the disk out, put it in a cradle and connect it to the USB of your good computer.

[NormanH]

To expand on the linux solution:

You can read the Windows partition and data from the Linux OS on the USB stick.

Linux seems able to 'read across' in a way I don't remember from Windows , but I am very out of date in that area.

I retrieved data from a Windows 7 installation which refused to load like that, but it was on a PC not a laptop.

[powerdesal]

An update in case anyone has similar problems in the future :-

Got a 'PC repair' disc from e bay (uk), booted up the laptop as per the instructions, it uses a 'mini' version of XP to do that. Accessed the files we wanted, downloaded to a usb stick. Then initiated repair, it found 4617 bad sectors and repaired them

Finally restarted the crashed laptop and during start up accessed the Acer partition ( alt + F10 ) and initiated restore to factory settings, ie original vista installation only, all data / installed programmes removed.

The laptop is now running as per original.

[suein56]

[quote user="powerdesal"]The laptop is now running as per original.[/quote]

That is good news, well done.

It is amazing just what is available online to solve such seemingly unsolvable problems.

Only hoping your wife wasn't secretly hankering after a new laptop [:)]

Sue

[AnOther]

[quote user="powerdesal"]Then initiated repair, it found 4617 bad sectors and repaired them[/quote]I'd take that as a wake up call that the HD is failing, or should I say HAS failed, OK you've recovered it but you're on borrowed time !

[powerdesal]

I totally agree Ernie, we got the data back and a new laptop is arriving next week.