How to Recover Data from an Inaccessible Hard Drive in WinXP

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Put the XP CD in the top CD/DVD drive;

   Press 'ENTER' again when it says "press any key to boot from CD"
   
   ,,,,,,,, Use a new/different user name than the one you had before.
   
   Make sure you've got your Windows product key to put in! ,, Or if you can't stand doing that, install your drivers and applications and let the bad copy of Windows haunt your computer for the rest of it's life. , ...
   
   If you have access to another machine and a CD burner, go download the Mepis** Linux LiveCD, and boot to that instead.
   
   You should be able to access all of your data, even for older versions of Windows.
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   Step 2: Turn off computer (you may need to hold the power button down until the system shuts off).

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   Step 3: Turn on the computer and tap 'F12' every 3 seconds (if you tap too rapidly and get a keyboard error

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   Step 4: return to step 2)

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   Step 5: In the Boot Device Menu that comes up

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   Step 6: highlight your CD-ROM drive then press 'ENTER'.

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   Step 7: Press 'ENTER' when it says "Welcome to Setup"

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   Step 8: Press 'F8' to agree to the MS Windows EULA license.

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   Step 9: Press 'ESC' key when it asks you which Windows installation you'd like to repair.

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    Step 10: Highlight the partition in the list with 'C:' to the left of it and press 'ENTER'.

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    Step 11: This screen should say "You chose to install Windows XP on a partition that contains another operating system..." Press 'c' to continue.

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    Step 12: Select "Leave the current file system intact (no changes)" and press 'ENTER'

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    Step 13: This screen should say "CAUTION:..." Press ESC key to install into a different folder.

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    Step 14: Change "\Windows" to say anything else

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    Step 15: for example type "\Windows2" to identify the second copy you're installing.

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    Step 16: Go through the normal Windows setup.

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    Step 17: To access your data (finally): go to Start -> My Computer -> Local Disc C: -> Documents and Settings -> Your old user named folder will contain all of your precious documents.

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    Step 18: Burn them onto CD/Copy on USB drive and reinstall windows so that there's only 1 copy of Windows on the machine.

Detailed Guide

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