Dell laptop issues
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Joined: Oct 2002
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From: The Big, Oregon
Dell laptop issues
I have a Dell laptop that recently crashed on me. Everything was running fairly normal, shut it down, and got an "unmountable boot volume" error when I turned it back on. I looked around online and found a couple fixes to try, chkdsk ran to about 25% then said it was unrepairable, and fixboot wouldn't do anything. The crappy part is that there are a bunch of pics of my son on there that it would be nice to have.
Do I have any options? Would i be able to hook this HD into my desktop as a slave and pull the files off it?
Do I have any options? Would i be able to hook this HD into my desktop as a slave and pull the files off it?
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 19,402
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From: Bonita Springs FL
You can get an adapter to do that, but there are also a couple other options. You can try to recover it with the Windows install CD - what version of windows do you have? You can also try a 3rd party recovery disc if you are good with Linux. I have one called trinity rescue CD and it has the drivers to mount NTFS volumes. It saved my butt once.
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Joined: Aug 2005
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From: MA
I have a Dell laptop that recently crashed on me. Everything was running fairly normal, shut it down, and got an "unmountable boot volume" error when I turned it back on. I looked around online and found a couple fixes to try, chkdsk ran to about 25% then said it was unrepairable, and fixboot wouldn't do anything. The crappy part is that there are a bunch of pics of my son on there that it would be nice to have.
Do I have any options? Would i be able to hook this HD into my desktop as a slave and pull the files off it?
Do I have any options? Would i be able to hook this HD into my desktop as a slave and pull the files off it?
How does the drive sound?? is it very noisy??
You can't put it in the desktop unless they are both SATA drives.. If it is IDE then you need an external enclosure to put it in first..
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Apex, N.C.
Get one of these,
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=T925-1219
Plug it in to your desktop or another laptop, put the faulty laptop drive in the freezer for a couple of hours.
After you remove the drive from the freezer, immediately place it in the dock.
Explore the drive to find the files you want and drag and drop them to a location on your desktop. I usually put a folder on the desktop.
I have recovered many files this way from faulty drives.
They make these for IDE drives also...
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...&Sku=T925-1219
Plug it in to your desktop or another laptop, put the faulty laptop drive in the freezer for a couple of hours.
After you remove the drive from the freezer, immediately place it in the dock.
Explore the drive to find the files you want and drag and drop them to a location on your desktop. I usually put a folder on the desktop.
I have recovered many files this way from faulty drives.
They make these for IDE drives also...
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 19,402
Likes: 38
From: Bonita Springs FL
Putting hard drives in the freezer is a REALLY bad idea. Do not do this. What happens when you take something out of the freezer? Condensation. What happens when you get electronics wet? Bad stuff.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 2,433
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From: Apex, N.C.
Andy, please reread my post. I said immediately remove from freezer and place in dock. I realize there is condensation.
I've been doing this for years even with locked up drives and if there is any possibly of data recovery it works. Some people don't have thousands of dollars to pay a data recovery team with a clean room to recover the drive's contents.
I would also like to add that if you are not sure if its the drive, try another drive in the computer. Don't chance doing further damage to the drive testing the board/controller and such by using it to test with.
I've been doing this for years even with locked up drives and if there is any possibly of data recovery it works. Some people don't have thousands of dollars to pay a data recovery team with a clean room to recover the drive's contents.
I would also like to add that if you are not sure if its the drive, try another drive in the computer. Don't chance doing further damage to the drive testing the board/controller and such by using it to test with.
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 19,402
Likes: 38
From: Bonita Springs FL
You can do what you wan with your hard drives, but I don't think it's a very good idea.
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Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Apex, N.C.
From what info. he gave so far, sounds like the drive is toast. That's why I suggested what I did.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 19,402
Likes: 38
From: Bonita Springs FL
It doesn't sound like a bad hard drive to me, it sounds like one of the boot files got corrupted. That's why I suggested the recovery CD or the OS install CD.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Apex, N.C.
Andy, It could very well be the Boot files, however if someone brought me a drive that chkdsk only gets 25% and Fixboot won't repair it, I don't chance it being the files. His priority is to save the pictures. The pictures are not replaceable and drives are cheap.
Just trying to help without being able to see it.
Just trying to help without being able to see it.
Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 19,402
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From: Bonita Springs FL
Always try the simple stuff first. Putting a hard drive in the freezer might work, but I would only try it after EVERYTHING else failed. Suggesting that someone try this as a first step is kinda irresponsible IMO. You don't know even know for sure that the drive has failed - you're only guessing based on a vaguely-relayed message that chkdsk only got 25% before it said it couldn't fix the problem.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Apex, N.C.
I suggested it as first step due to him wanting to save some files. If it is indeed the drive, what do you do when it finally dies messing around hoping its the file system.
Might be irresponsible to yourself, however I've saved numerous people and company's heartache recovering files from faulty drives. (98% success rate)
I didn't reply to this thread to get into an argument as to what is exactly wrong or how to fix it. I can't see it from here. I'm merely making suggestions from the symptoms and what he stated he did to try to fix the problem.
OK, I've offered my opinion, and I'm done here!!!
Ford_Six, good luck retrieving your files...
Might be irresponsible to yourself, however I've saved numerous people and company's heartache recovering files from faulty drives. (98% success rate)
I didn't reply to this thread to get into an argument as to what is exactly wrong or how to fix it. I can't see it from here. I'm merely making suggestions from the symptoms and what he stated he did to try to fix the problem.
OK, I've offered my opinion, and I'm done here!!!
Ford_Six, good luck retrieving your files...
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Joined: Oct 2002
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From: The Big, Oregon
Personally, if the solution works, and I can get what I need, I don't care what happens to the drive afterwards. It is a bit older of a laptop, and it's running XP. I didn't notice any odd noises, and the last time I fired it up the HD "click" didn't sound any different.
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