Critical system problem

I hate to say it, but that really does not help me. Replacing the hard drive isn't a problem, but the files that I have on the hard drive are extremely important. I need to know what I can do to rescue the files on the hard drive before I do anything else.

If the drive died, there may be no getting the files off short of paying for professional recovery services. So, time to go fishing out your most recent backup. If you don't have any backups, then you really only have yourself to blame.

You can try Bob's Linux Live CD idea (and just as a tip, try googling it), but I'm not so sure you're going to have any luck with that. It sounds an awful lot like the drive is just dead, and never to rise again.

I thank you for trying to help, but I must say, I did not find your replies helpful at all. Perhaps your files are all safely stored in an external HD or you simply have no files that you would miss if your hard drive crashed. But for me, this was a very scary situation. Ten years of files were on that hard drive. And even though I managed to recover all of them, it's taught me a valuable lesson on backing up files.

I did not like the negative wording and how you were certain that not only was my hard drive dead, but that my files were likely gone and my HDD was "never to rise again." Considering the state of worry that I was in, it didn't help to read that. And even though you WERE right, being a bit more positive would certainly help you in any future topics you decide to help people with.

Have a great day!

How would I go about obtaining one of those?

Type UBUNTU on google.com and the first hit is this popular version. It has the downloads and how to create the bootable LIVE CD that we can boot and don't have to install.

Here's an OLD web page where I shared this a few years ago -> http://tips.oncomputers.info/archives2004/0401/2004-Jan-11.htm
Bob

Well, it worked and my files are indeed intact. I am in the process of transferring my most important files to a USB stick at the moment. Now, if the problem is with the hard disk, how badly damaged is it? All my files are just fine, but when I listen to it reading, there is a quiet, rhythmic "clicking" that I don't recall hearing before.

If I replace my hard drive, how do I know what hard drive to buy that will be compatible with my computer? Should I buy one with the same amount of memory as the original? When I install the new hard drive, am I able to simply use the "Windows recovery" disc that I got with my computer to reinstall the same copy of Windows XP?

Thanks very much for this!!

Sorry but I don't have enough clues to tell you what recovery software to try next. Over in the CNET Storage Forum at the top are the usual recovery titles but you are using the best one first by getting what you can't lose out of the drive.

AFTER the saving we can try one thing but as you know, nothing is certain. That's why we backup first.

Ready? Using our bootable XP CD we boot and head to the Recovery Console. It's not hard since we are going to use ONE command and ONE command only to see if it's a common problem. Let's save more heroics till later.

I've subscribed so I will get an email when you or others post here.

Here's the command I'd try first. CHKDSK C: /F

Need to read about it? Here's a link -> http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/chkdsk.htm (there are more if you want to find them.

RECAP: I suggest heading to the XP RECOVERY CONSOLE command line and use of the CHKDSK on drive C: with the /F (fix) command.
Bob

Are you suggesting I try to save the current hard drive? Because I'm at the point where I'm ready to buy a new one, but I need to know specifically what to get. What happened is I don't have an external hard drive and I have more files than my USB stick can handle so I was going to be buying an external HD to backup ALL my files and then install the new internal HD.

When I asked about XP, I have a disc here that came with my computer labeled "OPERATING SYSTEM Already installed on your computer; Reinstallation DVD; Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Version 2005 with Update Rollup." Yes, old, I know, but I'll be applying Windows Updates soon after.

Well, I transferred all my files to the external HD with Ubuntu, replaced the hard drives and installed XP. All in all, it took about 11 hours to do everything. However, I'm not out of the woods yet.

I'm having a couple minor problems I'm certain can be easily resolved. For one thing I'm not getting a sound level. It tells me in Sounds that there are no devices detected anywhere. Another small detail is that I'm not getting an internet connection detection. When I plug in my modem, nothing happens on screen. Local Area Connections also has no connections at all.

Thanks again very much for your help!

Ignore last message about the minor problems, I found a driver CD that fixed everything.

Once again, thanks!

All the files safe is the best part.