Laptop died - need info from hard drive

Had a user's laptop crap out this morning. Says a corrupt Windows file. It will not repair at all with an XP disc, and I need to get some very important information off it and onto a spare laptop.

Could I place this drive in a usb enclosure, and grab the info that I need that way?

The actual error message as follows:

Could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt - c:\windows\system32\config\system

I need to make a trip to Micro Center anyway, so thought Id pick up an enclosure. If it works, then Ill trash the drive and use it for a small backup.

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Comments

joecontreras

You can boot to the recovery console and then run chkdsk /r to see if that would fix it.

If you are just pressed for time and need the files off quickly then an external enclosure should do the trick as long as the hard drive itself isn't bad.

Also, if the above solution doesn't work there are several other ways to fix this problem, just Google your error message and you will find all of them.

Good Luck!

wd40

yes it should work,

before you do that try the following:
boot into the recovery console and see if there is a system.xxx file "I'm not too sure about the extension" .. it should be in
c:\windows\system32\config\

if you find it let us know the size and extensions "there are several system files in that directory"

snokerpoker

wd40 wrote: »

yes it should work,

before you do that try the following:
boot into the recovery console and see if there is a system.xxx file "I'm not too sure about the extension" .. it should be in
c:\windows\system32\config\

if you find it let us know the size and extensions "there are several system files in that directory"

There are a couple of ways you can fix this. The best bet is to take the hard drive out of the laptop, connect it to an external enclosure and see if you can get the files you need off. If you are able to get the files off, you should restore the registry. This can be achieved by copying over all the registry files from c:\windows\repair to to c:\windows\system32\config. As a warning this will restore the registry to the state it was in when windows was first installed. Below is the syntax from the recovery console commands to do this. Good Luck!

cd c:\windows
md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak
delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
delete c:\windows\system32\config\default
copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default
exit

dynamik

Look into getting one of these: Newegg.com - Adapters & Gender Changers,sata ide usb

Very useful!

undomiel

snokerpoker wrote: »

There are a couple of ways you can fix this. The best bet is to take the hard drive out of the laptop, connect it to an external enclosure and see if you can get the files you need off. If you are able to get the files off, you should restore the registry. This can be achieved by copying over all the registry files from c:\windows\repair to to c:\windows\system32\config. As a warning this will restore the registry to the state it was in when windows was first installed. Below is the syntax from the recovery console commands to do this. Good Luck!

I would save that as a last resort as 9 times out of 10 the previously mentioned chkdsk /r will fix things. Another option as opposed to restoring the default registry is doing a manual system restore. Take a look through this link as it gives detailed info on options you can take, including snokerpoker's option. How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting

Bokeh

Thanks for all the suggestions. After an almost hour wait in the pick up line at Micro Center, I finally had someone pull my order. Came back to the office and am able to get the user's data. Now just have to wait for them to come back from lunch to see exactly what they need.

dynamik

I'd image the drive, just to be safe. I doubt they completely know

Seriously, they will probably come back a week or two later and ask for something else...

Peibol

Give a try to

GRC|Hard drive data recovery software

awesome application

wd40

dynamik wrote: »

I'd image the drive, just to be safe. I doubt they completely know

Seriously, they will probably come back a week or two later and ask for something else...

+1000
We had a manager asking for 2 years old files of a staff that resigned more than 6 months ago.

Agent6376

It's actually possible to replace those hives with good copies from a system restore. Obviously if you have the option of imaging it, it's going to be your most reliable bet-but I've come across this issue many times and unless it's a bad hard drive, I'll tell you what works.

This is assuming that system restore is turned on within the OS.

Pull the drive and slave it to another machine.
Check C:\System Volume Information\_restore(jumbled text here)\RP(X)\snapshot where X = 3 to 4 restore points from your latest and verify that the following files are available:

1. _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM
2. _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
3. _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
4. _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
5. _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT

Navigate to C:\Windows\system32
Rename config to config_old
Create a new folder named config
Copy the above mentioned hives from the system restore point over to the new config directory.

Once the files have been dropped into the newly created config folder, you have to rename them-getting rid of the _REGISTRY_MACHINE prefix (and the same applies to _REGISTRY_USER).

For example: _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE gets renamed to SOFTWARE

Once you've done this, reboot the machine and profit. This gives you the option of restoring only the registry on the machine and you won't necessarily have to reinstall all programs that have been installed since your Windows install.

And as wd40 stated, sometimes a chkdsk /r will repair this issue.

Good luck!

ally_uk

Use a Linux Live CD boot up into a live enviornment mount the disk if it isn't found and recover the files that way. Then throw your copy on windows in the bin and replace with Linux job done.

Only joking but using a Live CD could be a quick way to recover your data. Other option is to set the drive to slave pop it into another Machine and pull the data off that way.

Just some alternative ways of doing stuff,

Invest in a External HD, and keep your data backed up on that or setup a FTP.