File Recovery after a System Recovery?

NapoleonDolemite · #1 04-13-2007, 10:36 PM

I don't know a lot about computers so forgive me if this sounds ignorant.

So I woke up today and my PC that I've had for a while took a giant dump. I had left it running and when I looked at the monitor there was a message on a black screen saying basically "sorry for the inconvenience but Windows didn't start properly" (I guess it restarted by itself, probably because of a new update from Windows).

So I had the option to re-start from the last known settings that worked, tried that, the screen just went blank and nothing happened, and it wouldn't re-start windows normally either when I powered it back on.

Basically I tried all of the options it listed and nothing worked, so I powered it back on again, hit F10 and tried to restore the system from that screen. Again, the screen went blank and nothing happened. So my last option that I see is to do a system recovery, lose all my files and data, and start over with the same computer.

I'm on my laptop now and the PC is in the proccess of recovering. To be honest I doubt that will work properly either, but just in case it does, is it true that you can recover files after this proccess using certain software? Does anyone have any recomendations on this?

I will probably go ahead and just get another desktop eventually, but it would be nice to get the files off of this one if possible. Is this possible?

LuckyTxGuy · #2 04-14-2007, 12:05 AM

Oh boy. When you say "system recovery" does that mean an XP repair or a true system recovery where the computer is restored to it's original, right out of the box, state? You might not know which one you are doing which is understandable.

If you are doing a full recovery, meaning over-writing the operating system to it's orginal new state....some or even alot of your data could be long gone. The rest could be recovered with the right tools and enough money.

If, on the on the other hand you are doing a Windows repair, all your data should be there safe and sound.

I'd like to think I've misunderstood and you haven't done anything at all yet. If that's the case, you can take the computer to a local computer tech shop and they can most likely easily pull your data off and back it up for $50-$100 or less.

As for recovering files after a true system restore....it's possible but not alot of fun. I've had random luck with different free software applications. It's not something I've done a whole lot of for customers, because luckily I've gotten my hands on the machines before they reinstalled Windows over their data.

Hopefully someone else will chime in with some more helpful info. Good luck

NapoleonDolemite · #3 04-14-2007, 03:45 AM

I went ahead and took the PC to Best Buy and they are going to run a diagnostic and see if any of the data can be recovered or if the PC is salvagable.

I was trying to just do a system restore initially but that wasn't working at all, so I got to the point where I had just decided to do a recovery back to the original factory settings. I'd done that before with an old PC so I knew my data was going to be gone.

Luckily, or maybe not, the recovery wouldn't work either. That's when I decided to take it in. When I did the guy started rattling off likely things they'd have to do to make it run again and then I realized I could almost buy a new PC for that, so I'm just going to see if they can salvage data from the hardrive.

I'll know by Sunday what they can do. Thanks for the reply Lucky!

UbinTook · #4 04-14-2007, 06:44 AM

Look into a program named "recover my files"...
http://www.recovermyfiles.com/
A friend of mine has a drive that had she had reformatted and reinstalled xp on TWICE...she scanned it with this piece of software and recovered over 2000 music files she thought she had lost.
SO i used it to look at a drive ( that the data had been deemed unrecoverable from by a comp store) for another friend and sure enough it found EVERY file that had been on the disk.
Solid piece of software that is easy to use.

LuckyTxGuy · #5 04-14-2007, 12:31 PM

Let us know what they say. I'm usually not a big basher, but the Best Buy Geek Squad is really becoming known for their overall incompetence, high prices and poor customer service. However, they do have some good knowledgeable employees at some of the stores and hopefully you'll get the right person to help you.

You brought up a good point about buying a new computer....if Best Buy tries to pile on a bunch of charges, tell them to forget it. You can buy a new desktop computer pretty cheaply now days. Heck I can help you spec out a very nice Dell laptop for about $800 or a very nice desktop for about $500 with a 19" monitor. I'd just hate to see you spend $300 to get the old desktop fixed.

Another thing that I'm slightly concerned about is that your hard drive might be dying/dead. The fact that it suddenly didn't boot then the system restores and recovery attempts all failed, along with basically everything you've tried all lead me to think it could be a bad hard drive. Hopefully not, because I know you want to get your data off. Hopefully that won't be the case and Best Buy will get you all fixed up for a good price. That is best case scenario.

Good luck!

NapoleonDolemite · #6 04-15-2007, 10:56 AM

I ended up buying a new tower (not from Best Buy) and added a video card so I could run dual monitors. It ended up costing me just under 500. It's definitely not the fanciest PC but it's faster than my old one and so far I like it.

My hardrive from the old one is toast unfortunately. I sort of suspected this after I had brought it in because of some pretty terrible noises it had been making leading up to the crash.

I still have the old PC though, and all I have to do to get it running again is put in a new harddrive and use the system restore disks that came with it, put on some Anti-virus, etc. I can get it running again for less than 150 bucks, but unfortunately my data is gone. I guess I learned to back things up more frequently...

It seemed like the Best Buy guy was saying there might be someway to connect the old hard drive after I've already connected the new one and maybe get something back, but this sounded way over my head and I might have just heard him wrong.

I appreciate the help!

LuckyTxGuy · #7 04-15-2007, 04:50 PM

Sorry to hear you didn't get your data. It really does sound like your drive died. I know what the Best Buy guy is talking about and it is something any computer shop could do for you very easily......if the drive is in working order. But if it's on the blink or already dead...not good at all.

Unfortunately, like you said, you learned a lesson about backing up. I hate that for you, but that's how most people learn. And yes, a new hard drive and the restore disks are all you need.

Good luck and I'm glad you got everything worked out.

erbbysam · #8 04-15-2007, 11:49 PM

If your hard drive at all recoverable this will be able to do it:
http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm
this won't help out windows but alot of the time the hard drive is to blame

LuckyTxGuy · #9 04-16-2007, 01:43 AM

I'm a SpinRite/GRC/Steve Gibson fan and SpinRite is definitely worth a shot but the OP mentioned the drive was making "terrible noises" which often indicates a physical hardware failure of the drive. That is something SpinRite can't fix. But it might still be worth a shot if his data is worth the price of the software.

Steve Gibson says it isn't a matter of IF a hard drive fails but instead WHEN.