Recovering files from non-bootable XP?

A friend of mine's laptop corrupted it's Windows XP registry and it's now un-bootable. I was able, using an XP boot CD, to get into the filesystem and have full access and then I followed these instructions from Microsoft on how to resolve the problem.

To cut a long story short I now can't even get into the recovery console because I don't know the admin password and neither does my mate. I've gone through a number of admin password reset schemes with no luck and I'm getting more and more frustrated as I was so close and now I'm in danger of not being able to access the documents on the HDD at all :banghead:

In the last resort can I just whip the HDD out of the laptop, stick it into my PC and copy off the necessary documents? Will NTFS allow me to do that (the files are not encrypted) ?

Michael.

 

Yes, you can do that if your machine is running XP.

If you're running 2k, it has an older version of NTFS and can't read an XP disk.

Also, you'll need appropriate hardware to connect a 44-pin laptop drive to a 40-pin desktop ide connector and power connector.

 

Can you get to the recovery console, by booting the XP cd and selecting R, this only gets you to a dos window but you maybe able to copy the files off from there, I had this problem when my reg crashed (the sector on the HDD it was stored on when bad) and this is what I did.

As Issac said, yes you can do this, the adaptors are quite cheap off ebay.

 

I was able to get into the recovery console but I can't anymore as it's now asking for the admin password (unknown) where it wasn't before (before I copied in an old set of registry files).

Isaac - is a laptop to PC IDE "adapter" commonly available? Any idea where I can get one?

Michael.

 

That is odd, he must have setup something when first installed xp, I don't know how you get at it.
The notebook adaptors can be found on ebayhere.

 

Hi Michael,

Something like this should do it.

 

Thanks guys. Found that link above aswell. I'll see if I can get one from a shop around here as it's kind of urgent!

 

After the fact I know, but it does show the value of keeping your personal documents on a separate partition (or ideally a physically separate drive). If (when) this sort of thing happens you can reformat and reinstall windows in 2-3 hours (inc all apps) without impacting your documents.

 

Ouch Isaac, salt, wound .

Incidentally, can anyone recommend a good backup solution? I normally just copy important data to my Linux PC after mapping a drive to it.

 

Well, it's not my PC . Just want to confirm: if I re-install XP it's going to blow away everything in "Documents and Settings" isn't it, even if I don't reformat?

Michael.

 

if you upgrade from say 98 to XP, with XP install going over the top, all your documents stay unaffected, so i would expect the same if you reinstall XP - does the XP install give you the option of repairing a previous installation?

 

XP at first didn't give me the "repair" option. Once I'd restored the old registry files, it did - and it all seemed to be going fine but when it boots up after copy all the files etc it has the same admin password problem and can't get any further.

I have the feeling that a new install will kill any old documents

Michael.

 

I hope you can get it sorted.
One thing you could try is a repair install, boot the disk, go to install it will detect another windows install on the drive, you should then see the Repair option, press R, this will reinstall over the top but not delete anything, has worked a couple of times for me.
I have an over kill solution, I use a server machine, it handles printer, internet and file sharing, I setup my windows and linux machine to us this to store documents, then use a DAT drive to back it up, in the 5 years i've had it, not let me down yet!

 

This article seems to imply that you can do a full re-install and not lose your old Documents and Settings folder. I vaguely recollect having done this before but I want to be 100% sure the files are going to be preserved before trying this route.

Michael.

 

If you can get to the recovery console a chkdsk /r would probably sort the problem (it seems to fix a great many XP problems) - unfortunately the password problem makes that tricky

You can change/remove/add passwords to XP user accounts using a bit of software thats part of the EBCD rescue disk (See here), using a linux based utility, but it can get a little involved (I've done it countless times at the pc shop I work part time in) and there are certain things you have to do in the right order....TBH switching the hard drive from one machine to another is probably easier if you're only concern is the documents, and formatting and re-installing is otherwise okay!

 

I've already played with the EBCD stuff for resetting the Admin password but it seems to have no effect. I've tried blanking it or just setting it "admin" and then trying the console again - no joy . It suggests to me that something is seriously buggered in the SAM registry file.

Documents are the only concern now.

I've decided I'm going to use my spare laptop to try doing a Windows XP re-install whilst preserving everything to see if it really does preserve everything. If that works I can have a go on the buggered laptop.

Michael.

 

How are you exiting EBCD after saving the changes to the SAM file?

I always find it a little annoying/disingenous - a double tap of ctrl alt delete is no good even after saving the SAM file, theres a way you have to exit properly for it to actually work (which for the life of me I can't remember, typing exit or restart is worth a shot though after saving the SAM file and going back to near the start of the process). Of course if the rest of the registry is totally fubar then saving the SAM file correctly will make little difference

 

I just did a Ctrl-Alt-Del (which is what it says you should do). I also just ran EBCD a second time after blanking the admin password and it recognized the fact that the password was already blank so it would seem to have worked.

If I try a blank pwd in the recovery console though it still doesn't work so something is not quite right.

Michael.

 

I would advise not attempting to restore / repair the OS until you have got the data off – if the drive has any FAT errors or cross linked files then you could end up overwriting data. Whilst I've not tried this my guess would be that the easiest way of doing it would be to rip the HD out and plonk it in one of those small external 2.5†USB HD caddies – assuming it is not totally screwed it should mount and it means that you don't need to fart about inside a desktop PC to connect it up with an adapter.

Tony.

 

Certainly whipping out the disk and sticking it into another PC is the best solution but it's urgent and I don't know if I can find a 2.5" -> 3.5" adapter cable or similar here in Portugal at short notice (like, today or tomorrow).

Before I totally buggered things up by playing with the registry files I did a chkdsk and everything was fine so I'm pretty sure the HDD is fundamentally sound.

Michael.