Getting files of laptop to external. Options

[Waterfall]

Okay,
I have a Dell Inspirion 14z-N411z that was purchased in July 2012. Well, now I have to send it back to Dell and have the hard drive replaced. It will not boot. Just gets to the windows logo and stops. What I am trying to do is get my information off using the command prompt in the recovery console. It's not working. I have tried copy and xcopy. Some stuff went somewhere, but not to my external. How do I get my files before I send it in to Dell? Thank you guys!
Forgot to mention. I have Windows 7 Home Premium, 64 bit. Oh, and I have tried going back to a previous version, running system repair from com and repair cd. At first it was supposed to be a corrupt ACL file.

This post has been edited by Waterfall: Nov 13 2012, 06:08 AM

[paws]

Hi Waterfall,
Glad to hear that you managed to copy off your important stuff... I guess its just a question now of you being able to find it?

I have tried copy and xcopy. Some stuff went somewhere, but not to my external.

1 It would be good to copy the data files to an external (USB hard drive)...here's the information on how to do that:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/93347...ry-console.html

There are some alternatives:
2 You could boot into a live distro of Linux Puppy (which will run entirely within RAM) and use Puppy to copy across, folder by folder, to a memory stick or external USB hard drive, all your important stuff.
Details available from here:
http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20and%...g%20Started.htm

3 I would be inclined not to remove the hard drive from your computer because of possible warranty implications, unless you receive and record Dell's agreement to this...if they do agree then you can use either a USB hard drive caddy or "slave/add" it to another computer. to copy across your data files.
If you are not comfortable working inside your computer or do not understand fully the personal safety and ESD (anti static) precautions necessary then you could ask a local competent computer technician to perform these actions for you.
Regards
paws

[Waterfall]

Thank you for your help.

I tried option one. It did not work. No files on my external drive. Just to go over what I did.

Load drivers.
Navigate to C
right click Users
Copy
Navigate to F (external)
right click paste

I tried it a few times in a folder and not.

I am moving on to try option 2.

Update: The Second Option worked great. I will be keeping the program.

This post has been edited by Waterfall: Nov 13 2012, 09:09 PM

[Doug]

Waterfall

Good to hear that the offered solution helped.
Thanks for letting us know.
Good luck with Dell!