59 replies to this topic

[leader2]

I had an old comp with Win xp installed (dell 400 mhz) and it had a problem that caused the os to need to be reinstalled. For some reason I had to put the drive as the slave because it wouldn't work as the master anymore. when I reinstalled the os it said it reinstalled on the slave drive which I thought was strange, but the computer did work and I was able to save files to it. When I got my new computer I took this drive out of the old computer and put it into an enclosure. I tried to retrieve the files I had saved on it, but they weren't there. It's like they had never been saved on that drive even though I had saved them on that drive on the desktop and in my documents. I checked those areas and the only files that were there were the ones that had been saved before I had to reinstall the os. It's like the os i had reinstalled had been virtual. I don't know how this happened and found it strange. Has this happened to anyone here before? And someone help me get those files off this drive? I tried to reinstall the drive back into the comp, but for some reason it wouldn't work and I couldn't do anything with it inside the old comp. I just want to get my old videos and an old mp3 off of there. I apologize if I'm not describing this properly. If anyone knows of any questions that they could ask that could help me explain it more clearly please ask. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

[Lee]

See my advice here covering the same sort of problem.

Cheers,
Lee

[leader2]

Hi Lee and sorry for the late reply. I tried Linux Puppy but it only revealed the files that were on the drive, before the problem occured and I had to reinstall the opsys. I didn't show the files that were on the drive after I reinstalled the opsys at all. It's like I never even added those files and like the opsys had never even been installed. What should I do Lee? I'm not really sure of how to proceed. Or am I explaining the problem properly? Please let me know and please give whatever more help you can.

[Jimbo1]

I had an old comp with Win xp installed (dell 400 mhz) and it had a problem that caused the os to need to be reinstalled. For some reason I had to put the drive as the slave because it wouldn't work as the master anymore. when I reinstalled the os it said it reinstalled on the slave drive which I thought was strange, but the computer did work and I was able to save files to it.

When I got my new computer I took this drive out of the old computer and put it into an enclosure. I tried to retrieve the files I had saved on it, but they weren't there. It's like they had never been saved on that drive even though I had saved them on that drive on the desktop and in my documents.

Hiya Leader2,

The advice Lee gave you was very good and the program Puppy is a nice one to use to retrieve files off a hard drive. The question I have to ask here is, when you said (I reinstalled the os it said it reinstalled on the slave drive which I thought was strange, but the computer did work and I was able to save files to it.) again the question is, by any chance when doing this install did the setup format the drive? If you choose the option to install a fresh copy of the os then I have a feeling you lost all your files and all you have at this moment is a hard drive with an operating system on it.

With Puppy and if all your files, music and other items should still be their, but if you ended up formatting the drive, then they are gone.

I checked those areas and the only files that were there were the ones that had been saved before I had to reinstall the os. It's like the os i had reinstalled had been virtual.

Again if you only did what we call a repair install, then only the os files should have been repaired or fix and the rest should be their, boot with Puppy again to double check everything you see all on that drive in every folder, if none of the files are on the drive, then as I was saying above formatting the drive wiped them all out. Check each folder and see if you do not have 2 folders of the Windows Operating system or by any chance make sure you do not have a folder called Backup or something like that, it may be possible all of your old files have been saved into a backup folder on that drive.

Jimbo1

[leader2]

I used the old hd and it had a lot of files on it several years ago. The drive had Winxp pro installed on it and it had a problem so the only way I could use it was as a slave. When I reinstalled the operating system I don't believe it reformatted the drive, because all of my old files from before I had the problem were there after starting using the drive again. It's like it just installed the os over the one that had the problem and allowed me to boot up and save files to it from there. I have used Linux puppy and checked the drive for the files and the only ones that were there were the ones that I had before the problem arose. Not the ones I saved after reinstalling the os. I also checked the drive recently in Windows and I couldn't find the files on this hd there either. You said they could be in a backup location. I have to wonder, since even though I can't find them the files are still taking up space on the drive as indicated by the space left on the drive. Where would the backup folder be Jimbo? Could you recommend a way to search this? Because I'm really not sure how to find the backup folder and based on my previous search I didn't see 2 different copies of the os on the drive. It must have repaired the drive since the old files were there, but I can't understand why I can't find them on the drive since they are indeed taking up space on the drive and I saved them to the desktop and my documents. Also I wasn't trying to say anything against Lee's article. I appreciated his help and someone actually suggested doing what he suggested in the past and it helped me to access some files I couldn't have accessed in years. It's just that I couldn't find the files on the drive this and was wondering what else I could do to find them. Thanks for any help you can give.

[Jimbo1]

Ok I was thinking this, If you are sure the drive has not been formatted, it rules that out. A good thing.
2nd. If you are seeing the drive with puppy I would say that is good and the drive is working.

So if possible if the drive is a slave and see if you can boot up with the machine, the os should see that drive as a slave and if it does, go to that drive and try folder options and the tab view, check the box marked - show hidden files and folders and see what happens/

If that does not work, I am a bit puzzle of why they are not showing up in Puppy, this is a good tool to use to get files or testing a hard drive, Lee or someone who live with this program may have an answer, I never ran into this before using puppy.

But anyhow if this does not work, you may try using that drive as a USB drive and hook it up to an USB port the kits do not cost that much to get, like the ones I use here in the shop, here is the link.

http://www.geeks.com...asp?InvtId=2020

or if you can go to your local pc repair shop and ask how much they would charge to copy the files for you.

Try those options and see what happens.

Jimbo1

[Lee]

It sounds like you have installed the operating system on the drive containing those missing files. If they weren't showing up when you used Puppy Linux, there just not there any longer especially if you accessed both drives with Puppy. Cheers, Lee.

[Jimbo1]

Leader2, I have to agree with Lee here, I just wanted to be sure even tho you said you did not format the drive, but just for the sake of it, when ever you install an os on a drive it does format that drive, so all data is lost. The only other way for the data not to be lost if you end up doing s repair install, but in your case my friend, I got a feeling the drive was formatted. I did a machine here and let the install process run and it does formt the drive during the first part of the setup, sorry. Jimbo1

[leader2]

Actually the drive wasn't formatted, because the files that were there I reinstalled the opsys are still there. It the files I added AFTER reinstalling the os that aren't showing up. Do you guys see what I mean. The files that were there before I had the problem and reinstalled the hard drive show up just fine which means the drive wasn't formatted when it was reinstalled. If it had been those files would have been wiped out. I used the comp with that os that had been reinstalled and and added MORE files to it. These are the files I am looking for. I have not reinstalled the opsys nor formatted the drive since that time. Can you both see what I'm saying? These files are taking up space on the drive, but I can't access them on the drive at all. They are there in terms of the space being taken up, but can't be accessed in terms of seeing them. See what I mean? That is what I am saying. Can you guys help me now that I have clarified this?

[Lee]

OK, I'm seeing a picture now. Make sure you are an "Administrator" in User Accounts and then go to Start / control panel / folder options / scroll down and mark "Show hidden files". You may have done the above already, but it's the first step to make sure of. What sort of data files were they (file types) and under what section of the PC did you put them? Where they in a folder, more than one folder and how many. Did you name them? If they are taking up space (how much?), it's a matter of working out why you can't see them. The answer to the above questions might help. Cheers, Lee

[leader2]

OK, I'm seeing a picture now.

Make sure you are an "Administrator" in User Accounts and then go to Start / control panel / folder options / scroll down and mark "Show hidden files".

You may have done the above already, but it's the first step to make sure of.

What sort of data files were they (file types) and under what section of the PC did you put them?
Where they in a folder, more than one folder and how many. Did you name them?

If they are taking up space (how much?), it's a matter of working out why you can't see them.
The answer to the above questions might help.

Cheers,
Lee

Thanks so much for your reply Lee. They were mp3 files and video files. I think like avi, mp4, wmv or so I'm not sure if they were any different other formats in video, but defiinitely video formats. They were on the desktop and in my documents in folders. I can't remember the exact name for the video folder it may have been MIXES, M2 or MIXMAKERS. The audio folder was like EXMINISTRIES.COM. I did name the files I can't remember the exact names, but the mp3 would have likely started 3-1-09 and the videos would have likely had the names of basketball players in them ie Shawn Marion, Latrell Sprewell, etc.

I'm not sure how much the space the files are taking up in an exact number, but it's likely several gigabytes or more.

Would showing hidden files and folders in Puppy help? I unhid the files in Admin, but there is nothing showing up on the desktop or My Documents or anywhere. I am truly puzzled as to why I can't see these files. I mean the os worked fine on my old comp and I was able to add the files to the desktop and My documents, but once I put the drive in the enclosure and it was no longer acting as a boot drive I could only see the files that were there before I reinstalled the os even though these files took up gigs of space. Had I known this I would have taken copied the files onto a flash drive before putting it in the enclosure, but I had no idea this would happen and now when I tried to put the drive back inside of the computer it wouldn't work and gave an error.

It's like the reinstalled os didn't even make any folders on the drive or a backup folder or save to the folders that were already there. it's like the reinstalled os was virtual or invisible and it's really frustrating me.

Thanks for whatever help you can give lee. Or if you could recommend a site I could go to for even more help I would appreciate it. I am anxious to get my files.

EDIT

I tried to put the drive back into the old computer and see if it would work, but the computer made a loud noise and gave this error message: Windosws could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not be read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware. Please check the windows documentation about the hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals additional information.


What does that mean and can that be fixed on my old computer so I can get the files there? Or will I have to try it from the enclosure, which so far has yielded no results? Please help me Lee. I have no idea what to do...

Edited by leader2, 26 September 2011 - 10:03 AM.

[terry1966]

can you clarify a few things for me.. 1:- were there 2 hard drives in your old pc? no 2:- you have 2 hard drives 1 in new pc and 1 in old pc both have an operating system on? yes 3:- the old hard drive is connected to the new pc as an external hard drive via usb and has the files on your looking for? yes 4:- the new hard drive is in the new pc and it's the one you use to boot into windows? yes now i'm thinking if the above is the case then when your using puppy, your seeing a windows hard drive(the one in the pc) and that's where your looking for the files and not finding them, so i think you may need to find the 2nd hard drive and look in it's folders for your files. not used puppy for a long time so can't tell you where the external drive would be mounted/named or if it's even mounted automatically, you may need to mount it before you can even see the external hard drive let alone the files on it. if your sure your looking at the right drive and still not seeing your files(even after using puppy to search for *.mp3 files) then the last resort would be to use "photorec" in puppy and see if it can find the lost/deleted files. you'll need a clean empty drive/partition to copy any recovered files too,"DON'T USE YOUR NEW PC'S DRIVE" to copy any files photorec finds to, IT WILL OVERWRITE your os and any files on the new hard drive if you make a mistake in your choices, rendering your new pc useless, so unplug it before booting into puppy to use photorec would be my advise.

Edited by terry1966, 26 September 2011 - 11:53 AM.

[Lee]

EDIT-
Sorry Terry, I have already typed this (slowly I'm afraid) and never saw your post, so I'm going to post it anyway as I have a different slant on what may have occurred
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
leader2,

Lets clarify a couple of things here as the waters are a little muddy.

You are talking about a HDD that was originally in an old PC with an OS (Vista?) on it and then used in a new PC. A new Vista OS was installed over the top of the old Vista without re-formating and you can no longer find the music and video files that were on it?

You put the HDD back in the original PC and received this message -

I tried to put the drive back into the old computer and see if it would work, but the computer made a loud noise and gave this error message: Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem

The error message you received is quite understandable. The old machine is not recognizing the HDD as Vista is no longer configured for it's hardware.

The new PC's OS may not have recognized the music or video files because they were put there by software that was probably not Windows Vista software and may have been deleted by the new Vista install. What is taking up space (probably) is something else which I'll get to in a minute.

As you have already said, all data you wanted to keep and especially music or video files, should have been removed while the HDD was on your old PC. When you used the HDD in the new PC it should have been re-formated first before adding the OS so all traces of the old PC's drivers and OS were removed. In the long run a clean start is always beneficial.

If Vista behaves as W7 does when a new OS is installed without re-formating, it creates a folder (probably just called "Vista" containing the old OS). A large stored folder taking up space. If anywhere, the music and video files may be in that folder, but it doesn't sound likely.

Have a look for that folder and right -click it and then click on "properties" and note it's size. Then see if it is possible to open for a browse.

Cheers,
Lee

Edited by Lee, 26 September 2011 - 01:12 PM.

[Jimbo1]

Check each folder and see if you do not have 2 folders of the Windows Operating system or by any chance make sure you do not have a folder called Backup or something like that, it may be possible all of your old files have been saved into a backup folder on that drive.

Jimbo1

May have not seen this in post 4, but Lee is right, & will create a backup folks of old files off an drive and this may be where your old files are.

Jimbo

Edited by Jimbo1, 26 September 2011 - 02:01 PM.

[leader2]

can you clarify a few things for me..

1:- were there 2 hard drives in your old pc? no
2:- you have 2 hard drives 1 in new pc and 1 in old pc both have an operating system on? yes
3:- the old hard drive is connected to the new pc as an external hard drive via usb and has the files on your looking for? yes
4:- the new hard drive is in the new pc and it's the one you use to boot into windows? yes

now i'm thinking if the above is the case then when your using puppy, your seeing a windows hard drive(the one in the pc) and that's where your looking for the files and not finding them, so i think you may need to find the 2nd hard drive and look in it's folders for your files.

not used puppy for a long time so can't tell you where the external drive would be mounted/named or if it's even mounted automatically, you may need to mount it before you can even see the external hard drive let alone the files on it.

if your sure your looking at the right drive and still not seeing your files(even after using puppy to search for *.mp3 files) then the last resort would be to use "photorec" in puppy and see if it can find the lost/deleted files.

you'll need a clean empty drive/partition to copy any recovered files too,"DON'T USE YOUR NEW PC'S DRIVE" to copy any files photorec finds to, IT WILL OVERWRITE your os and any files on the new hard drive if you make a mistake in your choices, rendering your new pc useless, so unplug it before booting into puppy to use photorec would be my advise.

1. Yes a master and a slave. The drive I have been referring to in this thread was the master until the problem occured that rendered it inoperable as a master, so it has been a slave ever since.
2.This old hd is NOT inside of my new pc. It's in an ENCLOSURE outside of my pc and yes it has os files still on it. my new pc has vista home prem 64 bit
3.yes
4yes

Ok how can I unplug the new drive and still boot the computer? I'm not sure I understand. Don't you need the pc drive to be plugged running so you boot into puppy? Could you clarify?

EDIT-
Sorry Terry, I have already typed this (slowly I'm afraid) and never saw your post, so I'm going to post it anyway as I have a different slant on what may have occurred
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
leader2,

Lets clarify a couple of things here as the waters are a little muddy.

You are talking about a HDD that was originally in an old PC with an OS (Vista?) on it and then used in a new PC. A new Vista OS was installed over the top of the old Vista without re-formating and you can no longer find the music and video files that were on it?

You put the HDD back in the original PC and received this message -

I tried to put the drive back into the old computer and see if it would work, but the computer made a loud noise and gave this error message: Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem

The error message you received is quite understandable. The old machine is not recognizing the HDD as Vista is no longer configured for it's hardware.

The new PC's OS may not have recognized the music or video files because they were put there by software that was probably not Windows Vista software and may have been deleted by the new Vista install. What is taking up space (probably) is something else which I'll get to in a minute.

As you have already said, all data you wanted to keep and especially music or video files, should have been removed while the HDD was on your old PC. When you used the HDD in the new PC it should have been re-formated first before adding the OS so all traces of the old PC's drivers and OS were removed. In the long run a clean start is always beneficial.

If Vista behaves as W7 does when a new OS is installed without re-formating, it creates a folder (probably just called "Vista" containing the old OS). A large stored folder taking up space. If anywhere, the music and video files may be in that folder, but it doesn't sound likely.

Have a look for that folder and right -click it and then click on "properties" and note it's size. Then see if it is possible to open for a browse.

Cheers,
Lee

No I am not talking about a drive that had Vista on it in an old pc. As I stated in my original post, the drive was in my old Dell 400 mhz and had WINDOWS XP HOME on it. It was never used in a new pc ever. Once I took it out of the old comp I put it into an ENCLOSURE and that was it. Maybe this will help you even further if it helps. The drive had win xp PRO on it when the problem occured, but when I reinstalled the os I installed win xp HOME. Vista was never on the drive and the drive was never put into a new computer for any purpose (os reinstall or otherwise) . When I put it back into the old comp from the enclosure I assumed it would just boot up as it normally had, but it didn't. That loud noise occurred and then that error message. The old comp couldn't recognize the drive as Vista since Vista was never installed on it. ONly Winxp pro the first time before the problem and then win xp home after the problem when I reinstalled and it worked fine for a while.

I am so sorry for all the confusion and reallly appreciate all of you guys help. But do you have any other suggestions? I didn't do anything to the dirve, but install it on an enclosure and now that I put it back in the old comp this error comes up even though the drive wasn't altered. Can this error be fixed? What can I do perhaps access the drive on the old computer? Is there a way? Please let me know or give any other advice you can. I really appreciate it all.

@ Jimbo I have checked the drive and didn't see any other folders, hidden or unidden with the files and there were no backups.

Edited by leader2, 26 September 2011 - 08:34 PM.