[b]Salvaging data on failing hard drive[/b]

[Jimdeb03]

The Harddrive on our HP N5310 laptop is failing; it no longer wants to boot up. Run Scandisk and it found numerous bad clusters.

The laptop will start using a Windows ME boot disk where you can see the C:\ drive and all it's files. HP in its infinite wisdom delivered the laptop with a ghost re-install cd that wipes out the hard drive upon re-installation.

If I had a legit Windows ME disk, could I re-install without losing any data?

I tried using Interlnk/intersvr through the parallel port connected to another PC but upon trying to copy from the laptop; a message states to the affect the FAT table is corrupt. The connection is valid since I'm able to copy from the laptop's A: drive to the other PC with no problem.

Copying from the laptop C: to the A: drive works OK but would take forever.

I just want to transfer all files from the bad HD but have been unable to find a solution. I'm assuming both PC's are FAT 16 or else Interlnk wouldn't work.

Is there a method for copying files from a failing hard drive that I've missed?

thanks
Jim

 

[bcastner]

You can usually find an inexpensive IDE adapter that would allow you to install the drive temporarily on a desktop computer using standard IDE cables. Install it as a slave hard disk to a desktop computer, and use standard Windows commands to copy the drive contents.

You might also consider using chkdsk or the drive manufacturer's utility software (visit their website) to attempt a repair of the drive.