Comp Died

ddogt432 · Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 10:27 pm Post subject: Comp Died

my comp pretty thoroughly crashed on me this morning. was working fine, albiet sluggishly when i tried to restart it, but it never came back up. after a very long time in the Windows loading screen, it goes to boot options. i tried each and every option, from safe mode to boot normally, and nothing worked. i'm pretty sure i didnt catch a virus, and my roommate said my registry was probably screwed up. taking his advice, i tried to install two different versions of linux to attempt to rewrite my registry with the one from my laptop. both installations were interrupted and never completed at the exact same point.

frankly, i dont really care why it crashed anymore. here's what i do want to know:

if i were to install another OS on a different hdd and boot from there, could i still access the data from crashed if i stuck it in as a slave or cable select?
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Jsy3k · Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2007 11:25 pm Post subject: Re: Comp Died

Lucifer · Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 1:47 am Post subject:

I don't know about the Linux OS but you could try something for Windows, provided you have a Windows installation cd.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Scroll down to *Manual steps to recover a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting*. Make sure you copy them down on a paper so you can refer to them later.

Renzoken · Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:15 am Post subject:

You should be able to access the files. Unless you put it on your desktop or My documents. Depending on what options you picked for your documents, you might be able to access it.
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thugangel · Ronin Samurai Joined: Aug 27, 2005 Posts: 713

You tried to install Linux on the crashed drive? How did you do it? As far as I know, that would require formatting the drive or partitions unless you've resized the Windows partition or have already prepared free allocations for the installation.If the wanted partitions weren't touched, then yes, you should be able to access the data from the suggested method.

Nexweb · newbie! Joined: Jul 13, 2005 Posts: 48

If you have a live version of a linux distro that could handle the ntfs format, then you could just stick the cd in, navigate to the hd, and copy all the files you needed to a usb stick or external hd. Knoppix should be able to do the job. Here is a link to a guide on how to do it.

http://www.shockfamily.net/cedric/knoppix/

ddogt432 · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 12:44 pm Post subject:

thanks for all the help guys. i went and got myself an XP pro disc ($22 at uni store) and installed on a spare hdd my roommate had lying around. gonna transfer my files and wipe the drive.

right now, i'm only using the 'mate's drive to transfer files, but i've been toying around with using it for windows dedicated drive with my previous drive as a (anime)slave =P. the roommate says i'll see a really big drop in performance, since my old drive was 7,200 rpm and 8mb cache while the one i'm using right now is only 5,400 with 2mb cache. does it really make that big a difference?
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Renzoken · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 2:33 pm Post subject:

I would use the 7.2k for windows, and the 5.4k HD for storage. HD is the slowest component of a computer. I definitely wouldn't want to give in even more performance by using a 5.4k rpm hd. How big the difference would be, i have no clue, it depends on your 7.2k and 5.4k hd stats. Like if they are sata or IDE, and than you still got u-ata 100/133 and the list goes on.
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ddogt432 · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:48 pm Post subject:

bummed hdd with xp currently installed:
20gb, 5400rpm, 2mb cache, ATA100

hdd being wiped
160gb, 7200rpm, 8mb cache, ATA133

so obviously, the old hdd is faster. my thing is that i like my OS seperate from the rest of my data. so, as it's already on the smaller 20gb, i figured it'd be more convinient to keep that as my OS drive and use the full 160 for storage, rather than losing more space to partitioning (like i had previously).
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thugangel · Ronin Samurai Joined: Aug 27, 2005 Posts: 713

There is a huge difference between performance. But if you don't notice much of it, then you don't really hafta worry about it. That 20GB 5400RPM hard drive can always be replaced later anyway. It looks like you're pretty much set. o_o

Jsy3k · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:07 pm Post subject:

ddogt432 · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:52 pm Post subject:

thanks for all the help guys.
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subbergod · Naginata Ashigaru Joined: Mar 02, 2006 Posts: 553

[quote]bummed hdd with xp currently installed:
20gb, 5400rpm, 2mb cache, ATA100

Hah, I did the same thing once, with a 20 gig and 160 gig. I'll tell you this: It won't work long. There are some files automatically copied to c drive and some things that can only be installed on c. It will fill up fast. Back up your files on a dvd, and clone the 20 gig hard drive onto the 160 gig after formatting it. It saves having to ever buy xp as well.
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