Copying files from a corrupted drive using "xcopy" from the Command Prompt

[Seaview123]

Hello...

I was running a freeware defrag program when the process halted (prob. due to loss of power/sleep mode) and Windows no longer boots. Win7 startup repair does not restore the system. Using the Command Prompt I can still see my files, but I think I will have to reformat and reinstall to my factory original disks, which will reformat my hard drive and destroy months of data.

Before I do that, I want to try to save my files to an external drive, then reload them after the rebuild. I intend to use the 'xcopy' function from the Command Prompt to copy the entire c:\ drive to the external drive, then when my machine is rebuilt, copy all of my documents back.

I plan on using the "xcopy c:\*.* /a /e /k" command from inside the root directory of the external drive.

Will this work, and does anyone have any other advice for me to try before I reformat my drive?

Thank you for any help you can give...
Tom
Seaview123

[patio]

Use TeraCopy...

Slave Drive Tutorial...

[Seaview123]

Thanks, but I probably should have explained a little more... my computer is a Toshiba Satellite laptop (S505-6005). I'm not sure I'd be able to slave an additional hard drive on the SATA bus without some ... interesting modifications to the laptop chassis.

When I plug in a USB external hard drive, I can navigate to it through the Command Prompt, and hopefully that will allow me to transfer the files.

[Seaview123]

One more related question...

Since it looks like my copy of Windows 7 is damaged (computer will not boot from the c:\ drive) would it be worth it to buy a copy of Win 7 OS and reinstall it? Or does the Win 7 install format the drive as part of the install?

[patio]

8 Dollar solutin to the slave drive issue::   

2} Depends on where you got Win7 from...
More Details...

[Computer_Commando]

Thanks, but I probably should have explained a little more... my computer is a Toshiba Satellite laptop (S505-6005). I'm not sure I'd be able to slave an additional hard drive on the SATA bus without some ... interesting modifications to the laptop chassis.

When I plug in a USB external hard drive, I can navigate to it through the Command Prompt, and hopefully that will allow me to transfer the files.

Is the broken computer the Toshiba laptop?  If yes, you want to slave the drive to the computer you're using now.  If both are SATA, you don't need an adapter.

[Seaview123]

Thanks for all the help so far...

I'm taking 'patio's advice and using a disk adapter to transfer the files from my (Toshiba) laptop's hard drive to an external USB hard drive (Western Digital).

I had tried the MS Dos 'xcopy' command, but the files didn't all copy over, and the ones that did had some strange permission attributes. I even had a tough time deleting them off of the external drive (cyclic redundancy errors and "system file" warnings). I had been worried about a virus, and when I ran my copy of McAffe on the drive it found three problems, but they looked more like adware to me.

I have more questions now...

- I'm using my desktop to transfer the files from my laptop HDD to the external USB drive. After running antivirus scan, I opened the "My Documents" folder and was able to see my files. When I first tried to copy files between drives, I got errors saying I didn't have permission to open "My Documents".

The file transfer seems to be going alright, but what can I do about the permission problem? Will this affect my transfer of files?

Thanks,
Tom

[patio]

Take Ownership...

[gvstn]

You should be fine after taking permission of the My Documents folder.

Just as a further backup.  If you have room for an extra copy of your important files on the external you might want to give Minitools http://www.powerdatarecovery.com/ a try to see which files it thinks are recoverable. The program is free for home use and is very good.  It also gives the ability to create a bootable CD but you have gotten around that problem by slaving the HD to the desktop.