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Author Topic: Copying files from a corrupted drive using "xcopy" from the Command Prompt  (Read 7041 times)

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Seaview123

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    Copying files from a corrupted drive using "xcopy" from the Command Prompt
    « on: March 30, 2011, 12:41:42 PM »
    Hello... I originally posted this in the Windows 7 forum, but I think it's more of an MS DOS issue, and hopefully someone here can help...

    I was running a freeware defrag program when the process halted (prob. due to loss of power/sleep mode) and my laptop no longer boots from the hard drive when powered on. Win7 startup repair does not restore the system. Using the Command Prompt I can still see my files, but there are no 'autoexec.bat', 'config.sys' or 'command.exe' files on the root (and I'm not 100% sure that Win 7 even uses them). I think I may 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 the "my documents" 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?

    My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite 505 - s6005, and I'm running Win 7 Home and Office 64bit.

    Thank you for any help you can give...
    Tom
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    Re: Copying files from a corrupted drive using "xcopy" from the Command Prompt
    « Reply #1 on: March 30, 2011, 03:09:59 PM »
    1. The most conservative recovery method is to get another HDD for that laptop and install Windows. The make the old HDD a USB device using an adapter.

    2. Alternative to this is to use a Desktop PC to backup the original drive as a slave drive, using another type of adapter, if needed.

    3. Another approach is to boot a Linux distro from a USB device and see if you can locate important files and burn them to a DVD.

    4. Or, thaxter are some third party Windows tools that do what you would do with the Linux USB device. Check this:
    http://www.ubcd4win.com/howto.htm

    Otherwise, trying to recovery files using a corrupt system is often futile. And may even be destructive.
    And that is not just IMHO.
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