Want to recover hd data through dos but can:t!

[magillama]

When I restarted my XP Media Center Edition Toshiba laptop, I got the following error:

can not restart because the following file is missing or corrup: system32/config/system

although i have found suggestions on the internet for how to replace that file, toshiba did not provide a startup disk for windows, nor will they, and they said using someone else:s startup disk will not work (not that anyone has xp media edition). microsoft said they won:t support it because i bought it from toshiba.

it won:t start in safe mode or any of the other modes offered on the computer. i:ve accepted that i:m going to have to restore the computer BUT i of course want to pull my data off first (no, it wasn:t backed up!!).

the toshiba guy suggested i make a bootable dos disk, but since there is no floppy, he said i could go to the command prompt and make a bootable cd rom. however, this is not working.

so, my questions are as follows:

1. how do i create a dos bootable cd-rom? (i have found other posts on this BUT the links offered are no longer accessible)...i:m not familiar with how to do things like this AND i will be using a computer in an internet cafe to do this.

2. how do i pull data off my hd, using dos or some other way? ie, what:s the best way to get data off my hd now that i can:t run windows? everything is either in the my documents folder or on the desktop.

help!! oh, and i:m in japan for the year so i can:t access a lot of forums out there on this subject, like the one offered by toshiba, because i:m in a different region. my research has stalled because of this problem!!!

maggie

[glc]

1. Buy a new hard drive, install it, and do the restore with the Toshiba media.

2. Install the old drive in a external USB housing made for 2.5" notebook drives, plug it in, and rescue your files.

3. Reformat the old drive.

4. Use the external drive for BACKUPS so you don't get in this pickle again.

[magillama]

well, there is nothing wrong with the HD itself. i just want to pull the files off before i restore. wouldn:t making a dos CD enable me to do this? i was told by the toshiba guy that if i got into dos, i could just copy the files to a dvd or usb or something. nothing is wrong with the computer except that one file is missing (do to a massive mistake i myself made)

alternatively, is there some way to connect my laptop to a computer with cables or something and have it there as an external HD that i can then pull files off of?

[glc]

Nope, you need some kind of external media even if you boot with something like a BartPE CD - and I doubt you can pull this off in an Internet cafe. What I suggested will not require another computer for anything and an external backup drive is something anyone who has important files should have. If you can use a desktop computer in an unrestricted fashion, you can pull the drive and use a USB adapter to copy files off - but you will still need a way to copy them back. Trying to use DOS to get files off an XP drive just isn't going to happen.

Just for your info - the error you are getting is very frequently caused by a hard drive that's developing bad sectors.

[magillama]

thanks. good to know about the bad sectors aspect!

i:ve solved the data recovery problem. i managed to get ahold of another version of windows (toshiba doesn:t supply a copy of the startup disk even though i purchased the software from them, which is b%&"s%$!). i installed the second copy on my hd leaving the first copy alone. i then could access the files through the new copy of windows. however, i was unable to use my dvd to burn, but it would read dvds...so i slowly but surely transfered everything to a new computer using my usb drive and burned on the new computer. now i guess i:ll just restore the computer to factory settings with the recovery disk.

i:m much relieved, to put it mildly!! woo hoo!

[glc]

I would advise you to run diagnostics on the hard drive before you go too much farther. If it is in fact developing bad sectors you need to replace it.