It would really depend on how far gone the drive is.. If you have your windows CD you can try to boot to the recovery console command prompt with maybe a usb thumb drive attached and see if you can copy data from the drive.

If that works then you may be able to use a larger thumb drive or external HD to get the rest of your data.. If the drive is not accessible that way then you will have to go the expensive route with a company like drive savers. A Linux live Cd should also work.

When I had the same error on my hard drive. I used the LINUX Fedora distribution. I booted from a USB and managed to copy my data to an attached external hard drive. I suggest you try doing so immediately.

For this you need an external hard drive and a USB flash drive.

To create a bootable Fedora USB you will need the FEDORA .iso (probably the 32 bit will do) and you will need the Universal USB installer.

Launch the universal USB installer select Fedora 17, select the .iso, select the USB drive, opt to format and click create. Then select yes. Alternatively create a bootable CD/DVD by burning the .iso with imgburn.

Power up your system. At the Dell BIOS screen press F12

Insert the Fedora CD/DVD or USB and external hard drive and power down your system. Press F12 at the Dell BIOs screen and select boot from CD/DVD or from USB respectively.

Select try fedora

Select close at the welcome to Fedora menu.

Select files to the menu on the left (filing cabinet icon)

Locate your OS drive in the upper left menu (in this case a 27 GB volume in VirtualBox).

Go to the Users folder and select your Windows username in this case "test"

Within this folder (On Windows Vista/7) are Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Favourites, Music and Videos.

Now to open a second folder. Go to the filing cabinet, as before but this time right click it and select New Window.

Next drag one window to the far left and the other window to the far right (Fedora has AeroSnap) so that you can view the two folders side by side. Navigate the other folder to your external hard drive.

Drag and drop, copy and paste files/folders as you normally would. Have a look throughout your drive to see if there is anything else you need to copy over.

You should use an external hard drive (preferably more than 1) to periodically backup your files/folders. You should also consider using an online service such as SkyDrive for really important files. For Windows Vista/7 you can install SkyDrive for Windows and for Windows XP you can visit SkyDrive Live and manually add files to the SkyDrive via your web browser.

Natakuc4, I am ecstatic that you've posted such a potentially life-saving guide, I just have a few questions.

I have the 64bit version of Windows 7; will Linux Fedora 32bit still work fine?

I'll have to buy both the external hard drive and the usb drive before doing this. Will a 1gb usb will be sufficient? I want cheap out on it so I can go big on the external hdd, or maybe get two of them like you suggested.

If I do succeed in salvaging my data, I assume the next step is to buy another 3.5" sata hdd and replace my corrupt one with it. I've never opened up my computer so I hope it's as easy as it sounds. Would it be a wise choice to install linux on

the new hdd? Though I suppose I should look up the programs I like to use and their compatibility with linux (flstudio, mixcraft, the fun stuff) instead of asking here. It just that I no longer have my Windows 7 cd and after using your guide I will have linux readily available.

I will go shopping and follow your guide at the nearest opportunity and post my experience. Thanks again for your time and your help.

-Bill

You can use either the 32 or 64 bit version of Fedora for these purposes it doesn't make any difference. The .iso is 645 MB so a 1 GB USB flash drive is ample.

What is the model of your Dell? Dell have Service Manuals which pretty much instruct you on how to remove every screw. How large is your original hard drive?

With regards to Windows 7 Reinstallation see my wiki A Clean Install of Windows 7 alongside my wiki Windows 7 .iso downloads. You should have your 25 digit product key on your Windows 7 COA

You should take a note of the 25 character key on your COA. This sticker is usually found on the base of laptops, although some people have reported them to be present under the battery. On a desktop they are usually on the top or side.

The .iso matching your version of Windows should work with your 25 digit product key and phone activation. Note if you are wanting to install Windows 7 from a USB (you should use a 4 GB USB stick or larger). These are relatively cheap on amazon Transcend JetFlash 500 8 GB Blue (US Link) ($6.94) or Transcend JetFlash 500 16 GB Green (US Link) ($9.56).

I personally would recommend you to stick with Windows 7 however you may of course try Linux if you want.

If the Dell system in question shipped with windows 7 and they are using the Dell reinstall disk a product key is not required.. Also the product key on most dell system are for licensing purposes only and will not activate retail copies of the operating system.

Also the product key on most dell system are for licensing purposes only and will not activate retail copies of the operating system.

They will with phone activation. I have done this on many an occasion.

Natakuc4,

I did what you said and got as far as rummaging through fedora. I can't access my old HDD, I get an error about there being no reply. Does this mean my files are inaccessible, or that I'll have to go the expensive data recover route? Also, it does not show up in the top left part of the menu where you specified, it shows up near the bottom of the list.

I tried to create an image of the hdd cuz I thought I could read it from another device and harvest my files, but it wouldn't let me do that either.

Even if the external hdd and usb stick didn't work, I am happy you suggested getting them. They came in a surprisingly cheap bundle.

-Bill

I will move this to the disk drives forums and also ask on the Rockstar boards if anyone else has any ideas.

You will need a new hard drive 3.5" SATA hard drive or you can consider getting a solid state hard drive for your desktop (see here).

If you can afford it, I would recommend getting a 128 GB or bigger solid state drive and installing your OS and programs on it (It depends on the model of your desktop). As you are using a desktop you can get a larger internal hard drive to install files on. The performance of the solid state drives is far better than that of the standard drive.

Hi Bill,

I think your only hope is putting your drive in an external enclosure, and purchasing a new drive.

Can you give me the model of your Dell? Do you have a Dell Windows reinstall disc?

I'll also suggest you think about a better data backup strategy.

I realize that people often pay lots off money to have experts do a data recovery and that there is no guaranteeing success and there is no refund upon failure (ridiculous, it is result-based service, not a labor-based project). I will buy any equipment that is necessary to save my data, but I am hesitant to waste my money being a noob and end up with useless hdd accessories. Please, is my drive salvageable? Does it sound I am on the right track to recovering my data or will I end up having to pa a professional?

I patiently await your replies. Thank you for reading this far and thank you even more for any help or feedback.

-Bill

Bill,

While there is no guarantee of success with professional data recovery services, Gillware is Dell's recommended provider and they do a very good job of displaying the exact results before you pay them anything.  They even pay to ship the dead drive to them.  They show you an electronic listing that shows you all the good and bad files, after seeing that list is when you ultimately decide whether or not to pay them.

If you want to try the software recovery route first, give them a call and tell them you want to try their RecoverBot CD.   They will ship you a self-booting CD that will attempt to analyze the file system and again show you what it can get and what it can't get before you pay for the software.  All you need is a USB drive bigger than your hard disk so it has a place to store the data to. 

I highly recommend giving them a call if you are still stuck.  877-624-7206.  Be sure to mention you were referred by Dell so you get the appropriate discounts.