Broken Computer

My husband dropped my computer and I can not retreive any of my data that I
have on it and that is about 3 years worth of work. I also can not retrieve
any pictures. I went to recovery but it doesn't allow the calendar to go
back further that 3 days after the incident happened. You can imagine how
happy I am with my husband so any suggustions would be good for him.
--
Betsy

I won't make any suggestions for /him/ but I do have a suggestion for /you./

Take the hard disk out of the damaged computer and put it into a good
computer (as a second hard disk). Use the good copy of Windows XP to
copy the data from the old hard disk.

Hard drives these days are encased pretty solidly, so it's quite
possible that you'll be able to get all your data from the disk. (I
wouldn't use that disk again.)

In the event that the disk won't spin up, don't worry (yet.) There are
more advanced ways to extract the data, but they'll cost you. Or someone
else.

---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Betsy A wrote:
> My husband dropped my computer and I can not retreive any of my data that I
> have on it and that is about 3 years worth of work. I also can not retrieve
> any pictures. I went to recovery but it doesn't allow the calendar to go
> back further that 3 days after the incident happened. You can imagine how
> happy I am with my husband so any suggustions would be good for him.

Betsy A wrote:
> My husband dropped my computer and I can not retreive any of my data that I
> have on it and that is about 3 years worth of work. I also can not retrieve
> any pictures. I went to recovery but it doesn't allow the calendar to go
> back further that 3 days after the incident happened. You can imagine how
> happy I am with my husband so any suggustions would be good for him.
Can you expand on the word 'broken'.
I understand he dropped it, and that in itself runs chills up my back,
but what kind of computer, what is broken? You say 3 days of recovery
in the calendar, so it sounds like the pc works, and you are into the
recovery console in some fashion. Explain that if not for me, for
other bystanders who can help direct you.

"Betsy A" <BetsyA@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A8EDDFC1-3CFF-4E14-BE76-280DD2A59BA2@microsoft.com...
> My husband dropped my computer and I can not retreive any of my data that I
> have on it and that is about 3 years worth of work. I also can not retrieve
> any pictures. I went to recovery but it doesn't allow the calendar to go
> back further that 3 days after the incident happened. You can imagine how
> happy I am with my husband so any suggustions would be good for him.
> --
> Betsy


I'm guessing that your computer is a laptop. Leonard Grey has already pointed
out the easiest route to take but if the computer is a laptop it gets
complicated. One option is to purchase a USB hard drive enclosure that will
handle a 2.5" laptop hard drive. Once you have your laptop HD in the enclosure,
hook it up to a working XP system. There's a possibility you'll have to take
ownership of your old files. Take a look at these articles for more info.

"Access is Denied" Error Message When You Try to Open a Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;308421

On a side note, files that you value (it sounds like 3 years worth of work and
your pictures fits that description) should be backed up to CD/DVD or an
external hard drive. That way situations like yours aren't such a big deal.

Good luck

Nepatsfan