Need to get files off of hard drive

[Wendi]

I have a hard drive that had Windows ME on it. I think
it got a virus on it and now it won't boot. I've put it
in another computer and the computer recognizes the hard
drive, but it says I/O Disk Error when it tries to boot
from it. I really need to get some files off of this
drive. Is there any way to do this or am I out of luck?

I've tried to boot from a dos disk which I am able to do,
but I still can't get to my C: drive.

Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
Wendi

[Ron Martell]

"Wendi" > wrote:

>I have a hard drive that had Windows ME on it. I think
>it got a virus on it and now it won't boot. I've put it
>in another computer and the computer recognizes the hard
>drive, but it says I/O Disk Error when it tries to boot
>from it. I really need to get some files off of this
>drive. Is there any way to do this or am I out of luck?
>
>I've tried to boot from a dos disk which I am able to do,
>but I still can't get to my C: drive.
>
>Any advice is appreciated.
>Thanks,
>Wendi

What sort of a DOS disk did you use to boot the computer with?

If it was a genuine DOS disk, meaning MS-DOS version 6.22 or earlier,
then you would not be able to access the hard drive because the
Windows Me drive would be using the FAT32 file system and MS-DOS 6.x
or earlier cannot read FAT32 drives.

If it was a WindowsMe startup disk, created from Control Panel -
Add/Remove Programs, or downloaded from www.bootdisk.com, then you
should be able to access the drive *unless* the drive was using BIOS
overlay software (MaxBlast, EZDrive, Disk Manager, etc.) to allow the
computer to work with a hard drive larger than what it was designed to
use.

But the most likely cause of the behavior you describe would be a
failure in the drive itself. In that case you might repeat might be
able to recover the drive, at least partially, by using Spinrite from
Gibson Research (http://www.grc.com).

One thing to try. Instead of installing the drive as the primary
boot drive in the second computer, try leaving the original drive in
place and install the problem drive temporarily as a second hard
drive. If you use the Secondary IDE channel for this drive then there
will be no complications with drive jumper settings. The easiest way
to do this in most computers is to unplug the data cable and power
lead from the CDROM drive and use these to connect the temporary
second hard drive. That way you can boot the computer and use
Windows Explorer to check out the problem drive. You can also run
antirus software to clean up the drive, if it is in fact accessible.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

[Jerry]

Is your boot floppy an ME boot floppy? www.bootdiskcom has the files to make
one.

If there is important stuff you really need then check the back of "Computer
Shopper" or "PC Magazine" for companies that will try to recover data. It
will cost you though.

"Wendi" > wrote in message
...
>I have a hard drive that had Windows ME on it. I think
> it got a virus on it and now it won't boot. I've put it
> in another computer and the computer recognizes the hard
> drive, but it says I/O Disk Error when it tries to boot
> from it. I really need to get some files off of this
> drive. Is there any way to do this or am I out of luck?
>
> I've tried to boot from a dos disk which I am able to do,
> but I still can't get to my C: drive.
>
> Any advice is appreciated.
> Thanks,
> Wendi

>-----Original Message-----
>"Wendi" > wrote:
>
>>I have a hard drive that had Windows ME on it. I think
>>it got a virus on it and now it won't boot. I've put
it
>>in another computer and the computer recognizes the
hard
>>drive, but it says I/O Disk Error when it tries to boot
>>from it. I really need to get some files off of this
>>drive. Is there any way to do this or am I out of luck?
>>
>>I've tried to boot from a dos disk which I am able to
do,
>>but I still can't get to my C: drive.
>>
>>Any advice is appreciated.
>>Thanks,
>>Wendi
>
>What sort of a DOS disk did you use to boot the computer
with?
>
>If it was a genuine DOS disk, meaning MS-DOS version
6.22 or earlier,
>then you would not be able to access the hard drive
because the
>Windows Me drive would be using the FAT32 file system
and MS-DOS 6.x
>or earlier cannot read FAT32 drives.
>
>If it was a WindowsMe startup disk, created from Control
Panel -
>Add/Remove Programs, or downloaded from
www.bootdisk.com, then you
>should be able to access the drive *unless* the drive
was using BIOS
>overlay software (MaxBlast, EZDrive, Disk Manager, etc.)
to allow the
>computer to work with a hard drive larger than what it
was designed to
>use.
>
>But the most likely cause of the behavior you describe
would be a
>failure in the drive itself. In that case you might
repeat might be
>able to recover the drive, at least partially, by using
Spinrite from
>Gibson Research (http://www.grc.com).
>
>One thing to try. Instead of installing the drive as
the primary
>boot drive in the second computer, try leaving the
original drive in
>place and install the problem drive temporarily as a
second hard
>drive. If you use the Secondary IDE channel for this
drive then there
>will be no complications with drive jumper settings.
The easiest way
>to do this in most computers is to unplug the data cable
and power
>lead from the CDROM drive and use these to connect the
temporary
>second hard drive. That way you can boot the computer
and use
>Windows Explorer to check out the problem drive. You
can also run
>antirus software to clean up the drive, if it is in fact
accessible.
>
>Good luck
>
>
>Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
>--
>Microsoft MVP
>On-Line Help Computer Service
>http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
>
>"The reason computer chips are so small is computers
don't eat much."
>.
>

Thanks, Ron,
I did use a boot disk that I created from the above web
site. I still could not access the hard drive. I was
going to try to put the bad drive as a Slave, but my
original hard drive was SCSI where as this one is IDE. I
tried to use both, but it appears that I can't. Any
suggestions on this?
Thanks,
Wendi