backtogeek

Fair enough, point taken, understood and accepted :)

Try booting into safe mode with command prompt that's usually the most likely to work and one that people usually don't bother trying, if it boots into that then from the command prompt window that opens type 'notepad' that should then open notepad, from notepad go to > file > open > a file explorer window will open then go to c:\windows\system32 and find explorer.exe > right click on explorer.exe and it should give you a run or open option which will then force windows into a safe mode after a few 'are you sure' type messages. once it has loaded (I know its a case of 'if' it loads at this stage) you should be able to do a system restore or alternatively uninstall and very recent security updates from add / remove programs, then open a command prompt and run chkdsk c: /f

Try booting into safe mode with command prompt that's usually the most likely to work and one that people usually don't bother trying, if it boots into that then from the command prompt window that opens type 'notepad' that should then open notepad, from notepad go to > file > open > a file explorer window will open then go to c:\windows\system32 and find explorer.exe > right click on explorer.exe and it should give you a run or open option which will then force windows into a safe mode after a few 'are you sure' type messages. once it has loaded (I know its a case of 'if' it loads at this stage) you should be able to do a system restore or alternatively uninstall and very recent security updates from add / remove programs, then open a command prompt and run chkdsk c: /f

Try booting into safe mode with command prompt that's usually the most likely to work and one that people usually don't bother trying, if it boots into that then from the command prompt window that opens type 'notepad' that should then open notepad, from notepad go to > file > open > a file explorer window will open then go to c:\windows\system32 and find explorer.exe > right click on explorer.exe and it should give you a run or open option which will then force windows into a safe mode after a few 'are you sure' type messages. once it has loaded (I know its a case of 'if' it loads at this stage) you should be able to do a system restore or alternatively uninstall and very recent security updates from add / remove programs, then open a command prompt and run chkdsk c: /f

You have to do that in the bios, when the system very first starts to boot its usually a case of pressing one of the following keys to get into the bios setup, F2, Del, Esc Once in there there will be an option (possibly integrated devices) or a boot priority / order and you need to disable the onboard sata controller or move the sata controller below the primary hdd in the boot order. Its hard to say exactly without knowing exactly what bios your motherboard runs but that should give you a good clue. when using sata you usualy have to define an array to ready the drives as you intend to use them, on most motherboards that have on board sata controllers you would get the option of Raid 0 Raid 1 or native sata for a single drive configuration. as you are not using sata you have not defined an array and it is attempting to boot a non defined sata drive array before booting from IDE hence the original error message.

Glad you are getting your files back, however I really hate to say this after you say reputable (I really do) but it is not a 3 day process, I used to offer data recovery as a service when I ran a solutions company a few years back and it took about 2 hours per 100gig. cooked is a bit of a loose term to use, it does not specify hardware or software, so all I am suggesting here as you seem like a nice guy and I have seen people get ripped off in the past is to check the dates on the files when you get them back to see how long it actually took. obviously if they just do it on the last day its gonna be hard to tell but if the dates on the files are today something is off. Also if you get the drive back and you can format it and use it then it has been a corrupt allocation table and has been purely a software fault. I know the main thing in your mind is getting your work back and rightly so, but it makes me wary if they say its a 3 day job. Just to show my genuine concern I would be prepared to show you just how its done first hand via remote assistance on my own computer if you are interested and once you have your data back etc, either you viewing my computer or me viewing yours and talking you through it, obviously this is just an offer and I understand if you just simply want your files back and then want to forget the whole thing. Kinda reminds me of when my GCSE wood work project went missing at school :)

Glad you are getting your files back, however I really hate to say this after you say reputable (I really do) but it is not a 3 day process, I used to offer data recovery as a service when I ran a solutions company a few years back and it took about 2 hours per 100gig. cooked is a bit of a loose term to use, it does not specify hardware or software, so all I am suggesting here as you seem like a nice guy and I have seen people get ripped off in the past is to check the dates on the files when you get them back to see how long it actually took. obviously if they just do it on the last day its gonna be hard to tell but if the dates on the files are today something is off. Also if you get the drive back and you can format it and use it then it has been a corrupt allocation table and has been purely a software fault. I know the main thing in your mind is getting your work back and rightly so, but it makes me wary if they say its a 3 day job. Just to show my genuine concern I would be prepared to show you just how its done first hand via remote assistance on my own computer if you are interested and once you have your data back etc, either you viewing my computer or me viewing yours and talking you through it, obviously this is just an offer and I understand if you just simply want your files back and then want to forget the whole thing. Kinda reminds me of when my GCSE wood work project went missing at school :)

Glad you are getting your files back, however I really hate to say this after you say reputable (I really do) but it is not a 3 day process, I used to offer data recovery as a service when I ran a solutions company a few years back and it took about 2 hours per 100gig. cooked is a bit of a loose term to use, it does not specify hardware or software, so all I am suggesting here as you seem like a nice guy and I have seen people get ripped off in the past is to check the dates on the files when you get them back to see how long it actually took. obviously if they just do it on the last day its gonna be hard to tell but if the dates on the files are today something is off. Also if you get the drive back and you can format it and use it then it has been a corrupt allocation table and has been purely a software fault. I know the main thing in your mind is getting your work back and rightly so, but it makes me wary if they say its a 3 day job. Just to show my genuine concern I would be prepared to show you just how its done first hand via remote assistance on my own computer if you are interested and once you have your data back etc, either you viewing my computer or me viewing yours and talking you through it, obviously this is just an offer and I understand if you just simply want your files back and then want to forget the whole thing. Kinda reminds me of when my GCSE wood work project went missing at school :)

Yup its not all over yet, you still have knoppix as an option and then failing that I suggest formatting the drive then running "runtime software get data back for ntfs" I have used this on multiple occasions and recovered files from as far back as 5 formats.

Yup its not all over yet, you still have knoppix as an option and then failing that I suggest formatting the drive then running "runtime software get data back for ntfs" I have used this on multiple occasions and recovered files from as far back as 5 formats.

Yup its not all over yet, you still have knoppix as an option and then failing that I suggest formatting the drive then running "runtime software get data back for ntfs" I have used this on multiple occasions and recovered files from as far back as 5 formats.

No problem, I am going to be heading off to bed in about 30 minutes, I hope you get it sorted, I will check back before I hit the hay in case you get stuck

No problem, I am going to be heading off to bed in about 30 minutes, I hope you get it sorted, I will check back before I hit the hay in case you get stuck

No problem, I am going to be heading off to bed in about 30 minutes, I hope you get it sorted, I will check back before I hit the hay in case you get stuck

http://ftp.knoppix.nl/os/Linux/distr/knoppix/KNOPPIX_V6.0-ADRIANE_V1.1CD-2009-01-27-EN.iso