Operating system has crashed. Trying to get pictures off hard drive.

[Martin1510]

My computer crashed sometime ago and discovered that my operating system (windows XP) had gone completely but when i start the computer up I still get my old screensaver (picture of my kids). This made me think I could still retreive my pictures. is this possible?

[KenB]

Hi and welcome to ExTS

 

This made me think I could still retreive my pictures. is this possible?

Yes it is - it depends what has happened to the hard drive.

 

1. If you have a full installation CD for XP ( not recovery disks ) it is possible to try a Repair Install of the OS and get the system working again.

 

2. If you don't have the full install CD then you could take the hard drive out and connect it up to another machine using either an external enclosure or Hard Drive to USB adapter. If you go for the enclosure - once you have the photos etc off the drive you can format it and use it as extra storage as an external drive.

 

If you are still getting the screen-saver is the machine booting up normally to that point?

 

Try this:

Switch on and constantly tap F8 about once per second.

You should get a list of options - select Last Known Good Configuration and boot up with this.

 

If that fails from the same list try Safe Mode.

 

Before we take the HDD out let's see if we can do anything with the machine itself.

 

Do you have the installation CD ?

 

Is this a laptop or desktop ?