Computer not booting OS
 

About 2 weeks ago, one of the slots that the RAM plugs into died, so I moved the stick over to another open slot, and the computer worked fine. Well, 2 days ago, the computer stopped booting right, and gave me that annoying beeping error code saying that either my RAM wasn't working right. I unplugged the RAM sticks ( Individually of course ) to see which one had died ( if either had ) and it still refused to boot. Well, then I decided " what the hell " and I stick a RAM stick into the dead port and try to boot it. Low and behold, it worked... The port magically came back to life, and the other 2 ports died. Now, since that's happened, I can boot the computer, see the BIOs info going by and all that fun stuff, but when it hits the point where it's supposed to load my OS ( Windows XP, so the little screen with the Windows Logo and the loading bar underneath it ) it just sits at a black screen for about 5 minutes and then restarts the whole process.

Normally, I'd just try a wipe and reload, as I seem to recall having this problem before, and that's what I did to fix it I believe, but unfortunately my little sister has much of her school work saved onto that hard drive as well as many pictures she took and I can't just wipe it or she'll lose all the work she put towards school, and many photo's of family members on a cruise we took.

Any ideas that could lead me to the successful repair of my family's computer?

I had a similar situation, and I was able to get my files by running Ubuntu, and... here, let's make a list. I'm warning you right now, this is complicated, but I did exactly this less than a week ago before wiping my computer.

Head here and download an Ubuntu ISO. Make absolutely sure you're not downloading the "alternative install disc", you want the regular one.

Since you can see the BIOS, you should be able to boot from that CD. Don't INSTALL Ubuntu unless you really want to try it (and you probably can't without wiping the drive, for reasons I'll explain in a bit). Instead, use "Try Ubuntu without changing anything." You may just automatically boot into Ubuntu straight from the CD, but either way you want to be on a desktop without installing anything.

If you're lucky, the NTFS partition will not be marked as "in use", and Ubuntu will be able to mount your C drive without any trouble. If that's the case, you can either put the data onto a USB drive, memory card, or whatever, or if you get your networking up (it SHOULD, but my laptop gave Ubuntu fits going online from the LiveCD for some reason) you can just email everything.

If you're unlucky, and it doesn't mount, you'll have one more step. Here's the tricky part. Open a Terminal by going to Applications --> Accesories --> Terminal. When the mounting fails, a box should appear telling you it couldn't mount /dev/sdax/. This x is going to be a number, and it'll depend on your particular hard drive setup what it is. Whatever that number is, go to the terminal and type (remember to replace the x with whatever number you're trying to mount):

DISCLAIMER: THIS HAS A VERY SMALL CHANCE OF DOING VERY NASTY THINGS TO YOUR HARD DRIVE. IT IS EXTREMELY SMALL BUT IT IS STILL POSSIBLE.

(This syntax is actually mentioned in the error message window itself, but it adds an extra directory, /sdax/, to the /media/ which screws it up. If you were actually planning on using this Ubuntu for longer than the CD being in the drive, then you'd want to fix this, but since you're not, it's not worth it. Just mount the drive to /media/.)

Which will "forcefully" mount the drive, allowing you access to the data. This is the reason you probably can't install Ubuntu on a partition, because the partitioner can't resize the Windows partition if it's "in use".

This will allow you to at least get the data off and into a safe place, after which you can do a safe reinstall of Windows.

If you have access to another Windows computer, mount the hard disk on an external USB enclosure, and retrieve from there.

@Wailord: Why not mount the filesystem in read-only mode?

@Wail - thanks for the info, but I have bad luck, and it's the families computer, not mine. So I can't risk doing something that may cause problems, or else I'll have to sacrifice MY computer to them. Now, I'm not trying to sound selfish, but they've somehow gone through 2 hard drives already, that computer has had to be wiped and reloaded at least 4 times in the past 3 months due to an excessive number of viruses that made it nearly impossible to even boot or do anything.

@Zerg - I don't have an external enclosure readily available, and I'm pretty poor so I can't afford one. I can on the other hand hook it up INSIDE my desktop and retrieve from there if you think that's possible to do. Though... I mean, if that hard drive isn't loading the OS on the other computer right, I'm not sure if it will read correctly inside my computer. Do you think it will?

Mounting the fs in RO mode can't damage the filesystem since no data is written to it. If the drive is physically defect reading from it could possibly destroy it even more. But that would be even the case when accessing it through a USB enclosure.

Using a live disc is currently the best idea, since everything else involves disassembling the system.

Lyth: Few things.

1.) While it's easier to say than do, basically tell them if they get a virus on the computer, you'll take away access from it. If they get pissed, tell them that they obviously aren't surfing smart or with the right protection.

2.) Also, IF and only IF they are using your computer, make accounts with restrictive properties. It they start saying how it isn't fair, bring up they have gotten several viruses. Put up a very restrictive firewall, and anti-virus.

3.) With that being said, live disc is fine to use. You do NOT install the OS. It's what I used on my father's computer to rescue some old files he needed from a bummed HDD. Keep in mind the following, THERE IS A CHANCE YOU WILL LOSE DATA NO MATTER IF YOU GO THIS ROUTE OR REMOVE THE HDD AND INSTALL IT INTO ANOTHER COMPUTER. The basic reasoning is the HDD is being used to access data. So no matter which route you go, it could STILL happen, and unless your family wishes to pay a few hundred for professional data retrieval (which also isn't a 100 percent guarantee), this is the best route to go.

Hey guys, thanks for the advice. I just went with putting it in my computer, and just copied those files to my hard drive. I decided I'd stop being lazy and actually opened my case up. Anyway, I copied the files, and just did a wipe and reload on that HDD, then it started working fine again...

I am going to have to teach them how to surf safely now though, because I'm up there dealing with computer issues for them constantly.

Thanks again for the advice and methods guys.