• From: Mexicali, Mexico
  • Registered: 2009-07-09
  • Posts: 179

Topic: +30GB, a bunch of DVDs, broken install of Win, no ext. HDD=???

Hey forum!

Well the title is a resume of the situation. this is the long version.
A friend asked me to revive his computer, because it would not boot
I checked it, the HDD was disconnected, so I connected it back, but seemed that Windows died, so I popped a #! live CD and I was able to open and read my friend's files, I don't have an external HDD to put them there, and brasero seems to be unable to burn them all on multiple DVDs on a single session. What do you do in situations like this??

Statler: Are you running Mac or PC?

Waldorf: After that... I'm running away!

AlexMex90's Website

  • Registered: 2011-02-22
  • Posts: 62

Re: +30GB, a bunch of DVDs, broken install of Win, no ext. HDD=???

You can:

  • Check the DVDs you are using are not defective (It happened to me several times)

  • Use a pendrive or a memory stick big enough to store the files

  • Grab a regular hdd and copy all the files in there

  • If you have another machine on that house, make a samba share and backup your files trough the network

  • Don't do the backup, put the windows disc into the drive, set windows into repair mode and hope for the best (If you are lucky, things won't blow up once you are done)

Last edited by Rumpelstiltskin (2011-03-02 07:55:22)

  • From: The Deep Midlands
  • Registered: 2011-01-28
  • Posts: 96

Re: +30GB, a bunch of DVDs, broken install of Win, no ext. HDD=???

Buy an external HDD (they are cheap as cheap chips).
Take the HDD and put it into another PC and copy the data off.
Used gparted to make some room for !# and install alongside (mount the Windows partition).
Use Windows recovery (I've found it to be very good but it does wipe your personal settings, OE email etc).
Don't use multiple sessions and just burn the specific data that needs saving.

What is the Window's error? It is often possible to fix it!

Edit: forgot my favorite, back all the files up on a network. There are many facilities available for mass backing up online or run your own FTP or similar and back up to that.

Last edited by Erinsfan (2011-03-02 09:54:05)

Enjoying a good !#
  • Awebb
  • #! Die-hard
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-07-23
  • Posts: 2,471

Re: +30GB, a bunch of DVDs, broken install of Win, no ext. HDD=???

AlexMex90 wrote:

and brasero seems to be unable to burn them all on multiple DVDs on a single session. What do you do in situations like this??

You stop being lazy, sort the data to portions so it can fit on dvd's and burn them one by one. It's just 30GiB, that's a 5min task ;-)

Do you have enough free space for all the data? You could create a split archive, burn them the parts to dvds.

I'm so meta, even this acronym
  • From: Mexicali, Mexico
  • Registered: 2009-07-09
  • Posts: 179

Re: +30GB, a bunch of DVDs, broken install of Win, no ext. HDD=???

I wouldn't be lazy tongue
but this is a mess, all the files are over the "My Documents" folder, imagine over 31GB of mp3s pictures and a lot of stuff... at least when I back up my music, everything is in the right place! big_smile

I think I'll try to sort it, also is a kinda limited machine, 512 MB RAM so, a live session is not exactly the most fluent experience yikes

Last edited by AlexMex90 (2011-03-02 16:36:45)

Statler: Are you running Mac or PC?

Waldorf: After that... I'm running away!

AlexMex90's Website

  • Registered: 2009-01-26
  • Posts: 44

Re: +30GB, a bunch of DVDs, broken install of Win, no ext. HDD=???

Hmmm, get yr friend to buy an external HD? It's his problem after all. Or scavenge up a plain old internal drive from somewhere and find a USB/IDE adapter, plug the drive into a USB slot and copy the files across. Rather handy those USB/IDE adapters. They tell me these days there are even USB/SATA adapters in case you ever see a SATA drive (none here I'm afraid). You must find the odd discarded computer in the trash? Or maybe not.