Re: disk error occurred

mumbles27 wrote:
Thank you Malke,


you dont think FIXBOOT or FIXMBR would do any good?

and with regard to getting hold of the files i need, "taking ownership", would that solve this problem i have of the files being hidden as they are the user profile dir? how would i do that?

No I don't think running software commands on your hard drive would solve the problem but certainly you can try it. It would be quicker and easier than dealing with HP tech support and would rule out hardware issues. You should not lose data but naturally it would be stupid not to have your data backed up first.

Of course my opinion is based on the information you gave me in your first post. You didn't quote the exact text of the error message and I know nothing about the recent history of the machine, its age, etc. I got the impression that the hard drive had a problem since you mentioned "disk error" and not something about not being able to find an operating system. Since I can't see your computer, my impression could certainly be wrong.

As for taking ownership of the files, you are not making yourself clear when you say "files being hidden as they are the user profile dir". I don't know what that means. If you set the host computer (the one to which you've attached your laptop hard drive) to see all hidden files, you should have no problem taking ownership of the files. If you used encryption (EFS), you will still be able to see the files and transfer them but you should have backed up your encryption key to removal media before all this happened.

Make sure you are able to see all hidden files and extensions (View tab in Folder Options). In XP, there are four checkboxes to deal with:

a. Check "Display the contents of system folders".
b. Check "Show hidden files and folders".
c. Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types".
d. Uncheck "Hide protected operating system files" and click "OK" to the dialog box.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
.

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