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To: sunny bonobo

I got a question as well...

A windows 7 PC from yesteryear, got the “Windows is Starting” virus and just cycled forever... I have a lot of family photos and videos on that PC. Can I just plug that hard drive into a USB port on my windows 10 laptop and open it in the normal Explorer Window fashion or is there more to it than that??


76 posted on 01/23/2024 12:49:22 PM PST by sit-rep
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To: sit-rep
Does it boot into Safe Mode?

As soon as you boot the computer, repeatedly press F8 until a boot menu appears. Choose the option for Safe Mode without Networking and see if you can boot the computer that way.

If it boots into Safe Mode, see if you can run any virus protection software that was on the computer.

-PJ

80 posted on 01/23/2024 1:00:13 PM PST by Political Junkie Too ( * LAAP = Left-wing Activist Agitprop Press (formerly known as the MSM))
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To: sit-rep

As long as the hard drive is not encrypted yes. However you can also recover the images by booting a live Linux image from a flash drive, then transfer the files to an additional flash drive or network storage. This method does not require disassembly or adapter cables, as long as the PC will boot the live image. Just be sure not to install Linux, just boot from the flash drive.


82 posted on 01/23/2024 1:19:22 PM PST by bak3r
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To: sit-rep
Can I just plug that hard drive into a USB port on my windows 10 laptop and open it...

Yes, generally speaking, that will work. I have recovered files from a bad system disk several times that way.

If the disk is not damaged...

You need the harness that adapts the PCI-SCSI disk to a USB adapter. Then you mount the disk and copy the folders from it that you want to save. Easy, peasy.

If the disk is damaged, you may be able to recover some of the contents with a disk recovery utility. You need a second USB drive to do that safely as the utility copies what it can salvage from the old drive to a new drive. You don't want that new drive to be your system disk. If the recovery goes badly, the target disk may fill up with trash files or duplicate files.

84 posted on 01/23/2024 1:22:54 PM PST by flamberge (We are living in those "interesting times" the elders warned us about.)
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