# Can my data be saved? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-data-be-saved/339040 "2006-01-08T20:02:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cardsfan1975](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cardsfan1975](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardsfan1975)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-data-be-saved/339040/1 "2006-01-08T20:02:45Z")
My hard drive is (was, anyway) an IBM Deskstar 46.1GB IDE drive that I had divided into 2 partitions. Friday night after saving the data that I needed to the secondary partition, I formatted the primary partition and reinstalled Windows. So yesterday, as I was installing the last of the software I use, my computer rebooted on its own. I’m rather used to this, so I didn’t think anything about it until it rebooted once it got to the Windows splash screen. It would do that no matter what. Couldn’t even boot into safe mode. So I got my XP CD to try to repair the installation. My computer rebooted. I then selected to install XP again to reformat the primary partition. It would show both partitions, but wouldn’t let me format. My computer rebooted. So, I got a Windows 98 CD and booted to a command prompt. No C partition. Uhhhhhhhh… There was a D partition, but it wasn’t my hard drive. It was my USB flash drive. It was at this point that I knew I had a severe problem. I didn’t care what was on the primary partition. I just wanted what was on my secondary partition. So I put the drive in an enclosure and hooked it to my wife’s computer to see if I could at least see it. Her computer rebooted. After getting a new hard drive for my computer, and getting my software installed on it, I connected the enclosure to my computer. It rebooted. Now, the data that I want isn’t critical. It’s just browser favorites, game save data, and my World of Warcraft UI mods and interface settings data. But I would like to get it back if I can. Can I retrieve it fairly cheaply? Thanks. cf’75 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-data-be-saved/339040/2 "2006-01-08T20:17:27Z")
Did you change the jumpers so the drive is set as a secondary or slave drive? Do you have space to connect it internally as a secondary drive? Does the system boot after Windows starts or when the BIOS attempts to come up? If the latter, does the BIOS recognize the drive? ---
**Author:** ![cardsfan1975](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cardsfan1975](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardsfan1975)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-data-be-saved/339040/3 "2006-01-08T20:22:19Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > Did you change the jumpers so the drive is set as a secondary or slave drive? Do you have space to connect it internally as a secondary drive? Does the system boot after Windows starts or when the BIOS attempts to come up? If the latter, does the BIOS recognize the drive? It’s set up as a master. I didn’t think I would need to change the jumper settings if I was going to try it as an external drive. I’ll try it when I’m finished working. I also haven’t tried it as an internal slave, but I’ll try that too. Thanks Dewey. cf’75 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-data-be-saved/339040/4 "2006-01-08T20:32:12Z")
I may be wrong about the jumper setting for use in the enclosure, but the manual for the enclosure should tell you what to do. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-data-be-saved/339040/5 "2006-01-08T20:57:46Z")
Hooking up the HD as a secondary internal drive would be the way most likely to work. If your original HD was formatted using NTFS, that’s a reason Windows 98 wouldn’t display it, as Win98 only supports FAT32. ---
**Author:** ![cardsfan1975](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cardsfan1975](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardsfan1975)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-data-be-saved/339040/6 "2006-01-08T21:17:04Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > Hooking up the HD as a secondary internal drive would be the way most likely to work. If your original HD was formatted using NTFS, that’s a reason Windows 98 wouldn’t display it, as Win98 only supports FAT32. :smack: I knew that. I was just kind of frantic at the time and I didn’t think about that. I’ll set it up internally and see what kind of results I have. cf’75 ---
**Author:** ![cardsfan1975](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cardsfan1975](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardsfan1975)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-data-be-saved/339040/7 "2006-01-09T04:22:35Z")
UPDATE: I installed the problem drive as a slave, and disabled it as a boot device in the BIOS. The result was the same as I was trying to boot off of it; it rebooted my machine at the Windows splash screen. I’ve pretty much resigned myself that I can’t get my data off of there with minimal cost, but if you fine people can think of or know of a way, please let me know. cf’75 ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-data-be-saved/339040/8 "2006-01-09T04:33:12Z")
> [@cardsfan1975](#): > > UPDATE: > > I installed the problem drive as a slave, and disabled it as a boot device in the BIOS. The result was the same as I was trying to boot off of it; it rebooted my machine at the Windows splash screen. > > I’ve pretty much resigned myself that I can’t get my data off of there with minimal cost, but if you fine people can think of or know of a way, please let me know. > > cf’75 Burn yourself a KNOPPIX CD. It can READ NTFS (but not write) and copy the information over to a FAT formatted drive. ---
**Author:** ![cardsfan1975](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cardsfan1975](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardsfan1975)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2006, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-my-data-be-saved/339040/9 "2006-01-09T04:39:30Z")
> [@MannyL](#): > > Burn yourself a KNOPPIX CD. It can READ NTFS (but not write) and copy the information over to a FAT formatted drive. _Starts looking for my KNOPPIX CD_ Thanks Manny. That’s an easy enough suggestion to try. If it works, I’ll submit a request to have you canonized as soon as possible. Or, at the very least, buy you a beer if you’re ever in Dallas. 🙂 cf’75