Member Avatar for beholdafrica

my 500gb local disk C can't boot to the desktop, it only boot to starting windows and it can not move further again, i have a very important document i have to copy from it. i slave it to anothe computer to copy my stoff but it ask me to format it first. please can sombody help me to get access to my document? thank you.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by mayaestat

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reported a 500 GB C: drive that stops at "Starting Windows", and when attached as a slave it asks to be formatted; suggested recovery software, suggested using Windows recovery, and named another recovery tool. Because you hear noise from the disk, the first priority is protecting the data, not repairing the OS.

Do not accept the "Format" prompt and do not keep booting or running write-heavy repairs on the drive. Mechanical clicking or grinding often means hardware failure; continued power/attempted repairs can make recovery harder or impossible. If the drive is noisy, power it down and avoid further DIY steps unless prepared to image it first.

Safe, practical workflow (high level):

  • Prepare a working PC, a spare external drive at least as large as the 500 GB disk, and a USB-SATA adapter or place the drive as a secondary inside a desktop.
  • Use a Live USB environment (so the working system does not boot from or write to the bad disk) and access the failing disk read-only. If simple file copy succeeds, copy the important documents immediately to the spare drive.
  • If files cannot be copied cleanly, create a sector-by-sector image of the failing disk to the spare drive using a tool built to handle bad sectors (so all recovery work is done on the image, not the original). Run file-recovery tools against the image rather than the physical drive.

If the drive is visibly clicking, image creation repeatedly fails, or the documents are irreplaceable, stop DIY attempts and contact a professional data‑recovery lab (they have clean rooms and specialist imagers). In summary: do not format, avoid write operations, prioritize making a non‑destructive image, and only then try file-recovery tools or repairs.

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Member Avatar for Rik_

Recuva should be able to get your document, google will easily find it.

Member Avatar for DigiSoftMate

Boot using the windows cd/dvd, choose the option for recovery console.

In the command prompt type - chkdsk c: /r
and let it repair whatever errors it finds.

Then restart and boot from your hard drive. Hopefully, you will be able to boot to your desktop.

Member Avatar for beholdafrica

digisoftMate if i boot from the windows cd it does not get to rcovery console option for me to select and enter chkdisk c:/r command. the windows boot to starting windows, boot for some times and stop then i will hear some noise from the local disk. so my problem have not being slove yet, am only trying to get it up so that i can copy all my document.

Member Avatar for mayaestat

easeus data recovery wizard can solve ur problem even u can get back all ur deleted files

Edited by mayaestat
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