Hi there,
I bought a new PC from Dell last November. Yesterday the hard drive crashed, so when I try and start Windows, the PC just keeps going in a loop i.e. the Windows screen with the status bar appears for a few minutes, it looks like it's going to bring up the screen where I enter my passord, but it just re-boots.
I tried starting in Safe mode, but the same thing happened. I then tried the Dell diagnostics and this confirmed that there was a problem with the hard disk. I called Dell support this morning and they went through some more tests with me and they confirmed that the HD was damaged.
I last backed up my files at the start of May, but since then I've added some photo's of my holiday to Portugal (
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=10771) plus photo's from my son's recent birthday party
As a side note, I found Dell support very good (so far!). They talked me through removing the hard disk and they told me that they'd have a replacement with me tomorrow. They said that they'd talk me through installing the new hard disk and also help me re-install Windows and get all the other devices (CD Burner) working.
Dell said that they couldn't retrieve the data from the old hard disk for me. They said that they could give me the name of a company who'd do this for me, but that it would be expensive. They have agreed to leave the old hard disk with me for 5 days so I can try and retrieve my data from this. They said that they need the old drive back because they need to find out why the disk crashed. They assured me that the disk would be wiped before it was thrown out.
Can anybody suggest how I go about getting my data from the old hard disk and transferring it to the new drive when it's installed?
FYI: I have a Dell Dimension 4700. The hard disk that crashed was 160 GB (not sure if this is of much help to you though).