How Do I Recover Files from a Dead Computer

If your computer suddenly dies and won't boot, it can be due to operating problems or hardware issues. Whatever the cause, don't panic or rush to reinstall the OS. We need to find a way to rescue important data first. Here are some tips that can help you to get your computer booted and your valuable data recovered.

Boot from a Restore Disc or Recovery Drive

Often when your computer fails to boot, it's because the operating system is damaged. If this is the case, you can use the restore disc to recover your files.
With many operating systems, restore disc such as Linux live CD for Linux OS or Windows Recover drive can be created to handle situations like this. If you have prepared a restore disc or a recovery drive before, simply insert it into the computer and start it up. After the computer boots from the disc, you can enter the Windows installation environment and restore from your system image or repair your system. 

If you don't have any file backups, here is a little trick that allows you to salvage files:

1. Open the Command Prompt in Windows installation environment.
2. Type Notepad and hit Enter key to launch Notepad application.
3. Click File and select Open...
4. You can use this Open dialog as a Windows Explorer window to browse and copy files to your USB flash drives or external hard drives

Repair the MBR

Master boot record (MBR) is essential for booting. It holds the information on how the logical partitions, containing file systems, are organized on that medium. 

We can use the Bootrec.exe in Windows recovery environment to repair, fix or rebuild the MBR. Enter Command Prompt in Windows Recovery Environment and type in 

• bootrec /RebuildBcd
• bootrec /fixMbr
• bootrec /fixboot
• Exit

Reboot your computer to check if the MBR has been repaired. 

Pull out the Hard Drives

If you cannot even boot from restore discs, then there are possible hardware problems with your computer. There are chances that your hard drive is not at fault. You can open up you computer, pull out the hard drive and connect it to another computer to transfer all the important files.

If it is a laptop we're talking about, you should know that opening up your laptop will void your warranty so think twice before you do it. Also, opening laptops are relatively harder than desktop computers. If you find it too hard for you, take it to a PC repair stop for help.

To keep regular backup files and prepare a recovery disc is important, you can learn how to prepare system image files and backup files from our previous articles.