How to Retrieve Hard Drive Files Off a Damaged Computer

Have you ever turned on your computer, only to find a nasty blue screen telling you to reboot? Then, when you reboot, the screen appears again? Or how about a computer that will log in, but then Windows comes up and says there's a fatal error, and restarts, repeatedly doing this in a frustrating loop? Or perhaps, a nasty piece of spyware has infiltrated your computer, and it is now running so horribly slow that you just want to reload it?

All these situations happen, and the users are left with one horrifying fact - their personal files are still on that hard drive, somewhere, being held captive by the messed up operating system or boot loader. What options are left? Do you simply accept that fact that the files are gone, and reload? No, especially if saved last years' taxes on it.

Despite what many think, the above problems listed will not prevent you from retrieving those personal files. It is actually quite simple to do - so simple, in fact, that many people cry in shame over not realizing just how simply it really is.

The key to retrieving your files is to forget about Windows (or Mac) and look to the friendly helper of computer users, Linux. You don't have to know a think about Linux to follow this tutorial - simply follow the next steps, and you will have those files in no time.

ITEMS NEEDED:

A working computer with internet access and a CD burner
An external hard drive or pen drive
A blank CD

STEP 1: On a working PC, download a Linux OS called Xubuntu. Simply run a search with your favorite search engine to locate an ISO file to download. The Ubuntu official site is the best place to download. I've chosen Xubuntu because I've had flawless experiences with it. Others prefer to use Damn Small Linux or Puppy Linux because they are so small. Either of those may work for this, but it can be difficult to access the other parts of the hard drive, or to get the OS to recognize your pen drive. So, for the sake of simplicity and perfection, I choose to use Xubuntu, and highly suggest you use the same.