System crash and lost data- Abusaad, Roni?

Question

Hi, I have Windows XP Professional and have had a complete system crash and it seems my files are missing. I was just working and all of a sudden my screen went blank, I didn't get a blue screen. I took my laptop in to two different repair places and they both say that my operating system has died and I need to reinstall my OS. But they're telling me two different things about my data. One says that all my files are gone and there is no way of retrieving them unless I want to pay thousands to have my HD rebuilt, but the other says my files are likely there but just not visible because they were somehow pushed to the back up drive and are formatted wrong to be visible. This repair person says he can try to retrieve them, but it will cost me some $. Luckily I have a relatively recent backup of my most important files, but I would lose some things that I'd really like to hang on to. How do I know whether these files really are retrievable? Thanks. Abusaad, Roni

Answer 1

If I'm understanding correctly, the second guy is right. The files should be backed up in the Alt Hard Drive, or the hard drive. I would pay him the money for it. But before you do that, You might be able to get them back yourself.

First, try restarting your computer. right as the creen lights up, start pressing F12. will open the boot menu. From here, you should be given a list of options. Using the arrow keys, select Hard Drive Boot (Sometimes just Hard Drive) and press enter. This might do the trick. If not try a system restore. to do so, go to my control panel, on the left, click switc to classic view, and double-click the icon that says System. on the top of the little window, one of the taps will say system restore. click this. Move the slider all the way to the right, and click ok. Still dosn't do anything? then pay the guy who says your files are still there to get them.