Aborted WXP prof Instal to Recover pictures/documents (no back up before)

[jbasagoi]

Help please, my daughter got a new laptop, left the old one in my off:confused:(Dell Inspiron B130) I assume (big mistake) that she already got her documents and pictures, so I tuned it (did not delete any document or pictures) then decided to install WXP prof,; started the installation, input the code, few minutes later she comes to my off asking for her old laptop, immediately aborted the installation (turn off the laptop) now she wants all her pictures and documents, oops!
Now I really need help.
How can recover her pictures, do I continue with the installation, does XP allows me to cancel it latter and go back to the original version (XP home)

[Midknyte]

Did you try to do an upgrade through Windows or did you boot from the CD and do a format?

I'm guessing that you chose to format the drive during setup. If that's the case, you'll have to slave the hard drive into another system and use something like GetDataBack. In the case of a format, you must use a second drive. You can't do an in-place recovery.

For links to GetDataBack and other data recovery tools:
Best of Data Storage (http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162275)

[jbasagoi]

No i did not format the disk, just a new (attempted) xp prof instalation, no files (i believe) had been erased jet but what will happen if i cont with the installation, will wxp at some time will ask me or offer the possibility to cancel the installation?

[Midknyte]

No i did not format the disk, just a new (attempted) xp prof instalation

So you were trying to do an UPGRADE through Windows itself?

Before you continue with the install and possibly overwrite data, slave the drive into another system and pull the data off. If you don't have an IDE to Laptop converter, you might also be able to use a Live Linux disc to export the data to an external USB drive.

[jbasagoi]

I'll do that, i do not have a linux disk but how can i make a bootable usb device, will this work?

[BipolarBill]

Go ahead and install Pro. Do NOT format. Her data will still be there in her profile folder in C:\Documents and Settings.

[jbasagoi]

So wxp prof will not erase all the documents and pictures, remember i am installing a new version of wxp prof over a wxp home, i really hope yiu are right, this will be the easiest thing to do....

[BipolarBill]

I have never lost documents or profiles when installing one over the other - as long as I didn't format.

People have complained to me that they lost stuff, but I strongly suspect that either the drive was corrupted or they formatted at some point. Again, it has never happened to me.

[Midknyte]

i am installing a new version of wxp prof over a wxp home

That's why I've been asking if you are doing an upgrade or not. If you ran the XP Pro setup from within Windows, that's an UPGRADE.

As long as you don't format, you should be able to get the data. It's possible that the profile could get corrupted, but you should still be able to see the Documents and Settings folder.

[jbasagoi]

Thanks for all the help, I did cont with the installation, it went fine, until it asked for the password, i left it blank but it was unable to continue, it asked again for the password, of course my daughter does not remember, i did press cont-alt-del twice just to go ahead with adm and "blank" password (also in safe mode) but did not work, I downladed "ophcrack-xp-livecd" burn the iso file and try to boot in the laptop (yes i did modify the boot sequence) but did not boot, some one told me that i need a similar "crack" file but it should work in DOS, what can I do ?

[Midknyte]

Sorry, we are not going to help you with password cracking.

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/faq/index.html

Your daughter forgot the password in less than a week? Are you sure the username is correct? administrator would be the default, but I'd guess she used a different name.

I gave you some other suggestions on how to get the data off already. If you were smart enough to download ophcrack, you can get a Live Linux disc.