As a few of you have noticed, I've been unusually quiet lately. On the evening of April 25th, 2009, my beloved Alienware M15X went into a seizure as the NLS files for Windows corrupted. I have since procured a larger HDD and reinstalled Vista, but now I am in the process of updating all the drivers, of which there are hundreds, as would be my luck. So, I'll be out for a while. I JUST got the drivers for my graphics card installed. LOTS of fun.
My big problem right now is getting the data off of the old HDD. I've got the right kind of connector, but when I try to open it up it tells me I don't have permission. I get permission, but then, oh watch out, that little green loading bar up at the top of the window always stops just before the end of the little X. Anybody know how to correct this?
What type of video card is it?
Did the files on the old drive just corrupt or did the old drive develop sector errors?
If it was due to sector errors use scandisk built into windows or a retail program of the
same nature to isolate those sectors so the old drive is usable again for data retrieval.
Was the former HD running Vista or XP?
Did you run check disk 1st?
what connection are you using to transfer? USB or serial?
Also, you should be able to download your drivers from Alienware tech support. If not, list what you need & I'll send em to ya.
Specifically what happened was the NLS file corrupted, which apparently has to do with startup procedures. I'm hoping I can just extract the files without having to do anything funky, because it's showing the folders it's supposed to.
Old disk was running the same copy of Vista. I have no idea what check disk is, but the Alienware guy had me pop in the support CD and try to get it to work that way, and no such luck. It's connected via USB.
NLS is National Language Support
Did it give a number to which file was corrupt?
Have you tried reinstalling Vista using the repair feature?
Actually try these first...
Method 1: Startup Repair from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE)
============================================
1. Insert the Windows Vista installation disc into the disc drive, and then
start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD ?". appears.
3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method,
and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your
Windows installation and click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Startup Repair.
Method 2: Rebuild BCD
============================================
1. Put the Windows Vista installation disc in the disc drive, and then
start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD ?". appears.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, and a keyboard or another input
method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Type Bootrec /RebuildBcd , and then press ENTER.
Method 3: Use the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to run System Restore
============================================
1. Instert the Windows Vista installation disc into the disc drive, and
then start the computer.
2. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD
or DVD ?". appears.
3. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method,
and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your
Windows installation and click Next
6. At the System Recovery Options Dialog Box, click on System Restore.
7. Follow the System Restore Wizard instruction as usual and choose the
appropriate restore point.
8. Click Finish to restore the system.
WinRE IS able to read the USB drives.. so if needed copy from other drive.
Okay, it seems to be working now.
And on that note, I need to find something particularly important -- my FAM accounts. Does anybody know where those are stored on the HDD in Vista?
Here's a big one. How do I get the iTunes library from my old HDD to work on my new one? I've imported all of the actual files, but I can't get it to use the old library, which is a bit of a problem, with 14 or so gigs of music to recatalogue.