Backing Up Files from an Unbootable System

Windows Installer Disk is nifty tool that lets you back up files from your computer that refuses to boot up

Whenever your Windows system does not boot or crashes then you do not have to pull out the hard drive or use any Linux Live CD to recover your data. You can use a Windows installer disk to quickly backup your files. What’s more you can use a Windows 7 disk to back up files from a Windows 8 system or vice versa.

Step1: Boot From a Windows Installer Disk

First, insert a Windows installer disk (or a USB drive with the Windows installer on it) onto your computer and restart your computer. If you are not able to boot, then you need to change the boot settings in your computer BIOS.

Step2: At startup select Repair Your Computer option which you will see at the bottom-left corner of the window, with both Windows 7 and Windows 8 installer disks.

Step 3: If you are using a Windows 8 installer disk, select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt.

Step 4: If you are using a Windows 7 installer disk, select Restore your computer using a system image you created option and click on Next. When it unable to recover then it shows two option retry and cancle, press cancel

You will see the System Recovery Options window – click Command Prompt to launch a Command Prompt window.

Step 5: When Command Prompt opens, type notepad and press Enter to launch a Notepad window. Click File and select Open in the Notepad window.

Step 6: Here, we want to open Windows Explorer. So, ensure you select the ALL Files option at the bottom of Windows and the click on My Computer. Then you will have all drives on your system including external drives and you will be able to copy paste your selected files on any drive.

Do not double-click any files as the Notepad will try to open them, and possibly freeze. If the Notepad freezes go back to command prompt and type taskmgr. This will launch Task Manager and kill the Notepad process and open it again from CMD. Once copying of files is done, shut down your computer and perform a clean install.