What Can Be Done About Your Files When Windows Won't Boot?

There is a huge problem that many people face each day with their computer. The operating system won't boot and their files are not backed up. There is this fear of losing data because nothing seems to be able to get you into your computer so that you can save your data before reloading the operating system. Luckily you do have some options instead of just losing your data.

The first trick is to put in your restore disks and simply repair the operating system versus reloading it completely. Sometimes the repair tool will fix something that is stopping your computer from booting. This will let you get back to your files which you should back up immediately.

There is also a trick that you can use with a Linux CD. There is something called a Live CD that you can download and use that will boot up Linux from the CD so that you can get your files off your computer. This won't install Linux or change your computer at all. What it will do is allow you to get to the Windows part of your computer so that you can make a back up of the things that you don't want to lose.

Download a Linux distribution. For the sake of ease just use Ubuntu. This will be about a 700 megabyte file that you need to download. Once downloaded, burn the file to a CD as an image.

Put this CD in your computer and boot up from the CD itself versus the hard drive. When you do this you will get an option to boot up Ubuntu without making any changes to your computer.

With this operating system, you can use the Places tab at the top of the screen to get to your file menu. This will let you copy over the files from your computer onto a flash disk or backup hard drive so it won't be lost.