Data recovery & Vista....

My IBM ideapad woke up with "missing/corrupt bootmgr". Not good i know, but anyways i was just gonna back up my data and give it a fresh install and everything would be better...right...No that would be too much to ask from MS. My normal means of data backup in this situation would be to just plug Hdd into another computer and copy it off. However when I plug in the drive all the data seems to be hidden. From what I figure probably a vista security. How do I get the data off? The Hdd with the data was vista and I'm using an XP desktop to get the data. I see the Hdd fine...just can't access the data. Does anyone know how?
I tried using a data recovery...couldn't think of anything better...again I can see the data just don't have permission to access it.

Thanks,
Rogue

First try putting it back in the laptop. Then put in your Vista disk and boot into the recovery console. Try a "fixboot" and "fixmbr" command, then see if you can get back into windows.

edit: here's a little guide
http://www.planetmy.com/blog/how-to-fixmbr-using-windows-vista-bootable-disk/

I tried that. Problem is that vista did not come on a disk with that computer. It is a partition, probably to save IBM money on distributing disks. I tried my copy of vista Business, but got angry and didn't work. Maybe because the laptop has Home Premium(I think) and that's a Business Disk? Any other Ideas?

-Thanks for the help retap

First, I have to say this, I will bet there was an app on the laptop to make a recovery disc which everyone seems to ignore, until it is too late.

On with the problem.... I will assume you can not boot into safe mode. Have you tried another Vista machine to access the drive? Make sure, on either Vista or XP you are logged in as THE administrator, not someone who is an administrator, but THE administrator. See if that helps.

Allan

again I can see the data just don't have permission to access it.

Click to expand...

If you're getting that kind of error, you probably have to change the permissions. This was easily done in XP, but depending upon the configuration of Vista, looks to be a PITA.

Because I don't run Vista, I can only point you here to start.

If that particular fix doesn't work, just start Googleing "change permissions in Vista".

Of course, I could be way in left field and nowhere near the right fix!

You can recover your data back by using data recovery software. I used Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery Software to recover my data in past. You can also try this software. Just download the demo version first from here: http://www.stellarinfo.com/partition-recovery.htm after using it scan your data and if you are able to view your data then buy full version and save your data.

did you have EFS enabled ? or any other type of File system encryption ?

have you got a corrupted filesystem what does chkdsk say ?

Are there any folders visable ? does the disk even mount ?

what is the disk's condidtion in disk manager ?