Inspiron 1720 Hard Drive Failure, What are my Options for Restoring System to New Hard Drive and Recovering Data?

Hi cwk14

I think i can help you with some of your problems ,  The old drive C:\ that is RAW to me its says the data there can not be recovered because there is no partition on it to recovery from so i think it is lost !!

Now you say you have saved the folders in d:\ recovery to a backup drive now you have a good starting point ,On the computer you are using now with the usb old drive plugged in go to control panel to folder options in there select view hidden files and folders now go back to the old drive and make sure you have all of the folders copied  there is one that is hidden you need these folders{ Dell -program files-programdata this is the one that is hidden -sources -tools -users -windows} you do not need any of the other folders in d:\    

Now put your new drive in the usb case and make your D:\NTFS partition to the size you want then copy your recovery folder to it ! now make your C:\NTFS partition then put the new drive back your laptop install Vista to the second c:\ partition the big one not the small  d:\partition !!

Now after you get Vista installed and running  to get the F8 restored working read the rest of the info below .

This has been updated from the original post i made!!

You must have Vista 32 or 64 bit installed and working but you have lost the F8 Recovery menu option !
You must have the D:\Recovery 32 or 64 bit partition { {and it is still intact}} ! Note when you do a factory restore it will format the C:\Partition all data will be lost make

sure you have your { {Backup}} before you start the factory restore !! 
Now
download Windows Advanced Installation Kit from Microsoft {Genuine Validation is required}
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=94bb6e34-d890-4932-81a5-5b50c657de08&DisplayLang=en

By the way it is an ISO image that has to be burned to a DVD with your software not drop and drag it is a big file 1375.9 MB in size a long download time !!
Install Windows AIK the default location is .
c:\Program Files\Windows AIK
but i changed it to
c:\WAIK to save a lot of typing latter .

I was able to repair my F8 Menu for D:\Recovery Partition !
Here's how to do it.
 
In Vista go to the start menu all programs select Microsoft Windows AIK
You have to Right click c:\ command prompt Open it with run as {administrator} you will see .

C:\Windows\system32\SYSTEM32>
Type
CD\   tap enter key
you will get
c:\>    Then type
CD WAIK  tap enter key
You will get
c:\WAIK
Type
CD Recovery tap enter key you will get

C:\WAIK\recovery> Now type SetAutoFailover.cmd /target D: disk 0 partition 1 or 2 if you have the Dell hidden test partition
Now tap enter key
If everything goes fine, you'll see a list of messages and one saying that the operation was completed successfully in some cases you may get an error message but it should still work.

Now reboot your computer and tap F8 during boot up, choose "Repair your computer"tap enter key you will see the windows screen scroll by then it will show system recovery select your key board option click on next you will see user name and password click OK it will have the original recovery console with the Dell Recovery Image Restore as the last option !!

Hope it works for you as well!
This is based on the Inspiron 1501 Dell Vista Ultimate 64 Bit,Dimension E521 Dell Vista Ultimate 64 Bit, XPS 430 Dell Vista Ultimate 64 Bit and Retail Windows 7 64 Bit Full or upgrade version using imagex to build the new Dell\Image\Factory.wim file.YES it does work for my Dimension 8400 with Retail Vista Ultimate 64 Bit using imagex to build the new Dell\Image\factory.wim file .
This should work with any Dell computer that has the D:\Recovery partition !!

Now if there is something else i can help you with just ask !! 

Good Luck

C3PO5,

Thanks for all of help.  I won't have a chance to try any of this until this evening or later this week, but this looks very helpful.  Yes, I did copy the hidden folder from the Recovery partition.  I've also requested Backup CD's from Dell, which they are sending out to me this week.  So if this fails, I've got another option for starting over.  Seems to me, if I can get the Recovery Partition copied to the new drive the whole process should go a lot faster from what I've been hearing and reading online.  Got a few more questions for you if you don't mind:

1.  Once I get the new drive into the USB external caddy that I have, can I set up this drive with the recovery partition using a computer that is not running Vista?  Running XP on the other computer that I would be doing this from.

2.  Do I need third party software in order to partition the drive before loading it up with the recovery data from Dell?  If so, what do you recommend?

3.  Do you know of any data recovery companies that you can recommend for recovering my lost data that hopefully won't cost me a bundle?

If I'm breaking any forum rules by asking for recommendations for third party software or data recovery recommendations, let me know and I'll pursue these topics elsewhere.

Thanks for all your help!

-CWK14

Hi

1 Yes you can use disk manager in XP to setup the partitions on the new drive 2 .you do not need any other software to make the partitions 3 from what i understand the coast of getting your date back may run into a grate big bundle like maybe in to the thousands you may do a web search for the data recovery its up to you .

Let us know how these steps works for you .

Good Luck  

Well, the first attempt was unsuccessful.  I created two partitions on the drive using my Windows XP computer, the first one the largest partition and the second one 10 GB.  I copied the Dell Recovery files to the 10 GB partition.  FYI, I created both partitions as "Primary Partitions" (Not Extended or Logical which were the other two choices).  Also, when formatting the partitions I checked both boxes for "Peform a Quick Format" as well as "Enable File and Folder Compression".

So, I then popped the drive into my laptop and after turning it on and pressing F8, I get the following message:

NTLDR is missing

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

Thoughts?

Hi

You have to make the number 1  {10 gig partition first} then make the number 2 {second} BIG partition in XP disk manager for the Vista OS that is the only way to get the Vista install to work. after you put the hard drive in your laptop then you have to use the Vista DVD to reinstall the OS to the {second partition}

When you reboot the computer you will see the Dell logo you press F12 in the menu that comes up you select boot to the DVD drive that has the Vista DVD in it then you follow the setup steps to install Vista again . { {When you press F8}} it will give you the error message because there is no OS installed !!  

{ {Enable File and Folder Compression}}

You do not use this on any of the partition it will not work to install Vista .

Good Luck

Hi

Go here and read the step by step on how to install Vista http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_install_03.asp this will help you at this time .When you get to the point of selecting the partitions you select the BIG partition not the small one !

C3PO5,

Thanks for all your help.  Finally got my laptop back up and running today.  Ran into a few additional issues here and there, but worked through them and ultimately was able to successfully restore it to the original Dell setup via the recovery partition.  Thankfully Dell sent me copies of all the original software on CD because the Vista CD came in handy several times.  I'm glad I was able to restore it all through the recovery partition because that saved me a huge amount of time.  Now I've got to spend some time updating everything and re-loading all of my programs and data.  I'm also going to create a separate partition for my data this time around to keep the OS and my data seperate to avoid this problem in the future (hopefully it won't ever happen again).  I'm also going to be more religious about backing up than I was in the past.

Again, thanks for all of your help....couldn't have done this without all of your assistance.

-CWK14

Hi

I am very happy you have your laptop up and running now :emotion-1: Yes its very helpful to have your backups in order you never know when you may run into a problem :emotion-18:

Good Luck 

c3po5,

I also have the same issue with my dell 1720.My hard drive has also failed. After the 2nd OS install do we then install the WAIK?

I have issues after running several failed attempts following your previous steps. Was able to successfully complete the Dell recovery Image Restore but after it rebooted it kept cycling through Dell bootup menu and wouldn't get past that step. I'm hoping the reason was because I didn't install the OS the 2nd time around.

thanks,

Leonard