Unable to copy and paste anything

Question

Hi

My Dell Dimension 8400 has been working strangely recently and several things have gone wrong (eg. no taskbar, startup takes a lot longer). Theefore, I have bought an external hard drive and want to back up all of my data before peforming a repair or reinstallation of XP. Unfortunately I cannot copy and paste anything, including the files onto my hard drive. I can highlight files and copy them, but when I right click and select paste, it is unavailable (faded grey). Also, the hard drive does not come up as an option when I right click and select Send To. How can I solve this?

Thanks a lot.

GreyMack · Answer

Without fixing your Windows, the only option may be to read the disk from another operating system compatible with NTFS. Connect the disks as slave and/or external device and then copy/paste your data files/folders. GM

ablokeinlondon · Answer

Hi What exactly is this and how do I do it? Thanks a lot.

gudgeon · Answer

If you can install programs, you could try downloading the free trial of Casper XP from here. This would allow you to copy the whole of your hard drive to your separate external drive. When you've reinstalled XP, you should then be able to copy the data files back. Message Edited by gudgeon on 12-25-2005 07:05 PM

ablokeinlondon · Answer

My pc has gone really weird. I can install some programs but it won't let me install others. Unfortunately it won't let me install the above recommended program. Do you know of any similar programs, or any other ways to solve this problem?

Thanks a lot.

gudgeon · Answer

Are you sure you do not have virus or spyware infestations? Running the online facility at Trend Micro may help you.

GreyMack · Answer

To back up data from a Windows installation that cannot be used for this purpose, you may remove the hard drive from your system and connect it as a data drive to another PC. The operating system of the other PC may be able to read the drive and copy data files & folders from it. If your external drive is also connected to the other PC, data files & folders may be pasted to it. Once the data is saved, reinstall the drive in your PC and repair or reinstall the operating system, then connect the external data drive.

Another option would be to save an image of your system drive, repair or reinstall Windows, then restore selected data files from the image. This might require imaging software that can be run from CD without first being installed on your PC, and I can't be sure about additional steps that might be necesary to access the drive if it is SATA.

Perhaps your PC could be accessed over a network by another PC, and any shared files may be copied from your PC to another.

GM

gudgeon · Answer

In addition, have you tried to install Casper XP in Safe Mode?

ablokeinlondon · Answer

Hi again

I tried installing it in safe mode, but with the same result. It says the RPC server is unavailable. I looked up how to fix this problem but it says that I need to go from start and select run and type in something. I cannot do this as I do not have a taskbar. Is there a way around this?

Also, I have absolutely no idea how I would remove the hard drive and put it another pc and surely that would destroy the warranty? And unfortunately my pc is not part of a network so I cannot get my files off that way.

Are there any other ways of solving this problem?

I want to do a repair of Windows XP but am worried about losing my data as it is very important. If I use the original XP disc that cam with my pc and select an in place reinstallation would I lose my files and programs?

Thanks a lot

Windows General

Unable to copy and paste anything

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