[Chester LUG] Getting files off a sata hard drive

[Roger Gibson]

Hi folks.

I'm in a fix and trying to go off next week.

At a Charity I help, a 9 month old PC has gone down totally dead, 
although there is a light showing inside.  I can set about sorting this 
through suppliers, but I need to get some files off the hard drive very 
quick, like tomorrow or v early on Monday.  It is a Windoze machine, but 
I done similar things off a sick machine using a live Knoppix CD.  I did 
not realise how easy it is to get Word files etc off the fixed hard 
disc.  Shows how necessary it is to use encryption with Windows.

However this machine is dead dead.  I've tried on Patrick's (he is the 
young lad who came with me a couple of times, and is now a total Linux 
convert) home made machine, which uses IDE as /hda1 etc, but has SATA 
sockets, but I can not get the bios to see the SATA drive.  Anyone any 
ideas.  I've no access to any other SATA machines, but if anyone near 
Chester can help me out, either with advice as to how to do it on 
Patrick's machine, or could spare half an hour tomorrow to try on their 
own set up, I would be very grateful.  I'll drive anywhere within 
Cheshire.  Then I can make a copy of the files on to CD, DVD or 
whatever, and put on a laptop at the Charity, and go off for a few days 
holiday and sort stuff out when I get back.

If anyone can help, I'd be most grateful, or know of a helpful computer 
techie, please give me a call  01829 720283 or 07764 186942.

And yes I do preach about back ups, but they turned off the remote back 
up drive, and did nothing else about it.

The one 'shop' I did get to before it shut, I got a load of talk about 
problems with security etc on Windows, designed to stop moving hardware 
around.  When I produced my Knoppix live CD he flinched and said he had 
heard of Linux, and that it could do clever things, but he could not 
afford to lose his Microsoft Accreditation.