How to Backup Data from Hard Drive without OS in 3 Ways
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Windows OS Corrupted? You Need to Back Up Hard Drive
When your Windows operating system is corrupted and can't boot anymore, you may need to format the internal hard drive and reinstall the OS to make your computer work again. However, before you take this measure, you need to back up the data stored on the hard drive because formatting means all data will be erased from the hard drive.
But with a corrupted operating system; how can you backup data from the hard drive?
Fortunately, there are still some ways that you can use to backup data from hard drive without OS. This article will show you three of the most effective methods.
3 Working Ways to Backup Data from Hard Drive without OS
Method 1. Create Emergency Disk with Backup Software
Method 2. Using Another Working PC to Read and Backup Hard Disk
Method 3. Use A Live CD or USB drive
Method 1. Create Emergency Disk with Backup Software
The first solution is related to a third-party tool, Qiling Backup, which can easily back up a problematic internal hard disk to an external hard drive without OS working.
Qiling Backup, a professional backup and restore utility, can create a backup of your hard disk even if the Windows operating system isn't booting on.
The rationale for using this method is to burn a Windows PE image on an empty USB to create a bootable disc. Then, boot your computer from the bootable disk and apply Qiling Backup to back up data on your computer.
- Notice:
- You should prepare the following tools to finish the backup: An external hard drive with enough storage space to save backups, an available USB flash, and another working Windows computer. Then download Qiling Backup to start the backup process.
Here is the step-by-step guide:
* The following backup procedure requires another working computer to create an emergency disk of Qiling Backup. You'll need to boot your unbootable computer through this emergency disk to make a full backup.
Step 1. To make an Qiling Backup emergency disk, you need a USB flash drive and connect it to a working computer. Launch Qiling Backup, click "Tools" and then click "Create Emergency Disk".
Step 2. Switch to the USB option when choose a boot disk location, and then click Create.
Step 3. When it's done, insert this emergency disk to the computer that needs backing up. Restart the PC, and Press F2/DEL to enter BIOS. Change the boot sequence, and then start the computer and run Qiling backup software from the bootable disk.
Step 4. Access the option of Select backup contents and then choose the Disk backup mode. Here, select the computer hard drive(s) to make a full backup.
Step 5. Select a destination to save your backup file. It's recommended to save the backup file to external storage media.
Step 6. Click "Proceed" to execute your operation.
Method 2. Using Another Working PC to Read and Backup Hard Disk
The second solution is to ask for help from another working computer. If you have another accessible PC, you can connect the problem drive to it as an external hard drive, and backup data from the problem hard drive by copying and pasting. Here are the detailed steps:
Step 1. Connect the corrupted internal hard drive to a working PC via a USB-to-SATA cable or USB-to-IDE/EIDE cable.
Step 2. Wait for the working computer to recognize the problem hard drive and then open it to check the files stored on the drive.
Step 3. Copy all needed files from the problem hard drive to a safe location on the working PC.
- Tip
- You can also use Windows Built-in Backup and Restore(Windows 7) feature to create hard drive backups.
Method 3. Use A Live CD or USB drive
The third way to back up data from a hard drive without an operating system is to use a live CD or USB drive. A live CD is an operating system that you can boot from a CD or USB drive. This means that you can use the live CD to access your hard drive and copy files to another location, such as an external hard drive.
There are a number of different live CDs you can use, including:
- Ubuntu Live CD: https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop
- Fedora Live CD: https://getfedora.org/en/workstation/download/
- Debian Live CD: https://www.debian.org/CD/live/
To use a live CD to backup data from a hard drive without an operating system, you will need to:
Step 1. Download the live CD image from the website of the distribution you want to use.
Step 2. Burn the image to a blank CD or USB drive.
Step 3. Boot your computer from the live CD or USB drive.
Step 4. Copy your data to another location, such as an external hard drive.
The Wrapping Up
These are three ways that you can use to backup data from a hard drive without OS. When the hard drive backup is created, you can format your drive and reinstall Windows OS.
The second and third methods are both one-time and throwaway solutions to the hard disk backup problem. If you are looking for a long-term solution, you should use a backup program like Qiling Backup to back up data from your hard drive on a regular basis.
Qiling Backup supports different types of backup, like full backup, differential backup, and incremental backup. It can back up disks, partitions, files, folders, and even the whole system. What's more, it enables you to clone hard drive to SSD/HDD in Windows 11/10/8/7 with ease. So why not have a try?
FAQ about Backup Data from Hard Drive without OS
1. How do I access my hard drive without an operating system?
All three ways mentioned above can help you access your hard drive without an operating system. Using Qiling Backup, you can quickly back up your hard drive with simple steps. As for the detailed operation process, please refer to the article.
2. Can I back up a hard drive from BIOS?
BIOS can help you detect the hard drive and other devices attached to the computer. However, it cannot back up data from the hard drive. In order to backup files from the hard drive, you need to use professional backup software like Qiling Backup. Or, use a Live CD and another working PC.
3. How can I recover data from an external hard drive without software?
If you want to recover data from an external hard drive without any backup software, you need to use a Live CD or ask for help from another working computer. Then connect the external hard drive to the computer and copy files stored on it to another location.
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