Backing Up Your Data Without Starting Windows

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When a hard drive failure or unbootable Windows issue occurs, reinstalling the operating system can help to rebuild it. But what users are mostly concerned about is how to solve the problem without losing data. How can you access the data on a frozen computer? You need to find a way to back up your data without entering Windows.

In this article, we will show you two quick and easy ways to access and backup data or files on a Windows 10/8/7 or other versions PC without operating system when it fails to start. You can try either of them to safeguard your important data before taking measures to fix the system.

# Part 1: Back Up Your Data Without Starting Windows

Applies to: Select and back up all files from a problem hard drive to an external one without starting the operating system.

Preparation:

• An empty USB flash drive
• An external hard drive with enough free space
• A healthy Windows PC
• Reliable backup software – Todo Backup

With Todo Backup, you can have a reliable solution to back up files or even the entire disk (learn more about disk backup) selectively when your Windows OS fails to boot.

You need to use the software to burn the Windows PE image to a blank USB to create a bootable disk. Then, you can boot your computer from the bootable disk and use the tool Todo Backup to perform a full backup of your computer's data.

Here are the detailed steps:

* The following backup process requires a working computer to create the AOMEI Todo Backup Emergency Disk. You will need to boot the unbootable computer from this emergency disk to perform a full backup.

Step 1. To make a Todo Backup Emergency Disk, you will need a USB flash drive and connect it to a computer that is functioning normally. Launch Todo Backup, click on “Tools” and then click on “Create Emergency Disk”.

Step 2: When prompted to select the startup disk, switch to the USB option, and click “Create.”

Create a USB Emergency Disk for Todo Backup

Step 3. Once done, insert the emergency disk into the computer that needs to be backed up. Restart the PC and press F2/DEL to enter BIOS. Change the boot order, then boot the computer from the boot disk and run the tools backup software.

Step 4. Select the "Choose what to backup" option and then choose the "Disk Backup" mode. Here, select the computer hard drive(s) you want to create a full backup of.

Step 5. Choose a location to save your backup file. It is recommended that you save the backup file to an external storage device.

Select where to save the backup

Click “Backup Now” to perform the action.

Wait patiently for Todo Backup to finish backing up all the important data from your Windows hard drive to the external one. When it's done, you can safely disconnect the external HDD and check the backup data on another healthy PC.

Access and copy files from an unbootable operating system using a USB Windows installation media

Applies to: Manually access and copy files using the USB Windows installer on Windows 10/8/7.

Preparations:

• A blank USB flash drive
• An external hard drive with enough space
• Another healthy PC

Here is the detailed information:

Step 1: Create a Windows installation media on a USB drive from a working computer

Download the Windows Media Creation Tool from Microsoft on another Internet-connected PC, and choose USB (at least 8GB) to create your Windows installation media.

**Step 2:** Boot the unbootable Windows system from the USB installation media.

Insert the Windows USB drive into the unbootable computer and plug in the external drive to your PC. Restart your computer and enter BIOS. Go to the “Boot” option and set it to boot from the Windows USB drive. Save the changes and exit BIOS.

<img src="/images/en/screenshot/todo-backup/guide/access-files-from-unbootable-windows-via-usb-installer-1.png" width="645" height="366" alt="Access files from unbootable Windows via USB installer">

Wait for your computer to start up from Windows without pressing any key.

Step 3: Launch Command Prompt through the Advanced Options in Troubleshoot.

In the Windows Setup window, click Next, then click Repair your computer in the bottom-left corner of the next window.

• Select "Troubleshoot" to access the advanced options, then click "Command Prompt" in the new window.

Step 4: Open Notepad by typing the following into the Command Prompt and pressing Enter:

Get the logical disk name cd windows notepad.exe

1. Type `wmic logicaldisk get name` and press **Enter** to list all partitions on your Windows PC. 2. Type `cd windows` and press **Enter** to navigate to the Windows drive directory. 3. Type `notepad.exe` and press **Enter** to open Notepad through the Command Prompt.

Step Five: Copy the data currently on your computer's hard drive to an external hard drive as a backup.

1. Open the "Notepad" program and click "File" then "Open" to access all drives on your computer.

Access drives and files from an unbootable Windows using the USB Installer.

2. Change “File type” from “.txt” to “All Files” so that Windows will show you all the files on your hard drive.

3. Navigate to the drive or folder containing the data you want to save, right-click on the file or folder, and click “Copy.” Then, navigate to your external hard drive and “Paste” the data there.

Repeat this process until you have backed up all of your important data. How long this takes depends on how much data you are copying; to speed things up, try copying the files in ascending order by size.

When the backup is complete, you can close the Notepad window and the Command Prompt window, and then turn off your computer.

Last Words

Once the backup to the USB drive is complete, close all windows and shut down your computer. If you plan on reinstalling Windows, you can now proceed with a clean install using File History to safely reinstall.

If you're also interested in how to recover files from a broken hard drive or computer, skip down to the next answer.

2. How can I get my files or data off a computer that won't start up?

If you have another computer available, you can remove the hard drive from the dead one and install it in the new machine as a secondary drive, allowing you to retrieve all your data.

If you don't have access to a second PC, you can try recovering your data from the USB installation media or with the file backup software described on this page.

2. How to recover files from an unbootable hard drive?

If it's a system drive that won't boot, you can remove it from the old computer and install it in the new one to continue using all your data. You can also use specialized data recovery software to perform data recovery from a non-bootable hard drive.

If the data drive fails to boot, it might be due to bad sectors or a damaged file system. You might need specialized hard drive repair tools or seek assistance from a local repair center.

3. How to Resuscitate a Dying Hard Drive: The Ultimate Guide

When your hard drive becomes very slow, frequently freezes, gives odd error messages, or suddenly can't find files that were there before and displays SMART errors, it means that your hard drive is dying. First, you need to check whether the drive is simply aging or is completely broken.

If it's on its last legs, retrieve data from the hard disk first, and then replace it with a new one.

If it's a hard drive, you might be able to take it to a local repair shop, or contact the manufacturer for assistance. For more, see How to Handle a Dying Hard Drive.

4. What should I do if my computer hard drive fails?

If your system drive fails, you should follow the solutions on this page to transfer your data to an external hard drive and reinstall the Windows operating system.

If it's a hard drive with important data, first try to fix the corrupted hard drive, and then recover data from the damaged disk. For a detailed tutorial, refer to this article on how to fix a corrupted hard drive without formatting.