Can't get past W/7 Splash Screen - How can I access my data

Hello! I have a 9 month old laptop which is a:
TOSHIBA Satellite L775D PSK40U-005002
Windows 7 Home Premium (x64)
Hitachi HTS547564A9E384 [Hard drive] (640.13 GB) - SATA-300

It lost power while in use and trying to reboot goes swimmingly until after the Windows splash screen. At that point I get a black screen with no option to log in. Just a cursor. It's under warranty but I want to save some data before I send it for repair or try to restore to factory state.

• Booting into safe mode leads to the same problem.
• Booting with last know good configuration does not resolve it.
• It can't find a restore point; although one was created recently.
• System Repair did not work either.

When creating this thread it suggested this one as a possible similar issue:
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=210908

My question is, since that thread is a couple of years old, is there a solution you recommend I attempt that may be better than the one suggested there?

My Customer no-service experience with Toshiba has been such a nightmare in the past I have never found the energy to write about it. (This was due to a SMART hard drive failure one month after purchase.)
If there is no hardware issue, I prefer to just salvage my data and lose and purchased programs and restore to factory state.

I just want to know the best way to get to my data.

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

 

I'm not a software guru but the solution is valid as I have used a Live CD (I believe it was Knoppix at the time) in obtaining and backing up data from a computer that died on me. Give it a try.
As to a better solution, see if any of the software geeks come up with a wiz-bang idea.

 

Good point on the multiple backups. While external HDs are relatively cheap these days, anyone should be able to afford a thumb drive, certainly some DVDs.

Losing data isn't IF, rather it is WHEN.

What a great feeling when you know you can draw from several back up sources...

 

All the data recovery options suggested are good.

One last thing to try as to repair would be a chkdsk to see if it is simple file corruption due to the power outage. You could do it before or after data recovery.

From the list of 5 options where you tried System Restore choose Command Prompt. Then try these two commands.

chkdsk c: /r
chkdsk d: /r

Then try to boot to see if you get the Welcome screen.

 

I tried the chkdsk c: /r chkdsk d: /r option but it did not fix anything.
Such a shame. I really wanted a fix.

I made the Ubuntu bootable USB. Hit F12, selected to boot from the usb and presto, I had access to everything. Amazing! I went to back up the data on my WD 2TB hard drive but it's the kind with the unlocker.exe and Ubuntu didn't know how to handle it.
So I guess I have to buy an external HD with no password protection feature? That feature keeps me from making system image back-ups too.

I am pretty good about backing up important files. My home PC backs up everything all the time but currently, due to the economy, I live away from home 4 days out of the week and have been dragging that laptop around with little time to back-up data and external HDs aren't fun to drag around.

 

I just read up on the Western Digital My Book Essential HDs and learned how to turn off password prompt.

It blows me away that I need an open source OS to get into my Windows 7.

 

So you can copy things to the external now? Great!
Do you have a link to what you found on turning off the password--it might be helpful to someone else. Some of those WD external drives can be tricky.

I'm sorry the chkdsk didn't work, hanging on a black screen in Vista/7 sometimes is fixed by that. Have you tried letting it sit at the black screen for an hour or so? That is the only other thing I have seen work in your situation, where time lets it eventually sort things out. (Many times it doesn't do anything.)

I don't want to dissuade you from a fresh install, always my first choice since I keep anything important on a separate data partition, but just wanted to give my last idea.

 

I haven't tried transferring the data yet. (I am at work)
I'll try lettig it sit at the black screen for a while. It does seem to be trying to do something. (A flask or flicker here and there and the sound of gears spinning)
Here is the instructions for future members.........
It's page 31 of the WD
manual but in case the link get's yanked, here is a screenshot and instructions:
http://i.imgur.com/AvE7i.jpg

Turning Off the Drive Lock Feature
To remove password protection from your drive:
1. Click Security on either the WD SmartWare Drive Settings screen or the drive
management Drive Settings screen (see Figure 17 on page 27) to display the Your
Drive is Secure dialog:
2. Type your password in the Password box.
3. Select the Remove security option.
4. Click Update Security Settings to remove password protection from your drive and redisplay the Set Security dialog.