Ubuntu boot up issues

My hard rive is making whining sounds and the computer is unable to boot up.

With the side cover of the case off, I can hear the hard drive rev up and then it suddenly lowers rpm, it may rev up again or it might not, it will attempt to start if I do a soft or hard boot.... but, either way, the computer is unable to fully boot up.
Is there any means I can use to extract info from the drive?

I am running an old version of Ubuntu on a machine that allows just 512MB of Ram

Also, what is the key stroke to boot up Ubuntu in what I'll call : 'safe mode' ?

 

The question is do you have another drive to install in the case?

If so, make the new drive primary and make the existing slave. Boot up a Live distro (Puppy linux 5 would be my suggestion with your limited resources). You can then copy between the failing drive and your new drive your /home directory.

Install the distro of your choice while retaining your copied /home and you will have retained most if not all of your settings.

 

The easiest form of safe mode on Linux is to boot from a Live CD - Ubuntu Linux has multiple versions available for download at www.ubuntu.com - as this bypasses the boot options on the hard drive completely.
I recommend using Ubuntu Linux 10.04 as there is a specific hard drive testing tool available on the CD.
Boot from the CD. Go to System > Administration > Disk Utility. The hard drive you have inside your computer should be listed. Run a SMART test on the drive and read the report. That should give you more info on whether it's a drive issue or something else.

 

Good suggestions all of them.
Let me ask all of you these questions:

Can you provide a link to the puppy linux 5 for me?
and a link to the 10.0 you speak of.

Does puppy linux 5 have a have a disk checking feature like I have read 10.0 has?

Will the 10.0 version work well on a low Ram computer such as I have? I have only 512Mb the mother board allows for no more than 512mb



..........I am wondering now how long I have had this board?...5 years? or could it be longer?, any way.oops I am thinking out loud.

Thanks!

 

oops I wanted to ask for your views and feelings about Mint 8...and will it work well on a low RAM machine ?
and is it found to be perhaps very user friendly, to very new linux users such as myself, who are coming off of windows based systems?.I had heard it was, and I seek more opinions. Thanks

 

yes I have a another drive to install, which I would eventually make become my "main drive"......after reading all your replies, again I want to ask all of you this:

Does all linux systems ( distributions, I think U call them) have a means built into them to copy hard drives completely like cloning software does?....and without having to install a third party software to do the cloning?...

if so, that is awesome!.......what is it called and where does one look for it in linux systems?

 

What do you expect from the box? Casual surfing with reading email and occasional music? Or are you wanting to do more with your system. Sometimes getting an old box to "work" does not mean it will "work" in every use.

Puppy 5 has Ubuntu roots. There is a set of file utilities on the disk.

The alternative for a low RAM system is another file manager like Fluxbox or XFCE. Here is the Ubuntu Wiki

Someone more versed in Knoppix, or Mandriva can maybe shed light on what is EASY.

You can download any distro for free and Puppy is a small download (128 Meg I think). It runs entirely off RAM meaning you do not install. I recently sold some P-4 266 machines with 1 Gig RAM for $20, and you may find yard sales or craigslist could have similiar help to boost your box without a lot of $$.

 

Mint 9 XFCE may be a solution for you. It will install "live" for testing.