Windows 7 Safe Mode

Hi all, my friend's laptop encountered a problem after he installed the Vista SP1 update. It no longer boots up for him and he is unable to access safe mode, so he asked me to safely extract some of his items from the hard drive before he tries to reformat.

I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate and when I connect the HD via SATA, Windows asks to check the disk for errors. No how hard I bang on my keyboard, I am unable to skip the disk check. The problem with letting it run is that it freezes at around 58% and I'm never able to go any further.

I figured I would try booting up into safe mode and just using DOS commands to copy the files he needed backed up, but trying to run Windows 7 in safe mode with his HD attached causes it to freeze at CLASSPNP.SYS. I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong section. I wasn't sure which section it would fall under but I would appreciate any help on the matter. Thanks!

Jonathan_King said:

I suggest a system restore to get to a point before the troubles began.

SATA is hot pluggable. Try connecting the hard drive to your machine after it is booted.

Did as you suggested, but the hard drive does not seem to show up after it is plugged in. He does not have the Vista disc and is unable to boot into operating system, so I'm not sure how to go about doing a system restore for him. Any possible reasons as to why my computer won't recognize his HD?

Great help! Just to clarify, his OS is Vista. If I use my Windows 7 system to create a repair disc will there be any issues?

Jonathan_King said:

Update: I have confirmed that a Windows 7 repair disc can repair Vista installations.

Awesome! I'm using it to back up his HD at the moment before I try to repair Vista. Will post back with any questions. Thanks for your help thus far.