FreeAgent Products

[quin]

Hi all

My Lenovo laptop had a virus and I need to do a system restore (no access to Windows XP operating system, can't boot to safe mode) and I can copy files onto my FreeAgent Desk through Rescue and Recovery (R&R) software. The FreeAgent holds my backup files

My FreeAgent is pretty full and I could delete some of its files, if I could see them all at once to see if I have unnecessary files and then I can make room for the rescued files. This is very difficult and slow with R&R software, when I want to copy folders especially my music.

I could hook up the FreeAgent to a Mac but I am concerned about corrupting the FreeAgent and about the Mac cache on a full Windows drive. I know this should not be done very often so as not to corrupt it, but am I risking it all by doing it this once? This *is* my backup so if it is corrupt, I will lose everything.

Thanks in advance,

quin

[AlanM]

Yes, I would not recommend connecting it to a Mac at this point, especially since this is your only copy of your data.  

Why not just reinstall Windows and then once that's complete reconnect the FreeAgent Desk so as to start restoring the data?

[myforum]

It's not clear about your backup on your FreeAgent Desk. Is this just files, a full backup, or an image of your drive C: created by using Seagate DiscWizard? The good news are you still have your backup and your laptop is still able to power up. Following are my suggestions:

1) If you have an image of your drive C:

       a) Create a bootable CD by burning this file "DiscWizardBoot.en.iso" from the bundled Seagate Disc         Utility using a different computer.

       b) Set the BIOS of your laptop to boot from CD and cold boot it using this CD. Alternatetively, if you don't have an internal CD/DVD drive, you can use an external USB one.

       c) Follow on-screen instructions to restore your image

2) Use the bundled "Recovery Disc" for your laptop to restore the factory installations, then copy whatever files you need from your FreeAgent Desk to drive C:

3) If you have none of those above, you must re-install Windows. The Windows Installation Disc is bootable. Just follow on-screen instructions to complete the installation. Keep in mind that this is just the begining because there are going to be a lot of work ahead to fine tune your laptop to be as fully functional as before it crashed such as required drivers, your apps etc... After all of these are done, then copy whatever files you need from your FreeAgent to drive C:

Good luck!!!