How To Backup Data Without Booting Into Windows (Easy Way)

Data Backup without Booting into Windows :

If you're having boot problems on your Windows 7 PC and can't fix them even after using recovery tools ( you can see How to Repair Windows 7 by 1. Repair Disk, or, 2. USB Flash Drive)  present under System Recovery Options, you may want to backup your documents, pictures, music and other data before reinstalling Windows.

 While there are advanced methods and software available to backup data, you may not feel comfortable using command line tools and paid software. So, here I am going show you a smart way to backup data from your Windows and other drives to a USB drive when you are unable to boot into Windows :

Step 1 : After turn on your PC, press F8 key during the startup and then select Repair Your Computer option under Advanced Boot Options to boot into the recovery environment. If You can't find Repair Your Computer option under Advanced Boot Options you will need to use the installation media.

 If the above method doesn't work, insert your Windows installation DVD in the optical drive, reboot your PC. Make necessary changes to the BIOS to make PC boot from CD/DVD.

Step 2 : (Users who aren't booting from DVD or USB can simply skip this step.)

Press any key when asked to do so. When you press a key, Windows starts loading files from the DVD you will see "Windows is loading filed" message.

 Step 3 : You will see Install Windows screen. Here, select your language, keyboard type, language, then click Next button.

 

Users who have used Repair Your Computer under Advanced Boot Options will see the following screen :

 

 Select keyboard input method and click Next button and type in the password and then skip to Step 5.

Step 4 : In the following screen, you will see Install now button. But don't click Install now button. click Repair your computer option located in the lower left corner to start System Recovery Options. System Recovery Options will search for Windows installations and list them. Select the operating system, click Next button to see available recovery tools.

 

Step 5 : In this screen, you will all available System Recovery Options.

 Step 6 : Click on Command Prompt. We are not going to use the command line to backup data but we are using the Command Prompt to launch an application with GUI so we can easily move or backup files from a familiar user interface.

 In the Command Prompt, type notepad.exe and press Enter key to launch Notepad application. Once the application is launched, click on File -> Save as (you can use Ctrl + S keys as well) to launch Save as dialog.

 Step 7 : Save As dialog is what we wanted as from here we can easily browse all drives and folders without a problem. Simply click on Computer icon in the left pane and then browse to the drive or folder that you want to backup and then copy your files to a USB drive.

 

Note : When you are browsing a drive or folder, all files may not appear as Save dialog is showing only text files. To view all files, simply select All Files in Save as type drop down menu.

Also note that the Send to function in the context menu may not work. You may need to manually copy and paste required files onto the USB drive. Thank You.