If your PC/Laptop has a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) or Stop code, this post might help you.
Especially when:
- bootrec or sfc /scannow and dism command couldn't fix your computer
- you don't have another computer to help you access files on your hard disk of broken operating system (BSOD)
- the only solution to repair your computer is reinstalling Windows and having a risk of losing all the data on the drive
- you need to save or backup your important files
To save your files from being lost is by copying them to another storage (other disk drives, external hard disk, USB flash drive, etc.). But, several BSOD unable us to access the system (boot loop), so we can't copy and paste files through File Explorer like the usual process. Therefore, one thing we could do is copy files through Command Prompt (CMD).
Copying files through CMD can be done by using XCOPY or ROBOCOPY command.
Step:
Access Windows Automatic Repair to open CMD When your computer is booting (brand or windows logo while turning on), press and hold the power button, and it will turn off your computer, turn it back on, and repeat several times until you can see a text of 'Preparing Automatic Repair' while the booting process, if the text is showing up, just let the booting process run. Instead of showing BSOD and restarting, the Windows Automatic Repair will show up, then click Advanced Options (or click Advanced Options, click the Troubleshoot option), click the Command Prompt option, and CMD will show up.
CMD Usually, when you open CMD typically, it will show C:\Users\name> but, when accessing CMD through Automatic Repair, it will show X:\Users\name> Therefore, you should locate your hard-drive directory since, from my experience, my C: drive is changing to D: while I check it through CMD. Unfortunately, I don't know the best way to list all drives on the computer. So, what I do is use the 'dir' command. Example: X:\Users\Jhon>dir C: ^This command will show you a list of all files & folders (not included subfolder) in the C: directory. If the list seems different from your actual C: drive (which usually consists of Program Files, Users, Windows, etc. folders), try another path (dir D:, dir E:, dir F:, etc.) until you find your desired directory.
XCOPY command (I use this rather than the ROBOCOPY command) Let's say you already find the desired path to be copied. The command is: XCOPY "Source" "Destination" [Parameters] Example: X:\Users\Jhon>xcopy "C:\Users\Jhon\Documents" "E:\Backup" The above command will copy all files on the Documents folder except the folder and files within the folder/sub-folder. Also, the 'Backup' folder in drive E already exists. Note: Use quotation mark for the source & destination to avoid error when the source or destination have 'spaces' character (Ex. C:\My Documents)
XCOPY with parameters Therefore, to deal with that deficiency, add parameters to the command. Example: X:\Users\Jhon>xcopy "C:\Users\Jhon\Documents" "E:\Backup" \C \E \H \I \C --> to ignore any error \E --> copy all subfolders even though it's empty \H --> copy hidden & systems file \I --> create destination folder if it does not exist (assume no 'Backup' folder in E:) Those four parameters are what I use when using this command. There are lots of other parameters you can use within the xcopy command. You can find it through a search engine with "xcopy parameters" or "xcopy options" keywords.
Finish When you run that command, it will take some time, depending on how many and large the files you copy.
Additional It is also possible to xcopy from your internal hard drive to an external one. The steps are identical; you only need to find what directory your external drive is. So, before turning on your computer, plug in the external hard drive, follow all steps above, and check all alphabets (start from C) to find the correct directory (dir) of your source and destination files.
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