I'm getting a disk read error during boot up on a Windows XP Home machine after a couple of months of sporadic issues (if interested see
http://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Windows/XP/Q_22994199.html ) where chkdsk was deleting my files.
The RAM and HDD pass diagnostic tests with memtest86 and MHDD respectively (using boot CDs to run), so the it appears a key part of the file system is corrupted rather than a straight hardware failure.
Can anyone suggest a good free tool for recovering the files without having a new hard disk to boot from (or reformatting the existing one)? If it helps, I can boot from an Ubuntu Linux CD on the affected PC and connect to a different Ubuntu Linux PC over a LAN connection, so a Linux tool may be most appropriate.
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