I have 2 laptops on which Windows has crashed. I know I can just erase everything and reload, however...

I stupidly did not back up a lot of music (not iTunes, from other sources) and several important pictures. Best Buy says they can retreive/backup the info before reloading Windows, for $100/computer. Before I pay this, how difficult, with an external hard drive, is it for me to backup data when Windows is out of commission? Or can I even do this without special equipment?

Thanks in advance for your responses. :)

Do you have a third computer, and does that computer have a CD burner? If so, you can create a "rescue" Linux CD which, when booted in each of the dead machines, will let you copy files from the internal drives to your external.

Any of the LiveCDs listed here (http://www.livecdlist.com/?pick=Linux_x86&showonly=Rescue&sort=&sm=1) would likely do the trick. I've personally used Knoppix, and SystemRescueCD looks pretty good as well.

Do you have a third computer, and does that computer have a CD burner? If so, you can create a "rescue" Linux CD which, when booted in each of the dead machines, will let you copy files from the internal drives to your external.

Any of the LiveCDs listed here (http://www.livecdlist.com/?pick=Linux_x86&showonly=Rescue&sort=&sm=1) would likely do the trick. I've personally used Knoppix, and SystemRescueCD looks pretty good as well.

I do indeed have a 3rd (and 4th) computer with a burner.

So I just burn the Linux CD, stick it into my compromised computer, attach my external drive and voila! I can transfer?

Thanks Andrew, you're awesome!

(is Knoppix the same as MiniKnoppix?)

eta: Apparently, for my purposes, yes it is.

Yes, that's essentially it. The CD is a self-contained Linux operating system that can read your Windows drive and also read/write to your external drive. You should be able to copy files directly off the internal drive.

K, the miniknoppix site is not found, and the full knoppix site gives me an index of knoppix files but not a download. :confused:

I am trying the Timos Rescue download.