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My C drive can't load into Windows 7 anymore. Any option I choose, advanced, normal, repair, it just says that it's loading windows files and then a black screen. I've read that this is the hard drive failing. I've tried using a Windows 7 installation disk, but it ends up at a black screen with a mouse cursor. I've currently disconnected the C drive.

If I now use the Windows 7 installation disk, will I be able to access the command prompt in order to copy files from my D drive to an external hard drive? I'm thinking at this point I should just reformat the C drive with my Macbook via USB (it's an SSD drive). I've been able to copy over some files from the C drive so far to the Macbook.

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3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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Most ESD (Emergency Service Disk) that Microsoft has come out with and install disks for that matter allow command line access via

'Shift' + 'D'

this will drop you to a net user/admin prompt if you need any unprivledged tasks completed drop priveledges per usual methods or do after the copy over is complete (presumably from the then working system).

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  • From what point should I try 'Shift + D'?
    – user532679
    Commented Dec 13, 2015 at 21:06
  • I tried Shift + D from the Install Windows menu and from the Repair your computer menu. Neither worked. Is there something I'm missing? Edit: Shift + F10 brought up the command
    – user532679
    Commented Dec 13, 2015 at 21:25
  • Shift + F10 brought up the cmd.exe but it says "X:\Sources>". Is there a way to access my D drive?
    – user532679
    Commented Dec 13, 2015 at 21:33
  • try cd /d d:\ for D and cd /d c:\ for the C:\ drive. You should also be able to copy c:\path\someFiles d:\newPath\newFiles.
    – Austin T French
    Commented Dec 13, 2015 at 21:57
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This doesn't answer the question you asked: it answers the situation that you're actually trying to deal with.

When booting up Windows, try holding F8. If that doesn't work, try rapidly tapping F8. Note that I'm not talking about booting from a CD. I'm talking about booting from the same hard drive.

Hopefully you'll get a menu that may allow you to access an "Advanced Boot Options" screen. The "Repair your computer" option in Windows 7 may provide you with a command prompt. I've been able to do this when Windows just boots a black screen. Your ability, or non-ability, to do this might depend on what the exact problem is. Also, in Windows XP, I believe that accessing the Recovery Console may have required installing support ahead of time. So, although I have had success with this, maybe some installations won't work. Still, this may be worth a try.

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I've figured it out. Similar to what linuxdev proposed, you have to enter Shift + f10 after the installation disk is done loading. You might have to press next first before Shift + f10. Then to access your drive(s) simply type in diskpart and list volume and see what letter the drive(s) you're trying to access has been given. Exit diskpart and then you can use xcopy to copy and backup files from the drive to an external drive you've plugged in via usb.

Example 

> xcopy "(source directory)" /e "(destination directory)"

The /e is for copying every subdirectory as well.

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