Hard disk crash please help

[Guest Need a miracle]

Hi:

 

Something sent a power surge through our house today and the main circuit

breaker flipped, cutting off power to my computer.

 

Catastrophe. The drive won't boot. Windows just doesn't see it. Even the

"dir" command DOS (which I accessed through the repair recovery console)

gives me an error that says the "directory cannot be enumerated."

 

Running the Windows XP CD, I'm told that there's no system there and the

drive needs to be reformatted to install it anew.

 

I know the data is still there. I downloaded a program called "getdataback"

and as far as I can tell, I did not lose a single user file. The preview

function works and every file I looked at seems to be fine. All I have to do

is send in $79 and the program will copy the data over, hopefully in usable

form.

 

But it's a holiday weekend, and if I cannot ressurect the system itself, I

will lose days reconfiguring a new system. I cannot afford this. The preview

system won't read the "identity" files from Outlook Express, so I cannot

access critical emails.

 

I'm in pretty deep trouble.

 

Please please ... is there anyway to revive this drive? How bad can the

damage be?

[Guest Malke]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

Need a miracle wrote:

 

(snip multipost)

 

Asked and answered in the other newsgroup to which you posted. Please don't

multipost; it makes more work for everyone and will get you *less* help,

not more. See this for why:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossposting

http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm - multiposting

 

If you have forgotten where you posted or can't find your post, use Google

Groups Advanced Search and search for your name.

 

Malke

--

MS-MVP

Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

[Guest HeyBub]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

bw wrote:

> "Need a miracle" <Needamiracle@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in

> message news:60DC297C-B243-4754-BBE9-ADB6F1A352F3@microsoft.com...

>> I know the data is still there. I downloaded a program called

>> "getdataback"

>> and as far as I can tell, I did not lose a single user file. The

>> preview function works and every file I looked at seems to be fine.

>> All I have to do

>> is send in $79 and the program will copy the data over, hopefully in

>> usable

>> form.

>

> Yeah I hate programs that shake you down for money before they

> actually do anything at all.

 

Would you prefer a program not do anything, THEN shake you down for money?

 

Here, you can get a high assurance that the product will meet your needs

before you lay out any cash. This is far superior to most commercial

programs, including, some hold, various Microsoft products.

[Guest Anteaus]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

 

First , get yourself a copy of Knoppix or Ubuntu Live, and try mounting the

disk in that. (use ntfs-3g for ntfs)

 

I've known that to work when Windows won't look at it.

 

--------------------------

"This is a wonderful computer. It''s 20yrs old and absolutely reliable.

And, in all that time it''s only had four mobos, six processors, two cases,

seven OS''s ...."

 

 

"Malke" wrote:

> Need a miracle wrote:

>

> (snip multipost)

>

> Asked and answered in the other newsgroup to which you posted. Please don't

> multipost; it makes more work for everyone and will get you *less* help,

> not more. See this for why:

>

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossposting

> http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm - multiposting

>

> If you have forgotten where you posted or can't find your post, use Google

> Groups Advanced Search and search for your name.

>

> Malke

> --

> MS-MVP

> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

> FAQ - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

>

>

[Guest bw]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

 

"Need a miracle" <Needamiracle@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:60DC297C-B243-4754-BBE9-ADB6F1A352F3@microsoft.com...

> I know the data is still there. I downloaded a program called

> "getdataback"

> and as far as I can tell, I did not lose a single user file. The preview

> function works and every file I looked at seems to be fine. All I have to

> do

> is send in $79 and the program will copy the data over, hopefully in

> usable

> form.

 

Yeah I hate programs that shake you down for money before they actually do

anything at all. If it's a bad partition table you can probably recover it

with TestDisk by Christophe Grenier, a small freeware utility. Windows

might be hosed anyway, but this utility should let you get to your data

files, without taking a chance on $79 in extortion money.

 

I like Ultimate Boot CD, it has testdisk and some other decent utils, good

luck.

[Guest bw]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

 

"Need a miracle" <Needamiracle@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:60DC297C-B243-4754-BBE9-ADB6F1A352F3@microsoft.com...

> Catastrophe. The drive won't boot. Windows just doesn't see it. Even the

> "dir" command DOS (which I accessed through the repair recovery console)

> gives me an error that says the "directory cannot be enumerated."

 

p.s. take it easy, the worst thing you can do is panic. Read all the

documentation FIRST for any recovery stuff you try.

[Guest Ronaldo]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

I've had the "no system installed" message a number of times and most of

them have managed to logon without much of a problem... Some times I had to

try repeatedly for 10-15 minutes but finally managed to boot the system. The

message is most times incorrect; on one or another occasion I had to reset

the BIOS to default settings, and haven't had to restore or edit the

boot.ini file.

 

How to access the BIOS

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

 

Other times I've used a boot disk to replace the files in the boot sector.

Or had to repair the boot sector with the foxboot command from the Recovery

Console, but I've never had to reinstall the system.

 

Make a boot disk with the files downloaded from

http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm download the xpquick file, zip version

to make the bootdisk manually or the .exe version which makes it for you.

Look for the download link in line: "XP Quick Boot Diskette xpquick.zip |

xpquick.exe | Read.1st". Once you logon copy the file to C:\ to replace the

damaged file/s.

 

And after that rebuild the boot sector from the Recovery Console, with

commands; "fixboot", "bootcfg /rebuild" or "fixmbr" in that order... fixmbr

is risky and should only be used as last resort.

 

The Recovery Console.

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_rec.htm

 

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/r_c_cmds.htm

 

 

----------------------------------------------------

"Need a miracle" <Needamiracle@discussions.microsoft.com> escribió en el

mensaje news:60DC297C-B243-4754-BBE9-ADB6F1A352F3@microsoft.com...

> Hi:

>

> Something sent a power surge through our house today and the main circuit

> breaker flipped, cutting off power to my computer.

>

> Catastrophe. The drive won't boot. Windows just doesn't see it. Even the

> "dir" command DOS (which I accessed through the repair recovery console)

> gives me an error that says the "directory cannot be enumerated."

>

> Running the Windows XP CD, I'm told that there's no system there and the

> drive needs to be reformatted to install it anew.

>

> I know the data is still there. I downloaded a program called

> "getdataback"

> and as far as I can tell, I did not lose a single user file. The preview

> function works and every file I looked at seems to be fine. All I have to

> do

> is send in $79 and the program will copy the data over, hopefully in

> usable

> form.

>

> But it's a holiday weekend, and if I cannot ressurect the system itself, I

> will lose days reconfiguring a new system. I cannot afford this. The

> preview

> system won't read the "identity" files from Outlook Express, so I cannot

> access critical emails.

>

> I'm in pretty deep trouble.

>

> Please please ... is there anyway to revive this drive? How bad can the

> damage be?

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest Need a miracle]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

Oh My God!!!

 

*YOU* are God.

 

Testdisk is copying over all my data as we speak. It also says it found a

backup boot partition, and is asking me whether I want to use this or rebuild

the partition.

 

Which option should I choose?

 

At least I have my data. What a cool program. And FREE.

 

 

 

"bw" wrote:

>

> "Need a miracle" <Needamiracle@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:60DC297C-B243-4754-BBE9-ADB6F1A352F3@microsoft.com...

> > I know the data is still there. I downloaded a program called

> > "getdataback"

> > and as far as I can tell, I did not lose a single user file. The preview

> > function works and every file I looked at seems to be fine. All I have to

> > do

> > is send in $79 and the program will copy the data over, hopefully in

> > usable

> > form.

>

> Yeah I hate programs that shake you down for money before they actually do

> anything at all. If it's a bad partition table you can probably recover it

> with TestDisk by Christophe Grenier, a small freeware utility. Windows

> might be hosed anyway, but this utility should let you get to your data

> files, without taking a chance on $79 in extortion money.

>

> I like Ultimate Boot CD, it has testdisk and some other decent utils, good

> luck.

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest Need a miracle]

RE: Hard disk crash please help

 

Thanks to TESTDISK, my hard drive appears to be completely restored.

 

It boots. All the data is there. I've backed it up entirely.

 

 

Got to love this forum. And what a kick-ass program, absolutely free.

 

Thanks again to all.

 

 

 

 

"Need a miracle" wrote:

> Hi:

>

> Something sent a power surge through our house today and the main circuit

> breaker flipped, cutting off power to my computer.

>

> Catastrophe. The drive won't boot. Windows just doesn't see it. Even the

> "dir" command DOS (which I accessed through the repair recovery console)

> gives me an error that says the "directory cannot be enumerated."

>

> Running the Windows XP CD, I'm told that there's no system there and the

> drive needs to be reformatted to install it anew.

>

> I know the data is still there. I downloaded a program called "getdataback"

> and as far as I can tell, I did not lose a single user file. The preview

> function works and every file I looked at seems to be fine. All I have to do

> is send in $79 and the program will copy the data over, hopefully in usable

> form.

>

> But it's a holiday weekend, and if I cannot ressurect the system itself, I

> will lose days reconfiguring a new system. I cannot afford this. The preview

> system won't read the "identity" files from Outlook Express, so I cannot

> access critical emails.

>

> I'm in pretty deep trouble.

>

> Please please ... is there anyway to revive this drive? How bad can the

> damage be?

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

 

"Need a miracle" <Needamiracle@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:84136267-3B9B-4BAB-8B55-FC2BA4EC8C87@microsoft.com...

> Thanks to TESTDISK, my hard drive appears to be completely restored.

>

> It boots. All the data is there. I've backed it up entirely.

>

>

> Got to love this forum. And what a kick-ass program, absolutely free.

>

> Thanks again to all.

 

Now is the time to think about your backup policy, unless

you prefer to let the next disaster catch you unprepared.

[Guest bw]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

 

"Need a miracle" <Needamiracle@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:D68B4ECE-D022-4CCB-8628-1FF08DDDACAA@microsoft.com...

> Oh My God!!!

>

> *YOU* are God.

>

> Testdisk is copying over all my data as we speak. It also says it found a

> backup boot partition, and is asking me whether I want to use this or

> rebuild

> the partition.

>

> Which option should I choose?

>

 

I know exactly how you feel, TestDisk saved 3 years of data for me several

months ago.

[Guest Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

 

"bw" <bw@dodgit.com> wrote in message

news:eUMrzYq3IHA.1428@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>

> "Need a miracle" <Needamiracle@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:D68B4ECE-D022-4CCB-8628-1FF08DDDACAA@microsoft.com...

>> Oh My God!!!

>>

>> *YOU* are God.

>>

>> Testdisk is copying over all my data as we speak. It also says it found a

>> backup boot partition, and is asking me whether I want to use this or

>> rebuild

>> the partition.

>>

>> Which option should I choose?

>>

>

> I know exactly how you feel, TestDisk saved 3 years of data for me several

> months ago.

 

Are you implying that you went for three years without backing

up your important files? Mmh. I'd say you've just about used up

your good luck.

[Guest bw]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

 

"Pegasus (MVP)" <I.can@fly.com.oz> wrote in message

news:uIQZzAr3IHA.4856@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>

>>

>> I know exactly how you feel, TestDisk saved 3 years of data for me

>> several months ago.

>

> Are you implying that you went for three years without backing

> up your important files? Mmh. I'd say you've just about used up

> your good luck.

 

Well if you classify 4zillion photos of Crissy Moran as "important" I guess

yeah, I never back up pics, music or zip files that can be replaced.

[Guest Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

 

"bw" <bw@dodgit.com> wrote in message

news:uCldvTr3IHA.5060@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>

> "Pegasus (MVP)" <I.can@fly.com.oz> wrote in message

> news:uIQZzAr3IHA.4856@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>>

>>>

>>> I know exactly how you feel, TestDisk saved 3 years of data for me

>>> several months ago.

>>

>> Are you implying that you went for three years without backing

>> up your important files? Mmh. I'd say you've just about used up

>> your good luck.

>

> Well if you classify 4zillion photos of Crissy Moran as "important" I

> guess yeah, I never back up pics, music or zip files that can be replaced.

 

It's encouraging to read that you gave some thought to the matter

and decided that your files are replaceable. Most posters in this

forum chose to wait until they suffer a major hit, then send out a

distress call ["Help me, pleeeeeeeeease, I've lost my irreplaceable

wedding pics"], then think about their backup philosophy. Perhaps

getting a new wife/husband would be less traumatic . . .

[Guest bw]

Re: Hard disk crash please help

 

 

"Pegasus (MVP)" <I.can@fly.com.oz> wrote in message

news:%23Q1gYRs3IHA.4272@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>

>>>> I know exactly how you feel, TestDisk saved 3 years of data for me

>>>> several months ago.

>>>

>>> Are you implying that you went for three years without backing

>>> up your important files? Mmh. I'd say you've just about used up

>>> your good luck.

>>

>> Well if you classify 4zillion photos of Crissy Moran as "important" I

>> guess yeah, I never back up pics, music or zip files that can be

>> replaced.

>

> It's encouraging to read that you gave some thought to the matter

> and decided that your files are replaceable. Most posters in this

> forum chose to wait until they suffer a major hit, then send out a

> distress call ["Help me, pleeeeeeeeease, I've lost my irreplaceable

> wedding pics"], then think about their backup philosophy. Perhaps

> getting a new wife/husband would be less traumatic . . .

 

You make a good point, however most windows systems are preconfigured -by

default- as single drives, poorly secured, with unreliable backup tools, no

backup strategy, and critical data scattered all over the place. The cry

should be, "Help me, pleeeeeeease, some idiot designed a time bomb and sold

it to me as an operating system."