Stuck in a loop!

[Rustys]

Also we would need to use the bootrec command - and for some reason you say that this isn't recognised.

Is this command being ran under Windows seven or Windows ten?

[allheart55]

Is this command being ran under Windows seven or Windows ten?

Neither Rusty.

He's running Win 8.1.

[KenB]

Is this command being ran under Windows seven or Windows ten?

His problem drive is attached to a Win7 machine Rustys

 

The problem OS is 8.1

[Rustys]

Sorry about the confusion there then the same question is the reason that the command may not work since it is not ran under the proper version of the OS that is installed on the affected drive?

[Labi]

Ken

Started the data copying process but currently I'm being asked to confirm "overwrite C:\Users" etc.!! Don't know what I'm doing at this point...tried saying "yes" and tried saying "all" but then get "1 file copied" each time I type a reply. Seems I'm agreeing to copy 1 x jpg file at a time. Having to use my phone atm to send!

Any suggestions please....Labi.

[KenB]

but then get "1 file copied" each time I type a reply.

Try adding a \ to the very end of the command line [ after your folder name - with no space ]

 

If that doesn't work .....

"overwrite C:\Users" etc.!!

 

Check what you have typed.

You should have exactly what I have below PLUS what was written next to "Location" PLUS the new folder name

for /r E:\ %f in (*.jpg) do @copy "%f" ***********

 

Also check what is in the new folder - it should be empty before you start transferring files to it.

 

 

================

Rustys

I am assuming that running bootrec from a Win7 machine and looking at an external drive would be OK

I wouldn't expect the error message that Labi got even if no OS was found.

The command "bootrec" isn't recognised...?

Do you have other thoughts ?

 

We can get Labi to run bootrec on C: to test if necessary.

Edited April 20, 2018 by KenB

[Labi]

Ken

Am trying to attach pics for reference.

Can this process now be interrupted to add backslash...?

Labi.

[KenB]

Can this process now be interrupted to add backslash...?

No - sorry Labi.

 

Easier to quit. - try typing Exit

Take a look at what you have in the new Asus folder to see if there is anything there that you can view as a photograph.

If all are corrupt it may not be worthwhile continuing.

 

Then re-run the command with the additional \

[ you may want to move the photos that are in the folder first otherwise you will get prompted regarding overwriting ]

Edited April 20, 2018 by KenB

[Labi]

Thanks Ken

Some pics are saved: some, I'm not able to find a programme which will open them. What is a pain

is the retention of so much background artwork, which does reproduce - in large numbers and will need deleting one by one!

 

I have created another new folder to begin the process again, and will remember to add the "\" this time.

Before I go ahead, I see some comments made regarding "bootrec". If I were to add "exe" after it, could

that perhaps make the command recognisable after all.

Probably wishful thinking, though....

Labi.

[KenB]

Some pics are saved

This is our first bit of success.

You may find that many more are saved - it really depends upon which sectors of the disk have been corrupted.

 

I am sorry about the long-winded process of deciding which to save / delete - at least we are making some progress.

 

If I were to add "exe" after it, could that perhaps make the command recognisable after all.

I see you have been doing some research :)

We can try bootrec again after you get whatever pics etc we can from the two partitions.

 

You can try for documents too.

If you have Word on the Win8.1 machine all documents will have .doc or .docx after them

Try the same process with these two extensions but replace *.jpg with *.doc then *.docx

 

If you had Open Office then the extension is .odt [ you would replace *.jpg with *.odt]

 

Let's hope the \ works for you :)

 

=====================

 

Out of interest - right click on a couple of images that you CANNOT open

Click on Properties

What does it say under "Type of File" and "File Size" ?

Edited April 20, 2018 by KenB

[Labi]

Ken

I find I'm still being asked to confirm each jpg even after adding "\" to the end of the command.

You can see from my previous pics that some files begin to copy automatically but then it gets to

a point where, no matter what I answer, I must manually select each following entry - again and again.

 

If there weren't so many unintentionally saved background clips amongst the files,

it would be possible to complete the op. manually - for the couple of hundred or so pics I want to keep,

but I've no idea how many files there are in total, all of which may need to be saved one by one!?

 

A significant number of jpg's copied to the folder so far, each have a "$" sign followed by a series of (4/5)

capital letters to denote its item reference no. I believe these item nos were allocated during the CHKDSK

scan when we attempted to repair the RAW notice. Unfortunately, none of these will open with my

installed programmes. Not sure if they're corrupted or need to be decoded somehow....?

Sorry; more problems than solutions atm...

 

Labi.

[KenB]

I must manually select each following entry - again and again.

I will see what I can do to speed this up.

 

each have a "$" sign followed by a series of (4/5) capital letters

You didn't reply to this:

Out of interest - right click on a couple of images that you CANNOT open

Click on Properties

What does it say under "Type of File" and "File Size" ?

If the file size is zero then there is nothing there to open.

[KenB]

I have just tried this and it works for me:

You would need to type......

 

xcopy E:\*.jpg C:\users\sophie\desktop\asus ......................... [or a different folder to asus if you wish ]

 

Let me know how you get on.

Edited April 21, 2018 by KenB

[Labi]

Ken

Pic. worth a thousand words...? Please see the two attached.

At this point, the folder (now called 'rescue') contains less than 6MB. of data in 93 files, 63 folders - apparently.

No obvious sign of my pics though....??

Re your question which I missed earlier....

The images I can't open are all designated JPG. All are 544 Bytes: size on disk 4.00kb.??

Each one's item no. starts - "$I"...followed by letters and numbers, too.

Curiously, each of the open images salvaged so far, photos etc (not artwork & background icons) is prefixed "$R"

and is likewise, followed by a few letters and numbers.

Incidentally, all the unwanted images, artwork & icons etc. have very long index numbers to ID them.

 

Does all this shed any light...?

Labi.

[KenB]

Hi Labi

 

It looks as if you are transferring software images [ Canon etc ]

This xcopy etc does not discriminate - it will just send any file with a .jpg extension.

 

All are 544 Bytes

This is very odd !!

 

Let's see if you get more success with documents.

Replace .jpg with .doc or .docx and see what you get.

 

We know that the latest command works.

Try replacing E: with F: and see if you can transfer any .jpg images from the DATA F: partition.

[Labi]

Ken

Not sure what you mean when you say "we know the latest command works"?

Although the screenshot seems to indicate some (very few!) JPG files are being transferred

in fact the 'rescue' folder thus far only contains programme files (x86) which may explain why it only

holds about 6MB of data.

Does this next pic tell you anything apart from F: not containing either JPG's or ODT files?

(FYI: I'm using open office on my Asus).

 

Earlier pics of F: scan show it contains Recycle Bin, and not much else - I believe.

Please see E: under the new command, is saying "Access Denied" when asked to find ODT files.

Labi.

[KenB]

Not sure what you mean when you say "we know the latest command works"?

Did the command copy files AUTOMATICALLY or did you have to do them individually again ?

 

Where did the /s come from ?

 

Please go back to the original - for /r E:\ %f in (*.odt) do @copy "%f" C:\users\sophie\desktop\asus .....[ or rescue ....... ]

See if this finds any documents

Also try F:

 

I have just tried this on my system with .odt files and I transferred dozens [automatically] before I stopped it.

[Labi]

Hi Ken

Just managed to sit down and try yet again to get my HD to copy over successfully.

However, as you can see, I'm not having much luck with it.

I'm still being asked to confirm each file copy which is, to say the least, going to be laborious.

You can see that to begin with some files are copied automatically, but then I'm asked to 'authorise' each successive

file - ad infinitum it seems.

As I mentioned before, of the JPG's that have copied over, many cannot be opened - at least by any of the

obvious programmes to hand.

I do wonder if it's going to be possible to unscramble and render them viewable at all....

Can I use the same command to find PDF's btw...?

 

Labi.

PS can't get pics to attach....I'll send this email and try again later to attach photos. (?)

[Labi]

Another attempt to attach pics re previous email.

 

 

 

 

[Rustys]

Sorry been away for a while. Will be in and out for a while.

 

@KenB You may also want to try the Robocopy command

 

Rustys

I am assuming that running bootrec from a Win7 machine and looking at an external drive would be OK

I wouldn't expect the error message that Labi got even if no OS was found.

Do you have other thoughts ?

 

We can get Labi to run bootrec on C: to test if necessary.

The only way I can think of that it may have happen is

1. Command not put in correctly.

2. Did you use the Admin Command prompt?

 

If you run the bootrec on C: use the bootrec /ScanOs this way nothing gets changed.

[KenB]

Can I use the same command to find PDF's btw...?

Yes you can - just substitute .pdf

 

I knew that the original command would result in confirming each one but I thought by looking for documents there would be fewer of them.

Maybe not ?

 

It looks as if the reason for confirming each one is that a file of the same name already exists in the new folder.

It asks "Overwrite ............"

This implies an existing file - which is odd !!

 

The Open Office files that you did manage to transfer - can you open them ?

[Labi]

Ken

Couple more pics below which show the problem/s I keep getting. Command doesn't

allow for all files to copy automatically. And - then I get the message "the process cannot access the file

because it is being used by......" etc.

 

Of the 3 x file types transferred so far: - JPG/ODT/PDF...many cannot be viewed or read.

As I mentioned previously, all files now have a $ sign prefix. Those followed by the letter I are all unreadable

or cannot be viewed. Those followed by the letter R can be read/viewed!?

I assume the CHKDSK scan - run much earlier on, assigned new reference nos. to each file in the course

of 'restoring' data from RAW to NTFS....?

 

At this point I wonder if it's possible to copy the entire contents of E: to a new folder to work through

methodically sorting the good from the corrupt. That leaves the HD free to re-format?

Does that work...?

Labi.

[KenB]

Good job I checked back - I thought I had replied to you ??? [ no post and no software saved text ??? ]

 

many cannot be viewed or read.

I am afraid these files look as if they are corrupt.

 

Those followed by the letter R can be read/viewed!

Hopefully you will be able to get many of your files back.

 

I assume the CHKDSK scan - run much earlier on, assigned new reference nos. to each file ...

I agree with you - it does look as if CHKDSK has renamed your files.

You should be able to differentiate between the ones that will open and the ones that are corrupt.

[ I don't think that CHKDSK would have corrupted any files - I think they were corrupt already.

 

At this point I wonder if it's possible to copy the entire contents of E:

I agree with you - If you can copy E: to an external drive this would be better.

Failing that - I would suggest creating a separate partition on your Win7 machine [ assuming that you have space]

 

Do you have an external hard drive which is at least 200GB ?

 

=====================

 

When you ran the recovery software [ either one ] could you view your .jpg images that the software said it had recovered ?

[Labi]

Ken

I don't have an external HD.

Spare capacity on Win7 PC iro. 200GB.

It looks as though drive E: has about 83GB stored - & drive F: a lot less - most or all of which is Recycle bin stuff.

It would seem to make sense to transfer drive E: to my Win7 PC - (will that take very long?)

- so I can scan the contents and delete everything that's corrupted.

 

Not sure how to go about creating new partition (even though I must have managed to create F: somehow!?)

- or the Command necessary to transfer entire contents...?

 

After that's done, will I be able to restore/reformat and reuse my HD in my Asus?

 

Re your question about the EaseUs deep scan. As I recall, it only identified file types found on the HD.

I don't think it allowed me to view individual JPG's. Surely that would only be possible if I'd upgraded to Recovery software....(?)

 

Thanks Labi.

[KenB]

Surely that would only be possible if I'd upgraded to Recovery software....(?)

I am sure that I could view photos but was limited to how many that could be recovered before having to pay.

No matter - let's move on.

 

I suggest that you create a new partition on your Win7 machine.

This will keep the contents of E: totally separate from the main drive.

 

C: has 197 GB of free space.

E: is a 186 GB partition with 83 GB of data on it.

 

We will need to create a 100GB partition - leaving 97 GB of free space on C:.

There always has to be free space on the main drive so that Windows can operate properly.

 

To create a new partition:

Go back to Disk Management [ Search > dskmgmt.msc ]

 

Now right click on C: and select "Shrink Volume"

It will calculate the maximum space that you can shrink and show this in a box.

 

You need to specify that you want the partition shrunk by 100 GB [ 100,000 MB ]

So where is says "Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB" .....type in 100000

Now click on "Shrink"

 

You will see something like this :

There will be a partition to the right of C: that is "unallocated" [ mine shows 48 GB yours will be about 97 GB ]

 

Now right click on the "Unallocated" partition and select "New Simple Volume"

Now click on Next [Ignore specifying volume size - just click Next.] until you get to the point where you can Specify a Drive Letter

 

One will be suggested.

If this is E: or F: it is going to be confusing so select G: [ or another ] using the down arrow.

Then click "Next"

 

You will see something like this:

 

 

The File system must be NTFS [ not FAT32 ]

You can give the new partition [volume] a name - just type it in next to "Volume Label" [ I used "Test" ]

Quick Format should have a tick in the box.

Click on "Next"

 

That's it - you should see your new partition similar to mine below:

 

 

===========================

 

After that's done, will I be able to restore/reformat and reuse my HD in my Asus?

That depends.

We would need to check the condition of the hard drive itself.

If it fails the test then it wouldn't be worth trying to install a new Operating System.

Edited April 27, 2018 by KenB