Guest Jason Piercey Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Hi There, Just recently I've had a boot drive fail It was fine one night, the next morning not fine. At this point I'm not exactly sure what the problem is, perhaps bad spots on the drive. My question: is there any chance of recovering some of the data? I don't need much off of it, but a few things would be nice. This drive has two partitions, C and D. D appears to be fine (I've booted to a second drive in an attempt to examine the contents of the problematic drive) C on the other hand appears to not be readable. Thanks for any advice/tips. Jason
Guest Jason Piercey Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery PS: Booting to the CD, using the Repair option, then FIXBOOT didn't help.
Guest Mike Lowery Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery "Jason Piercey" <Jason@atreng.com> wrote in message news:e5fJ7XF0HHA.3536@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... > PS: Booting to the CD, using the Repair option, then FIXBOOT didn't help. There is lots of software out there that may help, like this: http://www.runtime.org/gdb.htm There's a free app available too but I don't remember the name of it now.
Guest Gary S. Terhune Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery If you can, put that drive into another machine and see if you can read the C partition there. You don't mention how you know the partition isn't "readable". How did you try to read it? Using some kind of bootable CD or floppy utility? Or do you mean you just can't boot it? -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User http://www.grystmill.com "Jason Piercey" <Jason@atreng.com> wrote in message news:OEj4q7E0HHA.5884@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... > Hi There, > > Just recently I've had a boot drive fail It was fine one night, the > next morning not fine. At this point I'm not exactly sure what > the problem is, perhaps bad spots on the drive. > > My question: is there any chance of recovering some of the data? > I don't need much off of it, but a few things would be nice. > > This drive has two partitions, C and D. D appears to be fine > (I've booted to a second drive in an attempt to examine the > contents of the problematic drive) C on the other hand appears > to not be readable. > > > Thanks for any advice/tips. > > Jason >
Guest Jason Piercey Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery "Gary S. Terhune" <nobody@nowhere.not> wrote in message news:u9wRAuG0HHA.1208@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > If you can, put that drive into another machine and see if you can read > the C partition there. You don't mention how you know the partition isn't > "readable". How did you try to read it? Using some kind of bootable CD or > floppy utility? Or do you mean you just can't boot it? [snip] This drive has two partitions, C and D. D appears to be fine (I've booted to a second drive in an attempt to examine the contents of the problematic drive) C on the other hand appears to not be readable. [snip] The drive does not boot, nor is it readable via another boot drive. Windows tells me the drive isn't formatted when I try to use windows explorer to view the contents of the drive. While in windows repair mode (booting from the cd, then choosing R) if I try and DIR the contents of the C drive I get "Error during directory enumeration" or some such thing (going from memory here) During the boot up from a different drive, CHKDSK runs and finds all sorts of unreadable sectors on the problematic drive.
Guest Jason Piercey Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery If you recall that name, please mention it :-) Thanks for the suggestion. "Mike Lowery" <selfspam@mouse-potato.com> wrote in message news:ujkYk1F0HHA.4184@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... > > There is lots of software out there that may help, like this: > http://www.runtime.org/gdb.htm > > There's a free app available too but I don't remember the name of it now. > >
Guest Gary S. Terhune Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery OK, then recovery software is called for. I use R-Studio from http://www.data-recovery-software.net -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User http://www.grystmill.com "Jason Piercey" <Jason@atreng.com> wrote in message news:Oko2Y6G0HHA.5644@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... > "Gary S. Terhune" <nobody@nowhere.not> wrote in message > news:u9wRAuG0HHA.1208@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... >> If you can, put that drive into another machine and see if you can read >> the C partition there. You don't mention how you know the partition isn't >> "readable". How did you try to read it? Using some kind of bootable CD or >> floppy utility? Or do you mean you just can't boot it? > > [snip] > > This drive has two partitions, C and D. D appears to be fine > (I've booted to a second drive in an attempt to examine the > contents of the problematic drive) C on the other hand appears > to not be readable. > > [snip] > > > The drive does not boot, nor is it readable via another boot > drive. Windows tells me the drive isn't formatted when I try > to use windows explorer to view the contents of the drive. > > While in windows repair mode (booting from the cd, then > choosing R) if I try and DIR the contents of the C drive > I get "Error during directory enumeration" or some such thing > (going from memory here) > > During the boot up from a different drive, CHKDSK runs > and finds all sorts of unreadable sectors on the problematic > drive. > >
Guest Gary S. Terhune Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery I should mention that R-Studio has a free demo that you can use to see if there is any recoverable data (might not be if the drive's mechanics are screwed up.) If you discover files can be recovered, then you can easily purchase the license and immediately recover the files. I've tried many recovery software offerings and R-Studio is by far the best one I tested. -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User http://www.grystmill.com "Gary S. Terhune" <nobody@nowhere.not> wrote in message news:e1cXZ%23G0HHA.3564@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > OK, then recovery software is called for. I use R-Studio from > http://www.data-recovery-software.net > > -- > Gary S. Terhune > MS-MVP Shell/User > http://www.grystmill.com > > "Jason Piercey" <Jason@atreng.com> wrote in message > news:Oko2Y6G0HHA.5644@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl... >> "Gary S. Terhune" <nobody@nowhere.not> wrote in message >> news:u9wRAuG0HHA.1208@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... >>> If you can, put that drive into another machine and see if you can read >>> the C partition there. You don't mention how you know the partition >>> isn't "readable". How did you try to read it? Using some kind of >>> bootable CD or floppy utility? Or do you mean you just can't boot it? >> >> [snip] >> >> This drive has two partitions, C and D. D appears to be fine >> (I've booted to a second drive in an attempt to examine the >> contents of the problematic drive) C on the other hand appears >> to not be readable. >> >> [snip] >> >> >> The drive does not boot, nor is it readable via another boot >> drive. Windows tells me the drive isn't formatted when I try >> to use windows explorer to view the contents of the drive. >> >> While in windows repair mode (booting from the cd, then >> choosing R) if I try and DIR the contents of the C drive >> I get "Error during directory enumeration" or some such thing >> (going from memory here) >> >> During the boot up from a different drive, CHKDSK runs >> and finds all sorts of unreadable sectors on the problematic >> drive. >> >> > >
Guest db ´¯`·.. > Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery you mentioned using fixboot. however, did you also run fixmbr (fix master boot record) via the recovery console? -- db ·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>¸. ><)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º> .. "Jason Piercey" <Jason@atreng.com> wrote in message news:OEj4q7E0HHA.5884@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... > Hi There, > > Just recently I've had a boot drive fail It was fine one night, the > next morning not fine. At this point I'm not exactly sure what > the problem is, perhaps bad spots on the drive. > > My question: is there any chance of recovering some of the data? > I don't need much off of it, but a few things would be nice. > > This drive has two partitions, C and D. D appears to be fine > (I've booted to a second drive in an attempt to examine the > contents of the problematic drive) C on the other hand appears > to not be readable. > > > Thanks for any advice/tips. > > Jason >
Guest Jason Piercey Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery " db ´¯`·.. ><)))º>` .. ." <databaseben.public.newsgroup.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:ecrGVBH0HHA.3972@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > you mentioned using fixboot. > > however, did you also run > fixmbr (fix master boot record) > via the recovery console? Yep. No such luck.
Guest Jason Piercey Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery Thanks for the link and mention of the free demo. I'll look into it. "Gary S. Terhune" <nobody@nowhere.not> wrote in message news:e1cXZ%23G0HHA.3564@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... > OK, then recovery software is called for. I use R-Studio from > http://www.data-recovery-software.net > > -- > Gary S. Terhune > MS-MVP Shell/User > http://www.grystmill.com
Guest db ´¯`·.. > Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery ok, did you also look into the ntldr and ntdetect.com? you may have to copy the two above and paste them back onto your root drive. another thing is that if are able to access the partitions with the recovery console, then it is likely that the ntfs crashed and you simply need an ntfs recovery tool/utility. -- db ·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>¸. ><)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º> .. "Jason Piercey" <Jason@atreng.com> wrote in message news:uebEdYH0HHA.1188@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl... >" db ´¯`·.. ><)))º>` .. ." <databaseben.public.newsgroup.microsoft.com> >wrote in message news:ecrGVBH0HHA.3972@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... >> you mentioned using fixboot. >> >> however, did you also run >> fixmbr (fix master boot record) >> via the recovery console? > > Yep. No such luck. >
Guest Jason Piercey Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery " db ´¯`·.. ><)))º>` .. ." <databaseben.public.newsgroup.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:OLGjAjH0HHA.6072@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > ok, > > did you also look into > the ntldr and ntdetect.com? Nope. Did neither of those. Anything special I need to know about them? > you may have to copy the > two above and paste them > back onto your root drive. The root drive at this point is actually the second parition since the first is unreadable. Does this matter? > another thing is that if are able > to access the partitions > with the recovery console, then > it is likely that the ntfs crashed > and you simply need an ntfs > recovery tool/utility. DISKPART reports two partitions (well, three actually one 8mb'er)
Guest db ´¯`·.. > Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery well, that 8 meg partition is likely your hidden partition with the emergency factory restoration files / programs. however, if c is the system partition and you have "no access to it" even with the recovery console, then copying those files onto it will do little good. but if you want to review the article on this method you can look here: http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/download.aspx?docid=177718 it sounds like the issue you have is on a laptop because of the hidden partition. -- db ·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>¸. ><)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º> .. "Jason Piercey" <Jason@atreng.com> wrote in message news:OoZl5BI0HHA.4824@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... > > " db ´¯`·.. ><)))º>` .. ." > <databaseben.public.newsgroup.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:OLGjAjH0HHA.6072@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... >> ok, >> >> did you also look into >> the ntldr and ntdetect.com? > > > Nope. Did neither of those. Anything special I need to > know about them? > > >> you may have to copy the >> two above and paste them >> back onto your root drive. > > The root drive at this point is actually the second parition > since the first is unreadable. Does this matter? > >> another thing is that if are able >> to access the partitions >> with the recovery console, then >> it is likely that the ntfs crashed >> and you simply need an ntfs >> recovery tool/utility. > > DISKPART reports two partitions (well, three actually one 8mb'er) > > > >
Guest Jason Piercey Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery > if you want to review the > article on this method you > can look here: > http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/download.aspx?docid=177718 Thanks, I'll read up on it jusst in case. > it sounds like the issue > you have is on a laptop > because of the hidden partition. Nope. Don't own a lappy. This is a desktop box and there shouldn't be factory restoration anything since this is not a pre-fab box, built it at home. Besides, not much fits on 8mb.
Guest db ´¯`·.. > Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery ok, keep us posted. but it simply sounds like you can do a windows repair install with your cd, that's if ntfs recovery tools like "acronis disk director" doesn't work for you.... it really isn't a bad idea to install a secondary operating system somewhere. i have a secondary one that is virgin (having absolutely no updates) and use it as a backup windows to access the computer and the other o.s. if and when it fails. -- db ·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>¸. ><)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º> .. "Jason Piercey" <Jason@atreng.com> wrote in message news:uIRCeUI0HHA.4236@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... >> if you want to review the >> article on this method you >> can look here: > >> http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/download.aspx?docid=177718 > > Thanks, I'll read up on it jusst in case. > > >> it sounds like the issue >> you have is on a laptop >> because of the hidden partition. > > Nope. Don't own a lappy. This is a desktop box > and there shouldn't be factory restoration anything > since this is not a pre-fab box, built it at home. > Besides, not much fits on 8mb. > >
Guest Mike Lowery Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery I think this was it: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk "Jason Piercey" <Jason@atreng.com> wrote in message news:epxmr6G0HHA.2484@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... > If you recall that name, please mention it :-) > > Thanks for the suggestion. > > > "Mike Lowery" <selfspam@mouse-potato.com> wrote in message > news:ujkYk1F0HHA.4184@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... >> >> There is lots of software out there that may help, like this: >> http://www.runtime.org/gdb.htm >> >> There's a free app available too but I don't remember the name of it now. >> >> > >
Guest Jason Piercey Posted July 29, 2007 Posted July 29, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery Well, Looks like I may be hosed here. Checked out the R-studio software, which shows me some .pst files and some .dbx files (the two types I'm concerened about restoring) via the "extra files found" tab but when I go to restore them I get nothing. Folder structure is restored but the files are not. :(
Guest Gary S. Terhune Posted July 29, 2007 Posted July 29, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery How large are the files? Unless you purchase R-Studio, you can't use it to recover any files larger than 64KB. The files you target are definitely going to be larger than that. If you did purchase R-Studio and it still can't recover the files, then I suggest you request a refund. -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User http://www.grystmill.com "Jason Piercey" <Jason@atreng.com> wrote in message news:Okq1epe0HHA.4236@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... > Well, > > Looks like I may be hosed here. > > Checked out the R-studio software, which shows me > some .pst files and some .dbx files (the two types I'm > concerened about restoring) via the "extra files found" > tab but when I go to restore them I get nothing. > Folder structure is restored but the files are not. :( >
Guest Jason Piercey Posted July 29, 2007 Posted July 29, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery I did purchase it. I believe I read during the purchase they don't do refunds since they have no way of stopping the product use. Odd the files show up but can't be recovered. Why show data that is not recoverable? "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message news:eKfCpef0HHA.4928@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > How large are the files? Unless you purchase R-Studio, you can't use it to > recover any files larger than 64KB. The files you target are definitely > going to be larger than that. If you did purchase R-Studio and it still > can't recover the files, then I suggest you request a refund. > > -- > Gary S. Terhune > MS-MVP Shell/User > http://www.grystmill.com
Guest Gary S. Terhune Posted July 29, 2007 Posted July 29, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery You got me. It's definitely something I'd ask the company's tech support, though. and Customer Support, too, since the product isn't doing what they said it would do, i.e., recover files that were found using the demo. IIRC, there are different collections returned, based, I believe, on the various copies of the file systems that have been installed (structures left over after reformatting or repartitioning.) I had to cycle through several before finding eh "real" one. I'll reinstall my copy and see if I can't brush up on my terminology. -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User http://www.grystmill.com "Jason Piercey" <Jason@atreng.com> wrote in message news:%23FJEOkf0HHA.464@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... >I did purchase it. I believe I read during the purchase > they don't do refunds since they have no way of stopping > the product use. > > Odd the files show up but can't be recovered. Why show > data that is not recoverable? > > > > "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message > news:eKfCpef0HHA.4928@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... >> How large are the files? Unless you purchase R-Studio, you can't use it >> to recover any files larger than 64KB. The files you target are >> definitely going to be larger than that. If you did purchase R-Studio and >> it still can't recover the files, then I suggest you request a refund. >> >> -- >> Gary S. Terhune >> MS-MVP Shell/User >> http://www.grystmill.com > >
Guest dobey Posted July 29, 2007 Posted July 29, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery "Jason Piercey" <Jason@atreng.com> wrote in message news:%23FJEOkf0HHA.464@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... >I did purchase it. I believe I read during the purchase > they don't do refunds since they have no way of stopping > the product use. > > Odd the files show up but can't be recovered. Why show > data that is not recoverable? > It depends where it got the file info from. If it recovered TOC records, it would know the file existed and how large and where on the disk, but it doesn't mean it is still there to be found. Gary seems to know what he is talking about - follow him ;-)
Guest Jason Piercey Posted July 30, 2007 Posted July 30, 2007 Re: Boot Partition Recovery Seems there is a "folder enumerator" option which just shows a folder structure, presumably, of what is recoverable. Then there is also the "scan drive" option which shows the "extra files found". Guess I was being optimistic thinking I'd have good chances of recovering such a small amount of data rather than the entire drive. All I really need one .dbx and one .pst file. I'll contact their support staff and see if they have anything usefull to say. "Gary S. Terhune" <none> wrote in message news:eXegO2f0HHA.6072@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > You got me. It's definitely something I'd ask the company's tech support, > though. and Customer Support, too, since the product isn't doing what they > said it would do, i.e., recover files that were found using the demo. > > IIRC, there are different collections returned, based, I believe, on the > various copies of the file systems that have been installed (structures > left over after reformatting or repartitioning.) I had to cycle through > several before finding eh "real" one. I'll reinstall my copy and see if I > can't brush up on my terminology. > > -- > Gary S. Terhune > MS-MVP Shell/User > http://www.grystmill.com
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