Recovering a hard drive
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Original Message
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Name: Nil_IQ
Date: July 2, 2007 at 11:59:04 Pacific
Subject: Recovering a hard driveOS: Win XP |
Comment: I've recently lost a hard-drive to what I suspect may be a boot-sector virus. The information appears to still be there when I try to repair the windows installation, but the formatting types is "unknown", which doesn't sound promising. My plan is to install windows on a spare HD, and then install the broken HD as a secondary HD. Best-case scenario I can read the data off the broken HD and recover most of what's there. More likely though I just won't be able to read the contents of the drive. Can anyone suggest some good (free) utilities for getting data off a corrupted hard drive? Thanks, Nil
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Response Number 1
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Name: OtheHill
Date: July 2, 2007 at 14:16:37 Pacific
Subject: Recovering a hard drive |
Reply: (edit)Try a Live version of Linux like Knoppix. Knoppix is freeware but is a huge download (700MB). If you don't have a broadband connection there are folks online that will ship a working CD of Knoppix for just a couple of dollars. Knoppix runs of the CD (Live), but some driver are installed on your system. Be sure they aren't installed on the drive you need to recover from. Google for Knoppix.
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Response Number 2
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Name: jefro
Date: July 2, 2007 at 14:18:00 Pacific
Subject: Recovering a hard drive |
Reply: (edit)See also unstoppable copier.
I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.
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Response Number 3
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Name: max00
Date: July 2, 2007 at 14:56:01 Pacific
Subject: Recovering a hard drive |
Reply: (edit)Before trying your recovery, you could try to fix the drive. You could boot the Microsoft XP CD, select the Repair ( Recovery Console) and then type 'chkdsk /R'. It's possible that it could fix the drive problem.
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Response Number 5
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Name: Nil_IQ
Date: July 2, 2007 at 15:19:12 Pacific
Subject: Recovering a hard drive |
Reply: (edit)In response to #3, I've tried that, and it complains files are corrupted. I can't remember the specific names of the files, but it was at least 3 different ones from 3 separate attempts at a fix. This is why I suspect the culprit is a boot sector virus. I will have a look at Knoppix...
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Response Number 6
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Name: max00
Date: July 2, 2007 at 15:40:04 Pacific
Subject: Recovering a hard drive |
Reply: (edit)Viruses do not normally 'corrupt' files. That sounds more like a hardware problem. You might want to check your RAM. http://memtest86.com/
There is a version to create a bootable floppy diskette and/or an ISO for creating a CD.
Run it overnight and any failures are unacceptable. And/or check your hard drive. You can download a diagnostic from the hard drive manufacturer's web site.
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