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Used Partition Magic to resize partitions. The pc froze when the DOS batch command was about 66% completed. PC will not reboot. I'm using 4 yr. old Norton Rescue startup disk and utility disks, so far to no avail. Restored partition table to 2003 copy, now diagnosing C and D drives. It has finished analyzing the partition table, boot record, FAT, and has now been analyzing the directory structure for three days, as it keeps running out of memory, and I have to keep restarting the process. I'm wondering if Partition Magic has corrupted the MBR. Suggestions? I HAVE TO RECOVER THIS OS & DATA, as it has irreplaceable data, including info I need to fight in my custody battle, for my 10 yr. old daughter. Any help is appreciated. Will check back in two hours for any replies.
P.S. Absolutely can't remember processor type or RAM, but isn't that irrelevant for this particular problem?
Thank you.
Gees, If you had irreplacable data on the drive Why would you try resizing a partition.
Considering the importance of the data on the drive I am gun shy about giving ANY advice at all. I do feel that you MAY want to stop tinkering. You may be doing more damage. The safest method may be to remove the harddrive and install in a desktop using an adapter. As I stated, I don't know.
Others here MAY be able to give some advice. More information about your computer is needed though. Do you have floppy and/or CD drives? If so are they removable, and/or interchangable? What other interfaces are part of the Laptop?
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I haven't used partition magic and can't really help with recovery. But with all you've done you may need to take it to a professional--someone more skilled than the local nerd at Best Buy.
What I really wanted to point out is it's probably best not to use your real name in legal situations where google can alert your opponents to your difficulties. If you think this thread may be a problem for you, you should email Justin Webber and see if you can get it removed.
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I was resizing the partitions, as the C: was very full, and I wanted to use the space on the entire drive more efficiently. Much or most of my data is backed up on an external drive, however adding the apps and corresponding data files to my Windows XP desktop will take an inordinate amount of time that I do not have right now. I do have a floppy and cdrom drive on this particular laptop. They are integrated, not peripherals. I also have an external USB hub, and an external hdd. Do you believe that it would be safer or better to get a 2.5" to 3.5" ATA adapter and connect it to the desktop and use something like ZAR, as described at http://www.z-a-recovery.com/data-re... (2nd message down) - I've never done this, so I'm much more inclined to remedying the situation with bootable floppies that I have, if possible. If helpful, I can list what is on these floppies.
Thank you.
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Thank you for the warning, but my adversary is not very proficient on the Internet or pcs, and my real name is not "Justin Thyme". I do very much appreciate the warning, as I didn't know of the potential risk. I may not be aware of how dangerous Google has become. In the interest of returning the favor, here's a message that I sent out to friends, in case you didn't already know: "Do you really want anyone in the world, to be able to find your home address?
Google has implemented a new feature which enables you to type a telephone number into the search bar and hit enter and you will be given the person's name and address. It even provides a Map Quest link, providing a map to the person's house. Everyone should be aware of this! It's a nationwide reverse telephone book. If a child gives out his/her phone number, someone can now look it up to find out where he/she lives. The safety issues are obvious, and alarming. You can easily have your phone number removed or blocked.Please look up your own number. In order to test whether your phone number is mapped, go to: http://www.google.com Type your phone number in the text field, in the format, 555-555-1212 and press enter. If you want to BLOCK Google from divulging your private information, simply click on your telephone number and then click on "Removal Form". Removal takes 48-hours.
Although this may not apply to you if you have an unlisted number or use a cell phone, we all know people who need to be warned.
Aside from the fact that I tried it, and discovered it to be true, Snopes.com also confirms this as true, and not a hoax. (Yes, I had my number removed.) To read their statements, and view an example of the Google page, and instructions for removal, go to: http://www.snopes.com/computer/inte...
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I wasn't sure if that was your real name or not but most here seem to have handles that obviously are made up. Your's sounded 'real' so I thought I'd mention it.
I'd used reverse phone sites on the net before but hadn't realized how easy it is with google. Fortunately my numbers are all unlisted. I did the google test and came up with nothing.
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If all you need do is recover relitively small amounts of data I would recommend Downloading a copy of Knoppix, live CD of Linux. You should be able to boot to Knoppix, Install some drivers on the D: drive, so as to not disturb the C: drive and then hopefully recover the files by copying to an External drive.
Knoppix download is big, 700MB so a broadband connection is necessary. Knoppix can also be purchased for just a few bucks but you will need to wait on delivery.
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The Google search option is not new... Unless you have an unlisted number, or use just a cell phone, then your number/name/address associated with the account is available to anyone. Just about any site with lookups will give you the information. I've been using Switchboard for 11 years when I need to find a phone number/address.
Life is more painless for those who are brainless.
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To OtheHill, thank you for the suggestion, but for numerous reasons, I need to not only recover the data, but restore the laptop to it's former working condition, i.e., be able to boot normally.
To Jennifer SUMN, thanks for the useful info.
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I understand that is the ultimate goal. If data is irreplacable I suggest you attempt recovery of data prior to attempting a repair.
Additionally, the most likely reason the repartitioning failed is lack of space and RAM. If you copy some files and verify the copies are good you can then delete those files and free up some space.You do understand it may not be possible to recover from this issue. You may need to reinstall the OS.
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I understand you perfectly. I'll work on the data recovery first. If I have to resort to reinstalling the OS from the OEM recovery disk, do you know of a FREE utility that actually works, to restore data that I may miss? At that point, reinstalling the OS a second time, won't be such an undesirable prospect.
Thank you.
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I'm not sure what it is you are asking. Restore data that you might miss? Do you mean recover data?
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Well, I have the habit of backing things up. First data, such as docs, photos, pdfs etc. Then I back up the Windows directory, and other such important files, but sometimes I don't back upp other files that may be important to keep, as I have some software that is older, and can't be replaced, and their update and patch files. Then there are dlls that are particular to their respective programs. These are just examples. I was already in the process of removing all data to a new external hdd, and migrating apps and their corresponding files. I hope that I've answered your question. Ideally, I need to eventually restore the MBR, partitions, etc., so that I'm sure to recover and migrate everything that I could possibly need.
Thank you.
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What you are asking is about files that need to be recovered from the drive prior to a restore attempt, correct. I don't think you are going to recover complete programs using Knoppix at this point. I acould be wrong.
What version of Partition Magic were you using?
I belive the way partition resizers work is to crowd all you files into a smaller area on the disk prior to splitting off the extra space. If I understand what you were doing it would have been rearranging the files on the D: drive prior to allocating some of that partition to the C:.
So the C: may be pretty much intact.
PM8 has an undo option. At this point I can't say what you have to deal with.
How big are each of the partitions and how much data was one each? What file format is on the partitions?
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Yes, correct. I believe it is PM8. I was reducing the size of D, to make C a little larger, as it was pretty full. The laptop is old and only has a 4.3GB hdd, with the C drive using about 82% of that. Since I was using Win 98 first edition, it would have been FAT32.
Thank you.
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