data recovery

  • Thread starter Thread starter Charlotte
  • Start date Start date
C

Charlotte

Hi there,

I formatted my C drive and reinstalled XP Professional and now my
computer can see my E drive (hard disk) but cannot read it, therefore
I cannot access my data. I have tried the disc in another computer and
it still doesn't work. I have tried chkdsk, data recovery software and
other things but nothing works.

Any ideas or suggestions - I am positively desperate!!

Thanks

Charlotte
 
Previously Charlotte said:
Hi there,
Click to expand...
I formatted my C drive and reinstalled XP Professional and now my
computer can see my E drive (hard disk) but cannot read it, therefore
I cannot access my data. I have tried the disc in another computer and
it still doesn't work. I have tried chkdsk, data recovery software and
other things but nothing works.
Click to expand...
Any ideas or suggestions - I am positively desperate!!
Click to expand...

One thing you could try is booting Knoppix (->google) and
see whether is sees your data-drive. Knoppix is a single CD Linux.
Since Linux does not care about the global picture, if your data-
partition is still readable in principle, Knoppix will be able to
read it. Then you can use Knoppix to make a backup of your files
or copy them to some FAT partition. (Writing NTFS with Linux is
still problematic, AFAIK. Reading is o.k..)

If you don't have enough Linux skills, your best bet is to find
some friendly local Linux-geek. However to just check whether
the data is there, the GUI of Knoppix should be intuitive enough.
Might require reading some documentation (all in the online-help)
though.

Some other advice (sorry, don't mean to make it more painful, but
it has to be said): Next time make a backup of your data before a
major system change such as a re-installation. Even very experienced
people do this, since many things can go wrong. Also do regular backups
of your important data as HDDs have ben knowen to fail, sometimes
without warning. The last time I made a mistake, I killed two drives.
Luckily I had that backup.

Arno
 
Arnie the Troll is clueless as always. No, a typical Windows user cannot just
boot Linux and fix file system problems.

They can run any number of DOS/Win FAT recovery programs and easily get their
data back without sucking up to a Linux freak (not geek).
 
Eric Gisin said:
Arnie the Troll is clueless as always. No, a typical Windows user cannot just
boot Linux and fix file system problems.

They can run any number of DOS/Win FAT recovery programs and easily get their
data back without sucking up to a Linux freak (not geek).
Click to expand...

Well, don't know about all that and not being a Linux freak myself: Knoppix
is extremely easy to use and will automatically mount partitions
(read-only). Indeed sometimes when Windows refuses to read a drive, Linux
will, allowing you to copy the data to a safe drive. For those occasions
Knoppix will do just fine. Anyone able to use a mouse should be able to do
it. The (safe) destination drive can be set to read/write mode by right
clicking and using the context menu.
 
Arnie the Troll is clueless as always. No, a typical Windows user cannot just
boot Linux and fix file system problems.
Click to expand...

He didn't say knoppix could "fix" file systems. He said Knoppix can
read the ntfs/FAT32 from a C drive. It can do everything he says it
can do.

You can d/l a bootable knoppix iso from www.linuxiso.org.

You do need a good disk to write to. If you're on an
ethenet you can copy your files via ftp, but a beginner
is going to need help to do the fancier stuff.

You can burn data to CDs under knoppix.
 
Well, don't know about all that and not being a Linux freak myself:
Knoppix is extremely easy to use and will automatically mount
partitions (read-only).
Click to expand...

Which is why I advise it for simple data recovery: It is difficult to
do more damage with it. Running "any number of DOS/Win FAT recovery
programs" is a very bad idea indeed and might "easily" make the situation
much worse. I advise strongly against trying to repair a damaged
filesystem, unless you know what you are doing. Trying to get the data
_without_ modifying the filesystem or working on a _copy_ of the damaged
filesystem is the professional approach since you get more than one try
to get it right. Modifying the original filesystem is strictly amateur
level and offers no protection from mistakes.
Indeed sometimes when Windows refuses to read a drive, Linux
will, allowing you to copy the data to a safe drive. For those occasions
Knoppix will do just fine. Anyone able to use a mouse should be able to do
it. The (safe) destination drive can be set to read/write mode by right
clicking and using the context menu.
Click to expand...

Indeed. Not that hard.

Arno
 
Eric Gisin said:
Ok, that certainly is an improvement over Linux of a few years ago.
Click to expand...

Yep, well don't get me wrong, this particular operation is easier than it
was. For the major part Linux still remains archaic (IMO) ...
 
Arno Wagner said:
Which is why I advise it for simple data recovery: It is difficult to
do more damage with it. Running "any number of DOS/Win FAT recovery
programs" is a very bad idea indeed and might "easily" make the situation
much worse. I advise strongly against trying to repair a damaged filesystem,
unless you know what you are doing. Trying to get the data _without_
modifying the filesystem or working on a _copy_ of the damaged filesystem
is the professional approach since you get more than one try to get it right.
Click to expand...
Modifying the original filesystem is strictly amateur
level and offers no protection from mistakes.
Click to expand...

Thanks for branding the data recovery utilites as strictly 'amateur stuff'.
 
Actually I find the Knopix CD *EASIER* to use than R-Studio (and I am a
Windows user!), and apart from that it's free. So if indeed the lost data
can be examined and copied using the read-only Knopix CD than that's a good
thing, isn't it?

Joep
 
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