Re: Knoppix

"Chel van Gennip" <chel-news@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:5vjkh3F1mrvfsU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Arny Krueger wrote:
"Sean Conolly" <sjconolly_98@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:vUSkj.3513$1f.288@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And since we're on the topic of drive failures, I'll
throw a little tidbit out that I've found useful.
Sometimes your first clue that a drive is going bad is
that you start getting read errors, but the problem is
that you really need to recover the data that's throwing
the errors. EIDE controllers will remap bad sectors
automatically if it takes more than X many reads to get
the correct data, after Y reads it gives up entirely and
you get an I/O error. What I've done in the past is to
boot from a Linux CD like the Knoppix one, and run a
shell script in loop around "cp /dev/hda /dev/null" (hda
being the first IDE drive), which reads the entire drive
as block device in a loop. Sooner or later the
controller will get the correct data and remap the bad
sectors, if you run it long enough, like overnight. Of
course the drive still needs to be replaced, this just
gives you a way to recover more data before you make a
backup.

Back in the mainstream world, we boot a Window XP
install disc, have it load the recovery console, and run
CHKDSK http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb491051.aspx

No downloads or programming of loops in scripts required.

Indeed no downloads or programming of loops in scripts
required, but it is one of the most effective ways to
increase damage.

I don't see how it differs from the Linux approach.

I've used this approach dozens of times with generally good results.

Indeed, I'd recommend doing this every once in a while from the XP GUI
because it can make a subjective improvement in the operation of a computer
by forcing relocation of bad sectors that would otherwise be discovered
during normal operations, and delay or abort those operations.

In case of hardware disk problems: never change anything
on the original disk! If you have a defective disk that
contains valuable data, _never_ use CHKDSK (or any other
MS command) on _that_ disk

All I can say is that I have recovered many gigabytes of user data and
bootable volumes using strategies that involve CHKDSK. I don't recall any
serious loss of data.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: CHKDSK wil lnot let me defrag my C: drive.
    ... Defrag will not run if the drive is has it's dirty bit set. ... ChkDSK is how you clean up disk error and recover bad disk sectors. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: FAT32 or NTFS?
    ... >>10% wastage on 10 volumes is one whole hard disk wasted. ... >uncertainty about free space. ... Corrupt data can be better than none, ... "you can only recover part of the database". ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • RE: Dead hard drive
    ... Maybe you could recover ... That's a single FAT 32 active partition w/ XP Pro on it and it can access ... Here is a quick way to find if anything is left on your disk: ... to format the disk. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Systems Registry data problem
    ... I tried to use the memtest program but had great difficulty in copying to disk using Nero, and when it ran, it only seemed to carry out one sweep of the RAM and then seemed to go to sleep. ... There is still a problem with the Registry because I cannot run Registry Mechanic, which I have used in the past, or Regcure. ... Both of these programs stall part way through, the screen goes black and does not recover or give an error message. ... Choose the most recent restore point and SR should restore the user ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Systems Registry data problem
    ... using a backup disk that I made a few weeks ago. ... There is still a problem with the Registry because I cannot run Registry ... Choose the most recent restore point and SR should restore the user ... How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)