[nfbcs] access hard drive

Bryan Schulz b.schulz at sbcglobal.net
Wed Apr 7 17:12:50 UTC 2010 

i have a 1tb drive to install windows on in a spare box to avoid touching my 
main machine.
i also have partition magic and will attempt to see if it can help the guys 
drive.

Bryan Schulz

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John G. Heim" <jheim at math.wisc.edu>
To: "NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2010 11:06 AM
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] access hard drive


> Maybe. It depends on what you mean by destroyed.  You can repartition a 
> drive and reformat it and still get files back. There are a lot of 
> programs for both Windows and linux to do this. The reason you can recover 
> files even after repartitioning and reformatting is that neither of those 
> things actually over writes the drive itself. Recovery programs all work 
> by scanning the drive, reading it a block at a time, and reconstructing 
> the old directories and files.  But that only works if you haven't already 
> written new data over the old data.
>
> It takes a long time and you'll need a lot of disk space not on the disk 
> you're trying to recover from.
> I'm not really an expert on recovering data from a repartitioned hard 
> drive. I've done it once or twice and not very recently. If you're 
> interested in this, you can check out the link I provided below to the 
> tutorial I used last time I had to try this. Or google it.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bryan Schulz" <b.schulz at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2010 9:54 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] access hard drive
>
>
>> hi,
>>
>> i'm not aware of the benefits of using linux.
>> will this cd gain access to a drive with a destroyed partition?
>>
>> Bryan Schulz
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "John G. Heim" <jheim at math.wisc.edu>
>> To: "NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2010 9:36 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] access hard drive
>>
>>
>>> It depends on how much you value the data you lost and how much time 
>>> you're willing to spend learning some new tricks. And even if it doesn't 
>>> answer the original poster's question, there are a lot of people on this 
>>> list who may at some point need this kind of information.  It might take 
>>> some work to acquire these skills but they would be valuable skills to 
>>> have.
>>>
>>> Learning how to make a live linux CD would be a good thing for almost 
>>> everybody to know no matter their skill level. If you do on-line 
>>> banking, the best, most secure way to do it is to boot a live linux CD 
>>> and use firefox.  I would think that just about anybody capable of doing 
>>> their banking on-line could also figure out how to download ubuntu and 
>>> burn it to a CD if given a pointer or 2.
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Kelly Prescott" <prescott at deltav.org>
>>> To: "'NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List'" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 2:37 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] access hard drive
>>>
>>>
>>>>I have also used methods similar, but I think this goes way beyond what 
>>>>most
>>>> users are willing/able to do.
>>>> just use something like carbonite.com and restore from there when you 
>>>> nuke
>>>> your windows drive.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>>>> Behalf
>>>> Of John G. Heim
>>>> Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 10:29 AM
>>>> To: NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List
>>>> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] access hard drive
>>>>
>>>> Here is a link to an accessible, free tool to burn iso images in 
>>>> Windows:
>>>> http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm
>>>>
>>>> I've been using IsoRecorder for years but I am a Windows XP user. I 
>>>> don't
>>>> know about the Windows Vista or Windows 7 versions.
>>>>
>>>> Also, there are many more tools than fsck-fat and parted for restoring 
>>>> file
>>>> systems in linux. Here is a link to an article about how to use 
>>>> PhotoRec to
>>>> restore files using linux:
>>>> http://www.linux.com/news/enterprise/storage/8257-how-to-recover-lost-files-
>>>> after-you-accidentally-wipe-your-hard-drive
>>>>
>>>> I once re-installed linux on a computer so the HD was repartitioned and
>>>> reformatted. Still I was able to get some files back. I used dd to make 
>>>> an
>>>> image of the disk and then I worked from that. These tools allow you to 
>>>> get
>>>> files back from a disk even if you've repartitioned and reformatted as 
>>>> long
>>>> as the files you want haven't been over written with new files. It 
>>>> takes
>>>> some luck and it takes a very long time.
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>>> From: "Jim Barbour" <jbar at barcore.com>; <0 at barcore.com>; 
>>>> <215 at barcore.com>;
>>>> <0c at barcore.com>
>>>> To: "NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 6:48 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] access hard drive
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Kelly, I totally agree that a linux solution can fix the partition
>>>>> table. We'll just have to agree to disagree about fsck.vfat doing as
>>>>> good a job as available microsoft tools.
>>>>>
>>>>> Bryan,
>>>>>
>>>>> If your friend decides to go with a linux solution (which is
>>>>> free and accessible, but has a steeper learning curve), then they
>>>>> should look for a live CD with the orca screen reader on it.  Googling
>>>>> for "orca linux live CD" will help you find one.
>>>>>
>>>>> Another way to resize the partition is to use something like "parition
>>>>> magic", which will be more friendly, since it's a task oriented
>>>>> approach rather than starting with a linux shell.  However, I suspect
>>>>> that partition magic is not free, and it is certainly not accessible.
>>>>> Googling for "partition magic" will take you to the right place to
>>>>> download the software.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regardless of whether they go with linux or partition magic, they'll
>>>>> need to download an ISO image and burn it to a CD, which is something
>>>>> I don't know how to do on a windows machine. I'm sure it's doable, I
>>>>> just don't know how.
>>>>>
>>>>> If they decide to go with partition magic, they'll need a sighted
>>>>> assistant to drive the computer.  They start by putting the partition
>>>>> magic cd they just created into the drive, and booting the machine.
>>>>> After that, they should just poke around until they find the correct
>>>>> item for resizing the partition.  I have high confidence that this
>>>>> will be fairly easy to do.
>>>>>
>>>>> For linux, your friend should spend a bit of time reading docs about
>>>>> how orca works.  Further, they'll want to read docs about parted which
>>>>> is aprogram that will do partition management on hard drives.  Again,
>>>>> it's important to remember what Kelly says.  There are no safety rails
>>>>> here.  If they aren't sure what they're doing, they can completely
>>>>> ruin any data on the disk.  (sorry, I know it's dramatic)
>>>>>
>>>>> They'll boot their computer off the live CD, start
>>>>> orca, start a terminal, and then run parted.
>>>>>
>>>>> I can get into more specifics if you'd like, but start with this and
>>>>> see how it goes.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jim
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Apr 02, 2010 at 06:37:35PM -0400, Kelly Prescott wrote:
>>>>>> I think the linux tools could just resize the partition to fix it.
>>>>>> and yes linux can repair the filesystem with just as much reliability 
>>>>>> as
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> ms tool.
>>>>>> the failing is not with the linux tools, but rather the knowledge of 
>>>>>> who
>>>>>> is
>>>>>> using them.
>>>>>> Linux has no fail-safes so if you nuke it, you own all the parts.
>>>>>> I have repaired many disks/filesystems that commercial and ms tools 
>>>>>> said
>>>>>> were toast!
>>>>>> If you want to discuss it voice, you can call me at 419.909.0550 and 
>>>>>> I
>>>>>> will
>>>>>> be happy to chat about it.
>>>>>> The key is more information.
>>>>>> at this point we are making a lot of asumptions and that can be where 
>>>>>> our
>>>>>> logic falls apart.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>>>>> Behalf
>>>>>> Of Bryan Schulz
>>>>>> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 11:19 AM
>>>>>> To: NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] access hard drive
>>>>>>
>>>>>> hi,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> the problem was the main drive was 500gb and the spare drive is only
>>>>>> 250gb.
>>>>>> the purpose was to reduce the size so the main drive could be copied 
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> spare drive so the spare drive could be used in another tower.
>>>>>> i think the entire partition was resized instead of making another
>>>>>> partition
>>>>>>
>>>>>> and now it can't be accessed.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Bryan Schulz
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>>>>> From: "Jim Barbour" <jbar at barcore.com>
>>>>>> To: "NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>>>>>> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 10:00 AM
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] access hard drive
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> > The point is that they boot off the live linux CD.  This gives them 
>>>>>> > an
>>>>>> > environment to work in that isn't making use of their windows boot 
>>>>>> > disk
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > If they aren't a linux user, this does have a rather high learning
>>>>>> > curve.
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > However, I'm not really sure that this solution meets the needs of
>>>>>> > Bryan's friend.  If I understand correctly, this friend has a
>>>>>> > corrupted mbr and possibly a corrupted filesystem they want to 
>>>>>> > repair,
>>>>>> > so they can copy files from the disk.
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > Linux can rewrite the MBR, but probably not repair the vfat table.
>>>>>> > My experience is that LInux's tools for repairing vfat filesystems 
>>>>>> > are
>>>>>> > not as reliable as the ones MS provides.
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > Bryan, can you explain further what the exact problem is?
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > Jim
>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > On Fri, Apr 02, 2010 at 09:32:41AM -0500, Bryan Schulz wrote:
>>>>>> >> as most, he doesn't use linux.
>>>>>> >> how is that supposed to work with windows machines?
>>>>>> >>
>>>>>> >> Bryan Schulz
>>>>>> >>
>>>>>> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kelly Prescott"
>>>>>> >> <prescott at deltav.org>
>>>>>> >> To: "'NFBnet NFBCS Mailing List'" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>>>>>> >> Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 9:00 AM
>>>>>> >> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] access hard drive
>>>>>> >>
>>>>>> >>
>>>>>> >> >use a linux rescue disk and you can do it with that.
>>>>>> >> >you can also copy and resize partitions with it.
>>>>>> >> >so you could take all data from one partition and put it on the 
>>>>>> >> >new
>>>>>> >> >drive
>>>>>> >> >and resize the new partition.
>>>>>> >> >
>>>>>> >> >
>>>>>> >> >2 choices are:
>>>>>> >> >grml http://www.grml.org and system rescue cd
>>>>>> >> >http://www.sysrescd.org
>>>>>> >> >the grml is probably better as if you have a hardware synthesizer 
>>>>>> >> >it
>>>>>> >> >will
>>>>>> >> >most likely be able to speak from boot.
>>>>>> >> >
>>>>>> >> >the best thing about these solutions is they are free!
>>>>>> >> >
>>>>>> >> >
>>>>>> >> >-----Original Message-----
>>>>>> >> >From: nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
>>>>>> >> >On
>>>>>> >> >Behalf
>>>>>> >> >Of Bryan Schulz
>>>>>> >> >Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 2:11 AM
>>>>>> >> >To: nfbcs at nfbnet.org
>>>>>> >> >Subject: [nfbcs] access hard drive
>>>>>> >> >
>>>>>> >> >hi,
>>>>>> >> >
>>>>>> >> >a friend wants to know if there are programs that will recreate 
>>>>>> >> >the
>>>>>> >> >mbr
>>>>>> >> >master boot record and fat file allocation table so files can be
>>>>>> >> >copied from
>>>>>> >> >a hard drive that has not been reformatted yet.
>>>>>> >> >
>>>>>> >> >Bryan Schulz
>>>>>> >> >_______________________________________________
>>>>>> >> >nfbcs mailing list
>>>>>> >> >nfbcs at nfbnet.org
>>>>>> >> >http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbcs_nfbnet.org
>>>>>> >> >To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>>>>>> >> >for nfbcs:
>>>>>> >>
>>>>>>
>>>>>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbcs_nfbnet.org/prescott%40deltav.or
>>>>>> g
>>>>>> >> >
>>>>>> >> >
>>>>>> >> >_______________________________________________
>>>>>> >> >nfbcs mailing list
>>>>>> >> >nfbcs at nfbnet.org
>>>>>> >> >http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbcs_nfbnet.org
>>>>>> >> >To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>>>>>> >> >for nfbcs:
>>>>>> >>
>>>>>>
>>>>>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbcs_nfbnet.org/b.schulz%40sbcglobal
>>>>>> .net
>>>>>> >>
>>>>>> >>
>>>>>> >> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>> >
>>>>>> > _______________________________________________
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>>>>>> net
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> nfbcs mailing list
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>>>>>
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>>>>
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