Windows Vista Data Rescue

[ebhutton1717]

I started my Sony VAIO with Windows Vista on a 2GB Intel Processer and a disk scan was recommended. An error was found and the Windows Repair was recommended and it could not fix a contaminated master file on the c drive.

I contacted Sony Support and was erringly informed that the data on the c file could not be retrieved and they recommended a c drive recovery that would erase all files on the c drive and restore it to factory original installation.

I started to run the program to do this and found the option to rescue the data.

I ran the rescue data program several times and it keeps stopping on the same file, which could be the file that is causing the problem.

I remember from the early days of personal computers that these programs have options using the function keys/function key combinations, i.e., control or shift f( ), which were eventually standardized, to select the options during data recovery or rescue to skip or delete files when the program had difficulty getting past the files, depending upon the users preference to attempt to repair the file that is damaged or contaminated later, and continue with the recovery/rescue.

Since this was 20 to 25 or more years ago and only did it a few times, I do not trust my memory on which keys do this.

Sony Support has proven many times not to be very good and I have not been able to get help from them - possibly since this problem occurred shortly after they removed via online a security system they claimed was causing a problem it was not.

How do I run this program as it should be run?



Thanks

[Paul Komski]

Things have changed in the last 20 years and unless you are given keypress options there are no generic keys for "skipping" in the manner described other than that the ESC key will often cancel a currently displayed option.

If the MFT (Master File Table) of any NTFS formatted volume is corrupt then it is unlikely to be repairable. The most common way to attempt repair is to run chkdsk C: /F from a command prompt but I don't advise this if data recovery is your priority.

You need to be explicit about what you are trying to do. Repair the file system, restore a functional operating system or recover data.

[Sylvander]

Remember this Paul?
Using TestDisk to recover lost partititions/files & make HDD bootable (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=68521).

I've not yet used it to fix anything, but may be giving it a go tomorrow Monday 5th Oct on a neighbours PC, running XP-SP3 on NTFS partition file system.

This step-by-step tutorial (http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step) gives an idea of what it can do.
There are URL's included in the downloaded and extracted files that lead to other web pages on various topics explaining what it can do and how.

I've written on my bootable floppy that it can [among other things] repair the MFT; must have read that in the documentation.

So far I've run it successfully from both the bootable DOS floppy, and also installed it into my BoxPup Linux and ran it there, and again right now.

Screenshot below taken in BoxPup displays the drives it [correctly] detected on my system.

[Paul Komski]

I didn't say that the MFT was unrepairable but I did ask for clarification about what the OP's priorities were before proffering further advice.

If there is specific information of how TestDisk can repair the MFT then please post it because I could find no mention of it in either of the links posted. There is mention of recovering deleted files from the entries in the MFT but that has nothing to do with repairing a corrupt MFT.

BTW BiNG can do most of the partition recovery that is done by TestDisk - though that is not the matter at hand in this thread.

[Sylvander]

There are lots of html documents included in the "doc" folder of the download as follows below:
It's easy to download, extract, and read them.

1. Advanced NTFS Boot and MFT Repair.
I'll include headings and some text:
Repair NTFS Boot Sector
------
Recovering NTFS Boot Sector on NTFS Partitions using its backup
------
Rebuilding NTFS Boot Sector on NTFS Partitions
------
Repair NTFS MFT
The MFT (Master File Table) is sometimes corrupted.
If Microsoft Check Disk (chkdsk) failed to repair the MFT, run TestDisk and in the Advanced menu, select your NTFS partition and choose Repair MFT.
TestDisk will try to repair the MFT using MFT mirror, its backup.

Others include:
2. After using testdisk....
Including:
How to check and repair a filesystem.
How to make the system bootable again.
How to undelete files.

3. Data Recovery Examples...
Including:
The type of the file system is RAW - Recovery of a damaged FAT boot sector.
Recovery of a lost and damaged NTFS.
Recovery of a Dell computer.
Problem of disk geometry - When all partitions are deleted.
Two FAT32 partitions to recover.
Lost partition after defrag.
Recovery of cdrom session.
Recovery of reformated partition.

There are more; too many to include.

[Paul Komski]

For the moment and until the OP replies I am not going to add any more - other than to say that there is a danger of going off topic and misleading the OP. I cannot find the option to repair the MFT from the Advanced Menu in TestDisk - nor do I see why it should be able to manipulate the MFTMirror any more than chkdsk, which I have already suggested but only if data recovery is not paramount. It is also incorrect to describe the MFTMirror as a backup. It only backs up a very small amount of the MFT; the first four records to be exact (http://whereismydata.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/forensics-what-is-the-mft-mirror/).

[Sylvander]

1. "I cannot find the option to repair the MFT from the Advanced Menu in TestDisk"
(a) Can't remember where, but I saw somewhere an explanation that:
IF the MFTMirror differs from the MFT in use...
Only then does the word Repair appear in a particular column against that partition.
So the user should highlight/choose that partition/line, and...
Then down at bottom, one of the options [Write?] is the appropriate one to use to proceed with that repair.

[ebhutton1717]

Thanks for the information, though it was not the answer I wanted, it lets me know what I now need to find out. I have a SONY VAIO 2GB Intel Processor Model No. VGN NS 110E with Windows Vista Operating System.

I received a message to run a disk scan, received a message there was a problem and recommendation to run a disk repair. Windows was unable to run a disk repair and recommended calling Sony Support.

I got much mis-information regarding the program from several calls and had a recent difficulty regarding my security system that did not resolve the problem after a long call and them removing a security system via online.

I ran the option, not informed to me from the Sony techs to rescue data. I ran this program several times and it keeps stopping on the same file, not at the exact same point. I had been erringly told from a Sony Tech that the program sitting on the same file for over an hour was normal and that it could take all day to rescue a mere 12GB of data.

The goal is to rescue/save to external drive the data that the c disk recovery program on the computer will cancel out when I do the c disk recovery which will put my c disk to the point of factory installation. The program states that other partitions will not be affected and my memory from years ago personal and main frame computer experience tells me that my documents and other files will not be touched and the partitions operate like a buffer protecting both the start up of the operating system and the computer from problems with those files and those files from problems with the c disk or operating system. I need this verified or not.

I want to know how to save the 12GB of files that the program says exists and can be transferred to an external drive during a data recovery when the program keeps stopping on a certain file that may be the file causing the problem and preventing the computer from starting. I do not need all these file – there are some I had not saved to my external drive yet and would like to save some of the ones in the other partitions if possible in case the verification I am seeking above is a no.

Sony requires this program to be run before accepting it in for repairs if the c disk recovery program does not solve the problem.

Another possibility is - is there a way to restart the computer at a date prior to the problem with the c disk, after the work I did that may be included in that partition or before the security system was changed, though not as far as to factory installation, which seems rather drastic.

AT THIS POINT, THE COMPUTER WILL NOT START AND I DO NOT HAVE A MANUAL WHICH EXPLAINS VERY SIMPLE PROCEEDURES THAT USE THE FUNCTION KEYS TO GET INTO THE COMPUTER EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT STARTING – SONY DOES NOT PROVIDE THEM, WHICH MAKES THE CONSUMER RELIANT ON THEIR SUPPORT TECHNICIANS WHO ARE, AS IS NOT ALWAYS THAT UNTYPICAL, NOT THAT SUCH IS NOT ALWAYS AN EASY TASK, OF EITHER COMMUNICATING EFFICIENTLY AT THE CONSUMER'S KNOWLEDGE LEVEL, ACCURATE REGARDING THE SPECIFIC MODEL OF THE COMPUTER OR SIMPLY COMPETENT AT ALL.
IT HAS BEEN YEARS SINCE I HAVE TAKEN A COMPUTER CLASS AND I AM LEARNING THAT THE ISSUES WE WERE TAUGHT TO CONSIDER OF WAYS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN DOCUMENTATION AND VERBAL COMMUNICATION OF TECHNICAL INFORMATION FROM THE TECHNICAL SOURCE TO THE CONSUMER HAVE NOT BEEN RESOLVED IN ALL CASES. THIS TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION SOURCE ON MY VISTA OPERATING SYSTEM IS NOT VERY GOOD, WHICH MAKES IT MORE DIFFICULT AS A CONSUMER TO LEARN RATHER SIMPLE THINGS TO HANDLE SUCH SITUATIONS.

AND I KNOW FROM PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE THAT THE OLD DESIGN OF THESE PROGRAMS ARE THE BETTER AND SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CHANGED AND ARE NOT VERY DIFFICULT TO INCLUDE IN A PROGRAM.

THANKS

[Paul Komski]

Please keep related threads together and not start new posts.

When a file causes a program to abreact in the way described then it is probably corrupt but not skippable to my knowledge. The corruption can be within the file system or due to underlying bad sectors.

If the data is important then the best way to back it up is to make an image file of the whole partition from a utility running outside of windows and which will copy sector by sector without any concern for any file system on the partitions being cloned. BiNG (in my sig) and its cousin ImageForDOS as well as other utilities can do this for you. I suggest the TerabyteUnlimited utilities (http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/index.htm) in particular here because the image files they make can be accessed with an associated utility called TBIView and files/folders copied/restored from the image file created on the external (or other) drive used.

When there are underlying bad sectors then regardless of what is doing the copying/cloning it can take things an inordinate amount of time. Bad sectors (as opposed to bad files) can be skipped using a utility called dd_rescue (http://paulski.com/zpages.php?id=1913) to allow for a clone to be made - such a "clone" will have gaps in the files where the bad sectors existed but the procedure should complete OK.

After you have made an exact or nearly exact clone you can experiment with the Vista partition(s) in the knowledge that you data is as safe as it is likely to be.

Another approach to attmpt to grab a few otherwise inaccessible/uncopiable files is to use recovery software such as GetDataBack for NTFS (http://www.runtime.org).

The program states that other partitions will not be affected and my memory from years ago personal and main frame computer experience tells me that my documents and other files will not be touched and the partitions operate like a buffer protecting both the start up of the operating system and the computer from problems with those files and those files from problems with the c disk or operating system. I need this verified or not.You need to be absolutely sure that your data is not on the partition to be restored. Since this is not always obvious it is always wise to backup onto external media if the data really is important.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

You could also take the notebook drive out and slave it with an adapter or external enclosure and copy/paste all the files you consider important to another computer. (Assuming we are all alike and have several working computers and extra hard drives just kicking around... :p )

Then you can reinstall the drive and run the recovery knowing well that copies of your important files are safe and sound elsewhere and not physically connected to prevent any mistakes or confusion during the recovery.

You could also run Get Data Back as suggested above with the PC doing the copy/paste and find the problematic file that is causing the errors to see if it is something you need to save or repair.