Cloning a NTFS partition containing errors..

[Michel S.]

Hi !

I have a HDD with an XP NTFS partition that went bad: it gives an
"Unmountable_Boot_volume" stop 0x000000ED.

Before trying to fix that with chkdsk, I'd like to make a backup copy
of that partition.

Unfortunately, I tried Drive Image, Partition Magig and Ghost, and they
all refuse to perform the copy, saying that they found errors on the
source partition.

Is there a tool I can use to clone the partition to another disk even
if it contains errors ?


Any other suggestion ?


Thanks

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Imaging software works at the partition level. I would recommend you backup
whatever you can.

 

[Guest]

Hi !

I have a HDD with an XP NTFS partition that went bad: it gives an
"Unmountable_Boot_volume" stop 0x000000ED.

Before trying to fix that with chkdsk, I'd like to make a backup copy
of that partition.

Unfortunately, I tried Drive Image, Partition Magig and Ghost, and they
all refuse to perform the copy, saying that they found errors on the
source partition.

Is there a tool I can use to clone the partition to another disk even
if it contains errors ?

I think your only alternative is chkdsk (error checking). If you are
worried about this step corrupting your HD, then I'd backup the HD. I
might add, I've never had a chkdsk corrupt the HD.

 

[Michel S.]

I think your only alternative is chkdsk (error checking). If you are
worried about this step corrupting your HD, then I'd backup the HD. I
might add, I've never had a chkdsk corrupt the HD.

Thanks for your input.

I surely want to backup the disk because it contains very important
data and I want to get a second chance to recover should I be lucky
enough to fall in the .0001% of cases chkdsk fails.

My problem is "how", "with which tool" ? Given the tools I tried
unsuccessfully to date.

The source and destination disks are two identical Maxtor 80-GB. I
wonder if Maxblast can do the job ?

Thanks again.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

You don't want to backup the entire disk if it may contain errors. You want
to backup your important data files. Burn them to optical media or use
Windows' own ntbackup.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Thanks for your input.

I surely want to backup the disk because it contains very important data
and I want to get a second chance to recover should I be lucky enough to
fall in the .0001% of cases chkdsk fails.

My problem is "how", "with which tool" ? Given the tools I tried
unsuccessfully to date.

The source and destination disks are two identical Maxtor 80-GB. I wonder
if Maxblast can do the job ?

Thanks again.

Use xcopy with the /c switch. Other switches may be appropriate depending on
what you want to copy. This will save whatever is readable.

Kerry

 

[Anna]

Use xcopy with the /c switch. Other switches may be appropriate depending
on what you want to copy. This will save whatever is readable.

Kerry

Michael:
Let me add my suggestion as an option...
In so doing, I'm assuming you have another bootable HD you're working with
since you mention "source and destination disks". Assuming you can boot to a
"good" drive, could you not connect the defective drive as a secondary drive
and access whatever data you want from that drive, after which run a Repair
install on that non-booting drive? Of course I'm assuming in all this that
the drive in question is mechanically/electronically sound, its defect being
*only* corrupted system files that prevent its booting.

And you have consulted http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=297185, have you
not?
Anna

 

[Michel S.]

Anna a utilisé son clavier pour écrire :

Michael:
Let me add my suggestion as an option...
In so doing, I'm assuming you have another bootable HD you're working with
since you mention "source and destination disks". Assuming you can boot to a
"good" drive, could you not connect the defective drive as a secondary drive
and access whatever data you want from that drive, after which run a Repair
install on that non-booting drive? Of course I'm assuming in all this that
the drive in question is mechanically/electronically sound, its defect being
*only* corrupted system files that prevent its booting.

And you have consulted http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=297185, have you
not?
Anna

Anna, Kerry, Ted..

The problem is that I can't access the drive contents from windows. If
I set it as a primary disk, it won't boot at all.

If I set it as a slave on a working system, windows strongly suggest to
chkdsk it. If I press a key to delay the operation, the system
"freeze" (the disk light stays on for at least 10 minutes while
"Windows is starting" is displayed on screen).

The physical drive itself is okay - it looks like a corrupted file
system according to the messages I get from Drive Image or Ghost.

I'm willing to "chkdsk" it, I only want to make a backup copy of the
partition to a blank drive before proceeding.

I found a utility (NTFS for DOS from Active@) able to read the
directory/file structure and copy it to another disk, but the process
is **very** slow and the long file name information is lost in the
operation.

I read the KB article you are referring to (as well as an other one)
and it doesn't apply to my specific case.

BTW, I gave Maxblast a try but it failed (crashed would be a better
term, I guess..) :-(

Thanks

 

[Al Romanosky]

If time is not crucial - go to Ebay and check the following item:
"DATA_RECOVERY_IN_5_MINUTES! GET DATA BACK_WOW" (Copied in caps). Item
will cost $2 plus $6 shipping. Description will not tell you that it is a
Linux CD - does not install to your HD - runs from the CD - Linux is a
favorite "data" recovery "utility". It will access any file system and
provides for copying anything on the HD. You can also go to www.knoppix,com
and download for free (big file though).

 

[Kerry Brown]

Anna a utilisé son clavier pour écrire :

Anna, Kerry, Ted..

The problem is that I can't access the drive contents from windows. If I
set it as a primary disk, it won't boot at all.

If I set it as a slave on a working system, windows strongly suggest to
chkdsk it. If I press a key to delay the operation, the system "freeze"
(the disk light stays on for at least 10 minutes while "Windows is
starting" is displayed on screen).

The physical drive itself is okay - it looks like a corrupted file system
according to the messages I get from Drive Image or Ghost.

I'm willing to "chkdsk" it, I only want to make a backup copy of the
partition to a blank drive before proceeding.

I found a utility (NTFS for DOS from Active@) able to read the
directory/file structure and copy it to another disk, but the process is
**very** slow and the long file name information is lost in the operation.

I read the KB article you are referring to (as well as an other one) and
it doesn't apply to my specific case.

BTW, I gave Maxblast a try but it failed (crashed would be a better term,
I guess..) :-(

Thanks

You are pretty much limited to running chkdsk or another utility then. Try
BartPe to see if it can access the drive. It is a subset of Windows XP that
boots from CD.

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

It's too late now but I guess in the future you'll backup your important
data?

Kerry

 

[Alan Smith]

Never mind what is here- to be sure you have a workable backup consider a
second drive, buy a RAID controller card, and set so that it duplicates your
drive, (not striping).

 

[Michel S.]

Al Romanosky a couché sur son écran :

If time is not crucial - go to Ebay and check the following item:
"DATA_RECOVERY_IN_5_MINUTES! GET DATA BACK_WOW" (Copied in caps). Item will
cost $2 plus $6 shipping. Description will not tell you that it is a Linux
CD - does not install to your HD - runs from the CD - Linux is a favorite
"data" recovery "utility". It will access any file system and provides for
copying anything on the HD. You can also go to www.knoppix.com and download
for free (big file though).

Thanks Al,

I got a copy from the net and gave it a try..

I also found that page to get some insight :
http://highoctane.be/Discuss.php?cmd=show&thread=15&posts=1

I found that the "dd" (disk duplicate) command is doing what I want,
given the appropriate switches are set (conv=noerror,sync).

The only thing is that it is a *long* process : 12 hours to clone a 80
gb disk, using a very large (8mb) blocksize. (I read somewhere a user
reporting it took 6 days with a 512 byte block to clone 20 gb) !

Once finished (it is still running right now !), I will rewrite over
(over-rewrite ?) parts of the disk where errors were reported using a
smaller blocksize (I guess I should use the sector size - 512 bytes),
always using the same "dd" command, with different parameters, of
course.

Are you familiar with that command ? I'd like a second opinion on how
to correctly interpret the i/o error messages displayed after the first
one and how to proceed with the over-rewriting.

Thanks,
Michel

PS: I never tought my very first Linux experience would be in a context
like that ! :-D

 

[Michel S.]

Le 2005-07-13, Kerry Brown a supposé :

You are pretty much limited to running chkdsk or another utility then. Try
BartPe to see if it can access the drive. It is a subset of Windows XP that
boots from CD.

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

It's too late now but I guess in the future you'll backup your important
data?

Kerry

Kerry,

I *always* backup my important data.. It's my friends that don't !
;-)

 

[Kerry Brown]

Le 2005-07-13, Kerry Brown a supposé :

Kerry,

I *always* backup my important data.. It's my friends that don't !
;-)

It's amazing how people don't backup their data. Glad to hear in another
part of the thread you found a program to copy the data.

Kerry

 

[Al Romanosky]

Michael cannot help since I have had "minor" use of the CD. What is
interesting is that such popular recovery discs such as "PC Doctor Plus" and
"Recover Soft" utilize Linux and do not mention it. Many years ago at the
advent of Win 95 - I was (ROCO) a beta tester initially working with 16
floppies.(at that time it was a selective process with benefits) - I mention
this because although a die-hard Wind fan I have become impressed with the
Knoppix Linux version - when you have the opportunity "play around" with it.