disk read error - need help retrieving files

[Guest]

disk read error - need help retrieving files

I get a "disk read error occurred" when I try to boot my system. I have run
the western digital diagnostic tools to find any hardware errors - but there
are none. I can get into the Windows Recovery Console and I ran the chkdsk
/r to repair windows - but I still get the same error. When in the Recovery
Console - I can navigate to see the data that I want to retreive - but I'm
not sure how to best retrieve it. I don't think I can do a copy or backup -
so what can I do??? Any ideas???

Thanks

 

[Rock]

disk read error - need help retrieving files

I get a "disk read error occurred" when I try to boot my system. I have run
the western digital diagnostic tools to find any hardware errors - but there
are none. I can get into the Windows Recovery Console and I ran the chkdsk
/r to repair windows - but I still get the same error. When in the Recovery
Console - I can navigate to see the data that I want to retreive - but I'm
not sure how to best retrieve it. I don't think I can do a copy or backup -
so what can I do??? Any ideas???

Thanks

One option is to put the drive into another XP or Win2k computer as a
slave drive and copy off the data.

Another option is to download a Linux distro called Knoppix from this
site: http://www.knoppix.net/get.php

Create a bootable CD by burning the .iso image to CD using nero or
roxio. Then follow these steps to backup the data from the drive.

1. Boot Knoppix CD

2. In the "quick launch" toolbar you will see what is called the
"Konsole" icon. (Tip: If you hover your cursor over this icon, it will
display as Konsole.) Click on this and it will give you Linux's version
of a command line. (Tip: As with Windows NT platforms, you need to be
logged in as a user with administrative privileges to perform certain
tasks. In Linux, this is referred to as ROOT.) Okay, so we have the
Konsole window open. You will notice that you're showing up as a Knoppix
user. You need to type "SU root" without the quotes so that you can gain
administrative privileges. After this, minimize the shell to get it out
of your way for a moment. Now you are in a position to browse into the
hard drive that has an icon already displayed on the desktop.

3. Locate the folder(s) that you wish to back up. Now get back to the
shell that you had minimized and type "k3b" without the quotes. This
activates a a CD burning program called k3b which is included with
Knoppix Linux. With the program open, click file, new project, new data
project. All right, still with me? Okay, drag the folder(s) that you
wish to back up into the current projects area of the program. After
that, goto project, then select burn. A new window opens up and you are
almost ready to start the CD burning process.

In the new window, you need to make sure that the burn speed is set
correctly for the CDR that you are using. (Tip: If you are using a CDRW,
go to the tab marked "Settings" and make sure that "Start multi-session"
is selected.) All right, just click the "write" button and the CD
burning will now commence.

Once the CD has been written, close all of the windows. Click the big
"K" in the lower left corner and log off. After this, just follow the
prompts.

 

[Guest]

I have an older drive that I'm no longer using with windows 98se. Is it
possible to put that in and have the current drive as a slave, or are the
file systems different?

 

[Malke]

One option is to put the drive into another XP or Win2k computer as a
slave drive and copy off the data.

Another option is to download a Linux distro called Knoppix from this
site: http://www.knoppix.net/get.php

Create a bootable CD by burning the .iso image to CD using nero or
roxio. Then follow these steps to backup the data from the drive.

1. Boot Knoppix CD

2. In the "quick launch" toolbar you will see what is called the
"Konsole" icon.

(snip)

Rock, you're making using Knoppix much harder and more complicated than
it has to be. You don't need to su to root or anything like that to
rescue Windows data. Boot the cd, find the Windows drive (which will
show up on the desktop as an icon), go to the "Start" menu K, find the
program k3b (which I think is under System utilities), and start it. It
will act just like Nero or Roxio or any other Windows burning program.
The big difference a Windows user will notice is that the default
Knoppix window manager (KDE), equivalent to Explorer, only needs you to
click once on an icon instead of double-clicking like in Windows.

With k3b burn the data to cd-r. When you're done with Knoppix, go to the
"Start" menu and log out. Follow the prompt to remove the cd and the
computer will reboot. End of story.

Malke

 

[Guest]

There are alot of files on the knoppix website - is there any particular
single iso file that I'm supposed to burn to a cd? Is it the
KNOPPIX_V3.4-2004-08-16-EN.iso or the KNOPPIX_V3.4-2004-08-16-DE.iso??

 

[Malke]

There are alot of files on the knoppix website - is there any
particular
single iso file that I'm supposed to burn to a cd? Is it the
KNOPPIX_V3.4-2004-08-16-EN.iso or the KNOPPIX_V3.4-2004-08-16-DE.iso??

Unless you are German, you want the latest date, latest version .iso
with "EN" in it:
KNOPPIX_V3.6-2004-08-16-EN.iso

"DE" means it is a German version. Obviously you want the one that is
roughly 700 MB.

Malke

 

[Rock]

I have an older drive that I'm no longer using with windows 98se. Is it
possible to put that in and have the current drive as a slave, or are the
file systems different?

<snip>

If the file system on the problem drive is FAT32 then a drive with 98SE
as the OS will work. If it's formatted NTFS, then an XP or win2k
computer is needed.

 

[Rock]

Malke wrote:

Rock, you're making using Knoppix much harder and more complicated than
it has to be. You don't need to su to root or anything like that to
rescue Windows data. Boot the cd, find the Windows drive (which will
show up on the desktop as an icon), go to the "Start" menu K, find the
program k3b (which I think is under System utilities), and start it. It
will act just like Nero or Roxio or any other Windows burning program.
The big difference a Windows user will notice is that the default
Knoppix window manager (KDE), equivalent to Explorer, only needs you to
click once on an icon instead of double-clicking like in Windows.

With k3b burn the data to cd-r. When you're done with Knoppix, go to the
"Start" menu and log out. Follow the prompt to remove the cd and the
computer will reboot. End of story.

Malke

Ok thanks. I have never used it myself to copy data, though I have
created the Linux CD, run it and looked around. I saw those
instructions somewhere and thought they were straightforward enough to
be of use to someone. Thanks again for the easier way.

One question, can you delete files from an NTFS drive using Knoppix?

 

[Malke]

Rock wrote:

Ok thanks. I have never used it myself to copy data, though I have
created the Linux CD, run it and looked around. I saw those
instructions somewhere and thought they were straightforward enough to
be of use to someone. Thanks again for the easier way.

One question, can you delete files from an NTFS drive using Knoppix?

No, you should not do this. I believe there are steps you can take to
make Knoppix write to an NTFS partition, but writing to NTFS in Linux
is still experimental and can cause data corruption to Windows files. I
would not do it. If you need to delete a file, a great program to use
is ERD Commander from Winternals. You can download an emergency copy
and use it under limited circumstances, but even then it is extremely
useful. The full program, included in the Administrative pack, is
around $1,500 so is *very* pricey. It is quite nice that they offer the
emergency download.

Malke

 

[Rock]

Malke wrote:

No, you should not do this. I believe there are steps you can take to
make Knoppix write to an NTFS partition, but writing to NTFS in Linux
is still experimental and can cause data corruption to Windows files. I
would not do it. If you need to delete a file, a great program to use
is ERD Commander from Winternals. You can download an emergency copy
and use it under limited circumstances, but even then it is extremely
useful. The full program, included in the Administrative pack, is
around $1,500 so is *very* pricey. It is quite nice that they offer the
emergency download.

Malke

Thanks for the info.