Recovering lost Client Side Caching Files and Folders

[amarzahn]

following occured:
server crashed
new server was set up (took 4 days)
backup from tape
client logged in and synchronized
data recovered from backup appeared to CSC as current version
synchronization actually deleted lots of files and folders on client

how we tried to recover:
we could recover (GetDataBack for NTFS) the complete folder and its
content "C:\WINDOWS\CSC"
Nevertheless the root data file (0000001) assigning the actual
structure to the thousands of random files in the CSC folder was
already overwritten a couple times and could not be recovered. The
offline files were not encrypted!

that's what MS said:
the data is stored in a database like structure - it is impossible to
recover it when the correct root data file that belongs to the CSC is
not available...

i found that most CSC files (20k files / 20GB) could be opened when the
appropriate program for the file was used to open them (see file
header).
nevertheless - i can not check all 20k files by manually viewing the
file header

MY QUESTIONS ARE

1) how can i automatically scan the file header *and* automatically
attach the appropriate file extension to it? ( i have found software
that attaches file ext by batch - but no good file header scanner)

2) is there any way to recover the original documents name or the
former folder structure?

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

following occured:
server crashed
new server was set up (took 4 days)
backup from tape
client logged in and synchronized
data recovered from backup appeared to CSC as current version
synchronization actually deleted lots of files and folders on client

My first question is, since you say you have backups, can't you just delete
the client side caching/disable it, and restore the data on the server
again, and then re-enable offline files if you must use them?

(note: I am not a fan of offline files for more reasons than I can enumerate
here; if you must use them, for laptop/roaming users, consider SecondCopy at
www.centered.com instead. For LAN connected computers, I don't bother, as I
don't see the value)

 

[amarzahn]

well,
it's not on me to decide CSC yes or no.
the backup is from before the server crash
the client offline files missing were not in the backup (mainly private
jpg files - no private backup done - even though it was recommended)
they supposedly were deleted because they were older then the new
offline DIR on the new server...
no smart comments please
yes it is the users own fault - - -
no matter what - i have to get the files back - - -
i know a lot about CSC - not everything - but i need hints on how CSC
is build and where crucial informations are stored - where is the
translation from file/folder structure in CSC stored???
thanks a lot for your support

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

well,
it's not on me to decide CSC yes or no.

Understood. However, you might put this question to management for future
decisions.

the backup is from before the server crash
the client offline files missing were not in the backup (mainly
private jpg files - no private backup done - even though it was
recommended)

But the whole point of offline files is to have a synchronized copy of the
source data on the server, and *that* data should be in your regular server
backups. No?

they supposedly were deleted because they were older
then the new offline DIR on the new server...
no smart comments please

I don't mean to be snarky; I hope I haven't come across that way. When you
restored the "new offline DIR" data on the server, did it not contain the
data you need?

yes it is the users own fault - - -

Is it?

no matter what - i have to get the files back - - -
i know a lot about CSC - not everything - but i need hints on how CSC
is build and where crucial informations are stored - where is the
translation from file/folder structure in CSC stored???
thanks a lot for your support

I'm sorry I can't help further - my questions/suggestion were intended to
help you get the data back without having to muck around with the
workstations. I don't use offline files much, so I am not sure what else to
say other than good luck.