[rshaffer61]

Nope it should only replace any startup files or correct them if they are the cause of the issue which it is.

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Actually, looking at that I have tried it several times already and it says it is unable to repair. Will try once again now.

[MikeS71]

Actually, looking at that I have tried it several times already and it says it is unable to repair. Will try once again now.

[MikeS71]

Heres the result:

Startup Repair could not detect a problem

If you have recently attached a device to this computer such as a camera or portable music player, remove it and restart your computer. If you continue to see this message, contact system administrator...

All of the test reports in the repair detail report successful with no errors.

When this whole thing started I unplugged all peripherals except keyboard, mouse, monitor and tried. I have since plugged the ethernet back in but thats it. There has been no new hardware added other than 1 week before the issue a new internet router (switched from Verizon to Comcast). No software other than an Nvidia driver update about a week ago.

[rshaffer61]

OK then lets see if we can get to your data at least so you can backup what you need to.

Use Puppy Linux Live CD to Recover Your Data:

===================
***Required Hardware***
CD Burner (CDRW) Drive,
Blank CD,
Extra Storage Device (USB Flash Drive, External Hard Drive)
===================

1. Save these files to your Desktop/Burn Your Live CD:

• Download Latest Puppy Linux ISO (i.e.: lupu-520.iso)
  Download BurnCDCC ISO Burning Software
  
  
• Open BurnCDCC with Windows Explorer
• Extract All files to a location you can remember
• Double Click BurnCDCC
• Click Browse and navigate to the Puppy Linux ISO file you just downloaded
• Open/Double Click that file
  IMPORTANT: Adjust the speed bar to CD: 4x DVD: 1x
• Click Start
• Your CD Burner Tray will open automatically
• Insert a blank CD and close the tray
• Click OK

Puppy Linux Live CD will now be created
2. Set your boot priority in the BIOS to CD-ROM first, Hard Drive Second

• Start the computer/press the power button
• Immediately start tapping the appropriate key to enter the BIOS, aka "Setup"
  (Usually shown during the "Dell" screen, or "Gateway" Screen)
• Once in the BIOS, under Advanced BIOS Options change boot priority to:
  CD-ROM 1st, Hard Drive 2nd
• Open your ROM drive and insert the disk
• Press F10 to save and exit
• Agree with "Y" to continue
• Your computer will restart and boot from the Puppy Linux Live CD
  
  

3. Recover Your Data

• Once Puppy Linux has loaded, it is actually running in your computer's Memory (RAM). You will see a fully functioning Graphical User Interface similar to what you normally call "your computer". Internet access may or may not be available depending on your machine, so it is recommended you print these instructions before beginning. Also, double clicking is not needed in Puppy. To expand, or open folders/icons, just click once. Puppy is very light on resources, so you will quickly notice it is much speedier than you are used to. This is normal. Ready? Let's get started.
  
  3a. Mount Drives
• Click the Mount Icon located at the top left of your desktop.
• A Window will open. By default, the "drive" tab will be forward/highlighted. Click on Mount for your hard drive.
• Assuming you only have one hard drive and/or partition, there may be only one selection to mount.
• USB Flash Drives usually automatically mount upon boot, but click the "usbdrv" tab and make sure it is mounted.
• If using an external hard drive for the data recovery, do this under the "drive" tab. Mount it now.

3b. Transfer Files.

• At the bottom left of your desktop a list of all hard drives/partitions, USB Drives, and Optical Drives are listed with a familiar looking hard drive icon.
• Open your old hard drive i.e. sda1
• Next, open your USB Flash Drive or External Drive. i.e. sdc or sdb1
• If you open the wrong drive, simply X out at the top right corner of the window that opens. (Just like in Windows)
• From your old hard drive, drag and drop whatever files/folders you wish to transfer to your USB Drive's Window.

For The Novice: The common path to your pictures, music, video, and documents folders is: Documents and Settings >> All Users (or each idividual name of each user. CHECK All Names!) >> Documents >> You will now see My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos.

Remember to only click once! No double clicking! Once you drag and drop your first folder, you will notice a small menu will appear giving you the option to move or copy. Choose COPY each time you drag and drop.

YOU ARE DONE!!! Simply click Menu >> Mouse Over Shutdown >> Reboot/Turn Off Computer. Be sure to plug your USB Drive into another working windows machine to verify all data is there and transferred without corruption. Congratulations!





If you're doing this to recovery from a virus or malware infection, (or even if you're not), DO NOT copy executable files (.exe, .scr. etc...) if any of these files are infected you could be copying the corruption over to any new device/computer. just copy documents, pictures, music, or videos.

[MikeS71]

This could save me a lot of $$ if it works, I actually went and got a new HD today and an HD enclosure thinking I would have to recover them that way... if this works your my hero!! Will do it tonight and post up result.

Thank You!

EDIT: The Burn CDCC file is a Windows based program, will I be able to burn the Linuz Puppy ISO using the MAC Disk Utility instead of CDCC? (Thats how I burned the iso for the HD test.

Edited by MikeS71, 18 March 2012 - 06:19 PM.

[rshaffer61]

You should be able to burn it as long as you make sure you are burning it correctly.

[MikeS71]

Not sure if this is an issue with my burn or my computer but... here is what happened when I ran the program:

Started as if it was working, saw a logo briefly then it went to a black screen with the following text:


Loading drivers needed to access disk drives..
Searching for Puppy files in computer disk drives...
Searching deeper, sub-sub-folders in partitions...lupu_528.sfs not found. Dropping out to initial-ramdisk console...
/bin/sh: can't access tty; job control turned off
#


Thats it, there was a cursor blinking after the # at the bottom. I just shut down at that point as I was unsure what else to do.

[rshaffer61]

Try it again as it is common for it to not start on the first or second try.

[MikeS71]

Will do, only tried it the one time. At work now, will do when I get home and repost...

[MikeS71]

Going to be trying this tonight, if it does work and I am able to recover the files then I am going to reinstall Windows. I am wondering if this issue may be the result of a virus... with that in mind, should I just do a fresh install of Windows or should I use the WD utility to "write zeros" to the drive first, then install?

[MikeS71]

Ok, have tried 4 more times with the same result- same message.

Someone suggested installing another copy of Windows onto the drive without deleting the current one, that it would save my files. I could then copy the files to Flash Drive, reformat the drive, and reinstall Windows again... does this sound viable and if so are there instructions on here as to how to go about doing it without overwriting the current Windows install?

[rshaffer61]

You could try what is called a parallel installation which is what you are describing.

Parallel Installation of Windows XP

Boot to the Windows XP installation cd by pressing a key when the "Press any key to boot from cd" prompt appears at the top of the screen.

• At the "Welcome to Setup" screen, press Enter to set up Windows XP.
• Accept the License Agreement by pressing F8
• With your current installation selected in the box, press Esc
• Select C: Partition1 [NTFS] in the box and press Enter
• To continue setup using this partition, press C
• Now you should see formatting options...choose the last one, Leave the current file system intact (no changes), and press Enter
• To use a different folder, press Esc
• Name the folder WINDOWS0 (just type a 0 (zero)) and press Enter

The Windows installation should begin. This will install Windows to a new folder, leaving your data intact. Any programs installed on the old directory will have to be reinstalled to the new one. Device drivers will also have to be installed for all the hardware to work as it should.

The data will be located in the Documents and Settings folder (C:\Documents and Settings) under your old user account name...so when you set up the new installation, give yourself a slightly different user account name.

[MikeS71]

I'm assuming the directions are the same for Windows 7? The person that described it said it creates a folder called "Windows Old" that held all the old docs etc.

If this is the case, the directions are the same, would you recommend then wiping the drive- delete the partitions- and installing 1 fresh version after I have recovered my docs?

[MikeS71]

The more I read about creating and managing partitions the less appealing it seems, it seems to open the door to potential windows issues etc... at this point I think I'm going to go with plan B. I purchased a new HD as well as an external HD enclosure. I plan to remove the drive, install the new one and do a fresh install of Windows. Then use the enclosure for the current drive and access the files that way, I can then use it as an external backup for the future... Does that sound feasible?

[rshaffer61]

The more I read about creating and managing partitions the less appealing it seems, it seems to open the door to potential windows issues etc... at this point I think I'm going to go with plan B. I purchased a new HD as well as an external HD enclosure. I plan to remove the drive, install the new one and do a fresh install of Windows. Then use the enclosure for the current drive and access the files that way, I can then use it as an external backup for the future... Does that sound feasible?

Probably the safest way to do it honestly and then like you said you would have the second drive for backups then.