[RESOLVED] BOOTMGR is missing - Page 2
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Thread: [RESOLVED] BOOTMGR is missing

  1. #16
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    Feb 2002
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    I just thought I'd update my progress recovering files. I removed the hard drive from the TouchSmart 300 and plugged it into a computer running Ubuntu Linux, v 11.04. Then, I ran PhotoRec (which comes with TestDisk) on the drive (specifically photorec_static, which is the Linux equivalent of photorec_win.exe). Again, PhotoRec froze less than 10% into the process. I disabled a whole lot of file formats to look for, and that sped up the operation considerably, but it froze again. I finally disabled .txt files, and the program stopped freezing. Unfortunately, I then filled up the hard drive on my Linux machine and had to learn how to start that machine in recovery mode and delete files, but that's another story. Finally, I ran PhotoRec with only .jpg files enabled and successfully recovered thousands of files. I've saved them off onto another computer that has a large hard drive, and now I'm recovering .doc, .mp3 and a few other kinds of files. So I guess I'm making progress. Once I'm tired of recovering files, I'll see what I can do about getting Windows back.
    I'm not sure how much of this to bill my customer for, but it has turned into an entertaining puzzle!

  2. #17
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    Tell your customer that "Backup" programs exist because ALL mechanical hard drives will fail.

    Moving parts rubbing against each other cause wear. Too much wear and it's titsup, (total inability to support usual performance).

  3. #18
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    The problem is that we're all human, and I've never met anyone (including myself) who backs up everything they should. Most of the people I know who think they're backing up their systems aren't backing up something they need to recover the data! Furthermore, even if you do back up important data, you'll find your backup is too obsolete to use on modern equipment. If you backed up your MS Works 95 files onto tape and saved your Windows 95 computer, but you threw out your FX-80 years ago, is it worth the trouble to retrieve your data?
    I shouldn't have gotten so involved here, but it is really hard to properly back up a system, and I notice that my new Compaq laptop comes with absolutely no advice on even producing recovery disks. So why should a computer-illiterate person know what to do?

  4. #19
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    Well meet me (and thousands of others) who backs up everything they should. It's called an Image backup which backs up the entire hard drive 100%.
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  5. #20
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    Regular backups here as well. The secret is to make it easy to do. For example, on the system I'm on right now, I can simply click a single icon and the backup does its job. Anything new or altered is backed up. No muss, no fuss, simply click-it and forget-it.

  6. #21
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    Yes, the secret is to make it easy to do. The problem is that nobody knows the secret! Over the years, I've had so many bad experiences trying to retrieve data from so-called backups that I just don't believe it's possible for anyone to do it right, especially as companies take software piracy more and more seriously. Maybe things have gotten better, so I'll check out your links and either way, I thank both of you for your suggestions on that. My only good experience with recovering data was with the guy who was using RAID, and we just had to remove the bad drive.
    btw, about that image backup. Is it practical to back up a 320 GB drive image, or do you need 20 DVDs?

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by richhufford View Post

    Is it practical to back up a 320 GB drive image, or do you need 20 DVDs?
    If you use DVD-R DL, and the hard drive is full, and you don't compress anything, you would need 38 discs. (320 / 8.544 = 37.45)

    It would be much, much easier to backup to another 320GB hard drive. Cost would be roughly $50 and, if you turn it off when it's not in use, it should last a minimum of five years.
    Last edited by SpywareDr; June 6th, 2011 at 01:17 PM.

  8. #23
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    Windows 7 has an excellent built-in backup program. Once it is set up, you can forget about it, and it will back up your files as often as it is scheduled

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...up-and-restore
    Nick.

  9. #24
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    I think that telling me to get a 320 GB drive and backup my computer is a great idea. But I'm not sure it's helpful to tell a casual user to do that. In my opinion, it takes a level of discipline and understanding that normal people don't have!

  10. #25
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    Nobody that I know of is born with this knowledge. If you have an interest it requires some research and reading to learn what you want to know. It requires some effort on your part. Here's some videos and articles that may help get you started.

    http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=...1b69f6bd0a7737
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  11. #26
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    It is always good to tell a casual user to back up all their data. Of course, they will completely ignore what you say until the first time they lose something important. After that they become backup fanatics too, and start telling everyone else to do regular backups

    I doubt there are many of us who didn't learn that lesson the hard way, I know I did
    Nick.

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by SuperSparks View Post
    It is always good to tell a casual user to back up all their data. Of course, they will completely ignore what you say until the first time they lose something important. After that they become backup fanatics too, and start telling everyone else to do regular backups

    I doubt there are many of us who didn't learn that lesson the hard way, I know I did

    Been down that road myself. And a client took 3 different hdds in 3 years to learn the lesson.

  13. #28
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    Yes, I guess it never hurts to remind them. But then they always follow up by asking how. And I never have a good answer, since I've never been able to figure out how to effectively backup my own system. I think it's important that the user knows what they're backing up. For example, if you back up your data, you may very well have to buy all new software. And if you back up your whole system and your motherboard burns up, you may have to buy a new operating system and possibly other software anyway. For long term backups, I've become disenchanted, because the technology changes and you can't find software to read the old data, or if you kept your old software, you can't find hardware to print it out. I've got business records somewhere on 5.25 floppies in some format readable by an old DOS program I've lost--If I ever have to refer to them, I'm in trouble! For short term backups, the casual user probably backs up the version with the virus before he or she discovers something's wrong. I can complain forever--I guess I'll go back to dealing with this computer! And I will look into improving my own backup strategies, and I'll probably say something to the customer about it, but I don't think blaming the customer for being human really accomplishes much.

  14. #29
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    An effective backup program involves multiple options. And, yes, technology changes and backup programs, like any other software, become obsolete. That is why the main thing to remember is that you have to keep things up-to-date. Computers are one of the most complex devices most people own, so if you are storing anything important on them, then you have to invest the time and $ needed to safeguard those things.

    Things backups protect against:

    Malware, hardware failure, or operator error damaging or deleting files.
    Note that a data loss or corruption might not be noticed until the files have been copied to the most recent backup, which is archive backups are important.

    Fire, theft, or other loss of hardware.



    To keep things simple, I prefer to use software that backs up and entire disk or partition image for periodic complete backups. These are always complete images, never incremental backups. Also, to protect against fire or theft, copies must be stored off-site. With today's inexpensive high capacity hard drives, at least 2 backup drives should be used for this so one can go to a different location after the backup is made.

    For general day-to-day backup of files, there are several free or low cost backup programs that can be used to synchronize files on two drives, or make date and time specific copies of those files.

  15. #30
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