foremost should work, odt is just a zip file.

Basically, you need a device to recover files to, something other than the device you are recovering from, to prevent files from being overwritten. So, an external drive of some kind would work great, even a USB stick.

I also recommend the sysresccd like rng suggests.
http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page

The command you would run is:

This recovers only zip files, so it should recover odt files as well. You'll have to figure out which ones are odt by yourself.

Make sure to specify your HDD as /dev/sd* or whatever the device name is.

A laptop recovery partition only contains a more or less automated procedure to install an OS. The procedure would be to clear out and write a new Partition Table, format the partition with the required file system and then decompress and install the OS. Only if a "quick format" was used old data will remain and only in places where it was not overwritten, realistic expectations and such.


Splendid. Since 200GB is way less than the required 380 though we need to figure out what part of the disk holds the important data.


In reply #7 you wrote: Should we then assert they were located in your former Ubuntu partition? And since a recovery partition usually is located at the start of the disk this means 0) figuring out the size of that partition (your laptops technical manual might show else post verbose and complete brand and type info), 1) partition size and order (which first: Windows 7 or Ubuntu?) and 2) if Ubuntu did use LVM or disk encryption (do tell).


OK. Both XML and ODT are recognized by Photorec.


These can be obtained by booting your Live CD and running what I told you previously. However for now I would concentrate on getting the data duplicated and recovery after that. Best elect one approach and stick with that or else it might get confusing.

Hello

I'm attaching demsg.txt . Requesting you to verify.

Also, I;m now confused as to what software to use - systemrescuecd / testdisk / photorec (I have downloaded all three and have live CDs)

Attached Files

demsg.txt (121.9 KB, 27 views)

As was in my reply #7, the D: drive contains all the important files. The rest of the drive are not a concern - even the HDD recovery disk doesn't matter. The sad part for me is, on the first run of testdisk, it displayed all the lost partitions, but after the deep search, none were seen.. I'm very much sure I haven't altered anything other run Quick search / Deep search in TestDisk.

After running 'testdisk /debug /log' and selecting my harddisk, I pressed Procees and the whole process got stuckas before. I have terminated it as of now or should I waited ?

Thanks for posting. No wonder disk access seemed slow. There's libata errors, the usual SCSI Request Sense commands I can't decipher and I/O errors to show the drive has problems:

That's nice but it is not a priority. Given your dmesg nfo, and asserting /dev/sdb actually is the hard disk and not the DVD or CDROM, I'd say the drive is dying. So strike connecting the laptop to the workstation over the network for being cumbersome, error-prone and slow. You've got an important decision to make right now and you should choose to act like you've got only one chance left:

I. If you go for the USB stick idea then be aware that 0) foremost was updated in 2010 while Testdisk and Photorec was updated recently. More importantly 1) there's a lot of data that may have or looks like it has Zip file header data and that 2) any file footer data may not be so easily discernible which may or may not result in you running out of disk space.

II. I strongly suggest you hook the drive up to your workstation for several reasons: 0) you have a chance to see if there's connector or BIOS problems (not uncommon) at play, 1) in terms of speed workstations often have (slightly) "better" components compared to laptops, 2) throughput will be maxed and no fear of network congestion or other connectivity problems, 3) since the drive seems to be dying you shouldn't use 'dd' but ddrescue or dd_rescue. ddrescue can skip data ("--input-position=") but you can't do this easily piping data over the network when the application expects an output file (random seek) and not a sshfs or share, besides you'll operate in last chance mode and any error you can avoid will be worth it. Finally 4) once you've got the backup you can install any software on the host to help you recover data.

* I hope you already did but if you didn't I suggest thinking about shutting down the laptop for the time being as the less strained the less worse it'll get.
- Post your laptop specs. That means brand name, exact type and preferably hardware details: the more the better. Manual / (hard disk) spec URI's welcome.
- Find out what size the recovery partition has as we want to skip imaging that.
- Find out the size of the installed OS. If I had to guess I'd say it'll be between 10 and 20G. (BTW if you ever completed booting the recovered Windows OS then you probably also lost part of recoverable data somewhere as swap file the size of the laptops RAM.)
* You'll probably need a very small philips driver to open the laptop case.

** Best boot your workstation a few times without the victim drive attached to get a feel for things and practice. The command you need is listed here but adding "--input-position=nG" where "n" is an integer being the size of data to skip (recovery partition, OS installation, other previously partitioned space). Of course you can try to image as much of the data if you want to and ddrescue will just error out if there's no more disk space.
That would make "--input-position=nG" the size of the recovery partition plus 80G plus 100G.

[QUOTE=unSpawn;4517646]

I prefer not go for the USB Stick Idea as it seems quite a bit deep for a starter like.

I couldn't follow instruction number 3 of above. (due to my lack of knowledge in the area of codes)

The details you asked for -

*Laptop Brand - Toshiba Satellite L650 X5310 | 500GB| 4 GB | 1 GB ATI

*The size of the recovery partition aprrox 100GB,

*The recovery windows OS did not boot, also didn't complete the intallation as I got an file error in between. So I hope no Worries with that.

-- I would also like to make clear certain things -

1. I humbly state that I donot have something like what u can call a workstation - All i have is a desktop and a cisco modem (both of which i thought could be used to setup a network for connecting the laptop - pls correct me if Iam wrong).

2. I have decided to purchase a 500GB hard disk ASAP. So can I bypass the method of connecting to the network at the same time proceed with recovery ? Nevertheless, i shall also buy a connector for connecting the laptop harddisk directly to the desktop via usb or some other means.

3. I have never ddrescue before and I donot know hot to install the same. Pardon me for the ignorance, but am learning all that I can about these.

I think what unSpawn meant by workstation is just a decent desktop. Things will be much easier if you have the hard disk taken out of laptop and have it connected to a desktop (inside it or as an external disk through usb).

Using ddrescue in linux: run a linux livecd (I would use ubuntu); install ddrescue from synaptic package manager; run it from command line; (read about using it from internet first). There is ddrescue for windows also available. You can download and install it in windows and use it. That may be easiest for you. Data recovery is a priority at this stage.

You can use ddrescue to get all data from defective hard drive to any other storage area with enough space (hard disk of desktop or a usb flash drive or an external hard disk).

Give priority to instructions by unSpawn and other experts since my experience is limited.

Yes.


Yes.


No. At this point any unnecessary layers of technology between the host computer hardware and the failing hard disk are worth avoiding.


Windows doesn't exercise hardware like Linux can and has more layers of error handling and convenience between OS and hardware compared to Linux. As a result it doesn't allow for diagnostics or controlled low-level access in the way Linux will. Apart from that "easiest" IMHO simply no longer is a valid criterion here given the posted dmesg errors.

Be aware that we do not share thoughts or converse in English easily and efficiently. So there is a risk something may be misunderstood or may be misinterpreted by either you or me. To avoid such risks you will have to tell me exactly and verbosely what it is you are having problems with. If it was this part:
then we will get to that once you have hooked up your hardware for use.


I found the Satellite L650-X5310 product page (product code PSK2GG-00G001), a Satellite L650 User manual (L650_EN.pdf) and a Satellite L650 Service and Maintenance manual (satellite%20l650.pdf). Hard disk specifications exclude brand names or types and only state "2.5 inch Serial ATA disk", so unless it has got a slimline connector (unlikely) it will use the same data and power connectors as a desktop SATA hard disk. The problem is you can only verify this by opening the laptop.


So that would make the starting point "--input-position=280G" for ddrescue.

* Also please reread post #20 for unanswered questions: I need to know if the partition we recover from used LVM or disk encryption.


I found the recovery method involving a Toshiba laptop hard disk detailed here: How to recover a Toshiba notebook with the HDD recovery procedure. What error or errors did show up during the recovery? I know it is a long time ago but please try to think what it was about.


That is always a good choice.


Good. What OS does the desktop run currently, what partition or drive letter holds the 200GB free space to use and what is it's mount point name?


We will deal with that after you have your hardware ready for use.


Please wait with that until you have opened the laptop to confirm what connectors the hard disk uses.

Before we continue I need to warn you one more time. Be aware that opening your laptop may invalidate your warranty. It is your choice to proceed here now or talk to Toshiba support first. Also be aware that following backup and recovery instructions posted here is absolutely no guarantee for complete or partial recovery of any documents. Any choice you make is your responsibility alone.

OK, that said, here's what you need: small screw drivers, preferably an anti-static wrist strap and mat and the manual. (I've often dispensed with anti-static protection without apparent problems but it should be your own choice to do so or not.) Disconnect the laptop power cord. Extract the battery. Press the power button a few times. Now open the Satellite L650 Service and Maintenance manual (satellite%20l650.pdf) and turn to chapter 4.5 "Removing the HDD" on page 155 and follow the instructions for removing the hard disk. Note the hard disk chassis might require some amount of force to extract because the compartment is cramped and parts always are tightly fitted in laptops and not mounted for easy removal. Be careful with disconnecting the right hand side as that is where the connectors are. I suggest putting a fingernail under the left hand metal part (where the cover screw runs through) and wiggle it up and down a few times but slowly and no more than a centimeter or so. If you feel it is getting easier try wiggling it up and down and up until the bottom of the chassis clears the compartment and then slightly pulling it to the left hand side. This should allow the connector to slide out. Place it on your anti-static mat, examine the connectors (check with a spare SATA cable?).
At this point DO NOT yet connect your hard disk to your desktop computer.

Ok.


By Recvoery Partition size=100GB, I meant the size of the drive in which my important datas are present.If you mean the size of Windows Recovery Partition drive, it was approx 15Gb.


The partition i wanted to recover used NTFS partiton.There wasn't any encryption. I:m not sure about the LVM.



The error while booting from Recovery Disc -

File Missing : PREINS17.SWM

Error - 10-FC06-0007

I then tried recovering the system using the Hard Disk which generated the following error -

Error - F3:F300-0002





The desktop is running on Windows 7. But for the recovery case, shall I boot from a Live CD and instead of using the 200GB free space (scattered in different partitions), shall I use the external drive which Iam going to purchase ?




The laptop warranty is getting over this December 26th. I understand that its a choice for me - My data or a free replacement HardDisk.I believe I'll go for the data.
[/QUOTE]


I'm now going to town for purchasing the following items -

1.500GB External Hard disk
2.Small set screw Drivers
3.SATA Cable
4.Should I Purcahse any 2.5" to 3.5" SATA/IDE Converter ?Connector ? (If yes then could pls give me the spec of the item?)
5.Anything else to be added on my list ?



I'm gettn back to my college tmrw morning. At the college ther s not net conectivity always available as at home. So if i have all the hardware spec ready, can we complete the process today midnight ?

OK. So that makes the starting point "--input-position=95G" for ddrescue.


If it's formatted as NTFS then it isn't using LVM (and probably not NTFS dynamic disk either but we'll see).


Cryptic errors but I'll try searching to those.


The desktop will run a Live CD in RAM during recovery. If the 200GB is scattered over different partitions it's of no use. I'd rather had a fixed hard disk but if you use an external drive we will have to contend with that.


Only if the desktop has no free SATA cables. Open it and check?


Only if you do not want to open the laptop first. I explained the procedure and order. If you do not want to follow it that is your choice.


The anti-static stuff I mentioned, if you judge it would help minimize risks.

I'll be back in about 14 hours from now.

i Wouldn't want you to waste your time on the above as the above error is concerned with Windows Recovery and which is of no/least concern to me now.


i shall copy the contents of the desktop to the external hard disk and use the desktop harddisk for the recovery process.Hope its alright now.



It has spare SATA ports but no cables. Out of Four ports - 1 used by CD Drive and other by the harddisk.


I only understood the order now - I got confused earlier. I would whole-heartedly follow your options rather than anything else.


I shall add it.

I meant to say that can we start the process right after my hardware spec are ready and then can we finish it up by midnight ? So Sorry that My msg misinterpreted.

Which linux distro are you planning to use?