Re: Repair Install> Lost Documents and Settings

Skythra wrote:

"Reid Solberg" wrote:

A friend's computer was not booting into Windows, so I ran chkdsk from the recovery console, restored NTFS.SYS from the CD. (as it was not found on startup) Windows got to the end of the startup logo, then rebooted. I resorted to attempting a Repair Install from the CD, not realizing that there is a potential for data loss in the Documents and Settings directory. I've done repair installs on my own systems in the past without any problems. Everything went smoothly until the system booted up, I logged in, and discovered that all of the important files I was trying to preserve are gone. Windows recreated all of the users, but everything inside their home directories is the installation default. The start menu has also been reverted to the installation default (obviously as it is in the All Users directory) Has anyone had experience recovering this data in any way? Help!

Thanks,
Reid

Wwll chances are unlikely that you will find that data again. When you create My Documents, it creates them at the start of the HDD table. However, when your HDD gets filled up, things that you add to My Documents get scattered later and later on the HDD. But when you fixed Windows, you probably overwrote the early sections of the HDD, but maybe some of the later added files, are still there.

What you will need to do is google "Data restoration" there are a million programs that say that they can restore data. They want big businesses to buy them. But they sometimes offer trials. When you need to do is get a trial version, and try and look through your HDD and see what you can find. The program itself usually is pretty self explinatory.

Next time: DO NOT CREATE MY DOCUMENTS UNDER THE SAME USERNAME AS WHICH YOU PREVIOUSLY HAD. Instead call it "Name2" In fact usually WindowsXP will rename the OLD my documents to "Name~" . Think of it this way, if you copy a readme.txt to a folder which already has readme.txt... what does it ask you? "Do you want to overwrite readme.txt 132kb with readme.txt 123kb?" Yeah. If you didnt name everything exactly same as what it used to be, you would have been fine buddy =p

But yeah
1) DONT COPY ANYTHING NEW TO THAT HDD WICH HAS MY DOCUMENTS ON IT.
2) Google "Data restoration software"
3) Run the application
4) Look for the individual files that USED to be in my documents.

There is no guarantee that its still there. Because as far as windows thinks, where those files sit on the HDD is free overwritable space. It will just write ontop of the data which might still be the old files. But if you dont give it a reason to write over that data, there is a chance that its not all gone.

Hope that helps

Thanks... With a Repair install, there's no option given to create a new username during installation... In theory, and sometimes in practise, it retains the users and their documents/settings. I pulled the hard drive out of that machine, put it another working system (so that I had somewhere to dump the files and wasn't overwriting everything) and ran Active@ Undelete on it. It's definitely worth the $39.95. I recovered the entire Documents and Settings directory, all the users, and everything in them, except for the Temporary Internet Files and Favourites. I managed to recover address books and e-mail boxes by browsing for wab and dbx files.

The moral of the story is read http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q312369,
delete undo_guimode.txt before repairing, back up all of your data to another system, or just avoid the Repair install all together.

Reid
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Generic Host Process for Win 32 Services nightmare
    ... Windows has closed this program. ... consider running a Repair install of the XP OS at this point in time in view ... imaging program) or, if that's not practical, install the HDD in another ... while it's a relatively rare event that a loss or corruption of data ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: Generic Host Process for Win 32 Services nightmare
    ... undertaking a Repair install of the OS. ... imaging program) or, if that's not practical, install the HDD in another ... while it's a relatively rare event that a loss or corruption of ... My WIndows ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: Computer will boot, but no operating system
    ... to start window in the normal mode, safe mode, safe mode with command ... for installing the XP OS that's currently on your HDD, ... Before undertaking the Repair install of the XP OS, ... Before performing a repair installation of Windows XP, ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: Generic Host Process for Win 32 Services nightmare
    ... Those windows have not shown up on the last 3 times I've ... consider running a Repair install of the XP OS at this point in time in view ... imaging program) or, if that's not practical, install the HDD in another ... while it's a relatively rare event that a loss or corruption of data ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support)
  • Re: Index.dat file is almost 9MB, and it takes a long time to writ
    ... BUT, if the disk drive volume FDS is only 600Mb, ... number of central and related issues that have long existed in Windows OS's, ... on one and only one sticky-note, and then only the particular sticky-note ... "if you have one HDD, you only have one storage volume"). ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
Loading