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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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| wylde wrote: |
| i haven't had any reason to suggest this is valuable info... |
That's fine by me; believe me or not, I don't care- it's not MY data that has gone missing. For somebody who was so concerned about hard drives and hard drive space a few months ago, I'm surprised you didn't look into this.
Now would be a good time for you to do some research and prove me wrong (or discover that everyone who is telling you to switch to NTFS is right and act on that information- either way, it's a win-win situation for you.)
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| if so.. that would be the first reason i would say i have had any issues with fat 32 |
Confession time- you don't know what the differences are between NTFS and FAT, do you? All you have to do is ask. |
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snufalufagus
Joined: 10 May 2004
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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Wylde, I sent you a message via e-mail with some info on recovering your data.
A drive that has been formatted such as with format commands, windows built in format drive option, boot disk, etc or that has had it's partitions removed via the fdisk command or other utilities is NOT completely lost and anyone (including some here) that tell you it's lost and move on are wrong.
When a drive is formatted or fdisk'ed (deleted partitions) the data itself that is contained on the drive is NOT deleted. It is still there and can nearly always be recovered. When you do these functions to a drive the partition tables, the file tables, and related information is what is deleted. These tables tell the computer where the partitions and the actual stored data is located on the structure of the disk.
When those tables are deleted your computer sees the drive as "clean" and then you create new ones and then when you start adding new data it overwrites the actual data. However, when it deletes those tables to make it seem cleaned, it also backs them up.
There are tools that allow you "unformat" a drive. There are tools that you can use that will actually boot to a "DOS" disk and then allow you to find the backup tables and search the drive for valid appearing information and reconstruct the partitions and if all goes well when you next reboot the drive will seem to have been magically fixed.
Active@ Partition Recovery is a tool that works nearly always. The key is, you can't have formatted, formatted again, added new data, or done multiple attempts to fix it on your own. The backup tables become hinky when you do that. The tool is widely available on the net or "free" via the sharing programs (and in fact I sent the program to you Wylde).
Not always, but very often if you've formatted or fdisk'ed you can recover the partitions or drive in-whole. Also, even if you can't, the data is still there and there are other widely available tools that will then scan the drive (from within Windows) and find all the data on the drive, since it's not been deleted, and then will allow you to recover individual files. It's a long boring process -- so if you've formatted, use a partition recovery tool and try to restore the tables and thus the restoration of your drive and access to the data.
If anyone wants more information let me know and I'll let you know what you need |
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wylde
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Bulsajo wrote: |
| wylde wrote: |
| i haven't had any reason to suggest this is valuable info... |
That's fine by me; believe me or not, I don't care- it's not MY data that has gone missing. For somebody who was so concerned about hard drives and hard drive space a few months ago, I'm surprised you didn't look into this. |
i wasn't really that concerned... i just asked the best way of getting more hdds in my box.. if this information was so obvious, i'm surprised that nobody mentioned it..
| Bulsajo wrote: |
| Now would be a good time for you to do some research and prove me wrong (or discover that everyone who is telling you to switch to NTFS is right and act on that information- either way, it's a win-win situation for you.) |
i have no desired to prove you wrong... i never said fat32 was better... nobody told me to change either until yesterday..
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| if so.. that would be the first reason i would say i have had any issues with fat 32 |
i've never had any problems with fat32.. i didn't know that i was limited to a 4gb file... maybe i should consider changing it...
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| Confession time- you don't know what the differences are between NTFS and FAT, do you? All you have to do is ask. |
i don't really know... there has never been anything in the past that has given me a problem in fat32.. if it not broke, don't fix it... kinda
| snufalufagus wrote: |
Wylde, I sent you a message via e-mail with some info on recovering your data.
A drive that has been formatted such as with format commands, windows built in format drive option, boot disk, etc or that has had it's partitions removed via the fdisk command or other utilities is NOT completely lost and anyone (including some here) that tell you it's lost and move on are wrong. |
i remember somebody saying something like that a few months ago but i had no idea of how to go about it...
thanks a bunch snufalufagus.. i appreciate your efforts.. u2 uber & lunachick |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 2:47 am Post subject: |
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Wylde,
I'm more mellow today and realize that I was giving you attitude when you had a frustrating computer problem to deal with- my apologies.
Hope you got your data back (if you haven't yet keep trying because it IS still there) and really do consider switching to NTFS.
http://www.ntfs.com/ntfs_vs_fat.htm
NTFS vs. Fat32 |
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Dalton
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 2:53 am Post subject: |
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Follow this link
Programz
Scroll down for EasyRecovery Pro 6.03
It's the 10th offering on the left side.
Download it. Open the fosi.nfo file with notepad (or Wordpad) and read it.
Install the program and recover your data.
Use NTFS. The other fs is obselete years ago. Microsoft was the last one to upgrade their os to file system for the 21st Century. That was the news when MS started offering it.
I did the same thing last year and dele'd the wrong hdd. It took half a saturday but I figured out how to use this software and recovered all my data. I had formatted the drive.
The fosi site has been one of the most respected and trouble free for many years.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is also the best source for Window Washer, PowerDVD and SiSoft Sandra. SSSandra is an excellent pc diagnostic tool for people who really know computers.
Another good site for software is
Lunatic.org
Lots of dl's with pretty good descriptions of what it's for, especially for people who run servers and want some ideas of what's available. You have to check it regularly.
It may have offerings for recovering lost data too.
Programz changes offerings a couple of times a year maybe. |
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wylde
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 4:05 am Post subject: |
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| Dalton wrote: |
Follow this link
Programz
Scroll down for EasyRecovery Pro 6.03
It's the 10th offering on the left side.
It is also the best source for Window Washer, PowerDVD and SiSoft Sandra. SSSandra is an excellent pc diagnostic tool for people who really know computers.
Another good site for software is
Lunatic.org |
thanks dalton... i'll give snufalufagus' prog a hit first i have been kinda reading up on it...
the download link on the programz page doesn't open either... it is a cool site btw.. thanks again
| Bulsajo wrote: |
Wylde,
I'm more mellow today and realize that I was giving you attitude when you had a frustrating computer problem to deal with- my apologies. |
no hassles mate... i'll agrue with the best of them but i don't hold grudges...
i have 19gb back and if i have trouble getting more.. it will leave me enough space to copy the other 3 drives over while i change the fs......
its gunna be a bit of a hassle to change at the moment... i might just get another hdd sooner just using that as the excuse... 
that is assuming that the data is destroyed when changing the fs.. i am under the impression that it is.. |
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The Lemon
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 4:08 am Post subject: |
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| have 19gb back and if i have trouble getting more.. it will leave me enough space to copy the other 3 drives over while i change the fs...... |
Hey - that's good news... |
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Dalton
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 5:10 am Post subject: |
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LOL if I had read Snufalufagus' post I would have reworded my mine.
Programz is just busy. I checked the link before posting but I didn't check the dl link. Usually I do that. e-Lunatic is on a short vacation.
NP I am happy to help out when I can.
On that note.
If anyone else likes to rip and burn DVD's then here's a link to a site with a forum, how to's, relevant software ratings and links:
VideoHelp.com
In a couple of months Sony is releasing a DVD burner that burns dual layer DVD's so it will be possible to copy DVD's completely to one disc just like CD's.
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the saint
Joined: 09 Dec 2003
Location: not there yet...
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 5:28 am Post subject: |
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| wylde wrote: |
| if ya knew what you were on about and have read previous posts... you would not be on the lame bandwagon.. sorry to let you down but you have no idea.. |
Ah, I already am down O exalted one so it may shock you to know that your apology has been tendered in vain. I have read the posts and so I know that you take filesharing seriously and have preferences in this department that are not to be questioned. I guess though that you had your sense of humour stored on the hard drive you lost...
| wylde wrote: |
| you have no idea... |
It's good to know we are in the same boat here then... |
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wylde
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 5:42 am Post subject: |
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| the saint wrote: |
| wylde wrote: |
| if ya knew what you were on about and have read previous posts... you would not be on the lame bandwagon.. sorry to let you down but you have no idea.. |
Ah, I already am down O exalted one so it may shock you to know that your apology has been tendered in vain. I have read the posts and so I know that you take filesharing seriously and have preferences in this department that are not to be questioned. I guess though that you had your sense of humour stored on the hard drive you lost...
| wylde wrote: |
| you have no idea... |
It's good to know we are in the same boat here then... |
i kinda need to do a Bulsajo here and say sorry for being rude... it wasn't a good time for me and somebody talking about the best filesharing progs flicked my switch...
and.. truth be told, i didn't see the [/joke] at the bottom of your page..
i should have fessed up earlier.. but anyways... sorry for being a pig |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 6:07 am Post subject: |
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| wylde wrote: |
| that is assuming that the data is destroyed when changing the fs.. i am under the impression that it is.. |
No it shouldn't as far as I'm aware (although it 'might' possible create some problems for really old programs designed to run under FAT/FAT16... highly unlikely that you have any of these). I had no problems at all, but when I converted my HD was less than 50% (not sure if that made a difference or not, I'd have to read up on some old stuff to know for sure).
Buy (or download) PowerQuest's Partition Magic- it'll help you convert FAT to NTFS (among many many other things- indispensable program if you have lots of drives/drive space/partitions, and it certainly sounds like you do). I believe you can also convert through a Windows wizard or an mmc snap-in, but I felt better ('safer'?) using Partition Magic. |
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wylde
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 6:15 am Post subject: |
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cool... i will take it further then.... i though that changing the file system destroys the content of the drive... it has been a while since i played with these things seriously..
i'll do my homework and let ya know how i go...
i only know what i think i know... i just need someone to question it or suggest another option to get me looking into it..
hope ur right.. thanks
| The Lemon wrote: |
| Quote: |
| have 19gb back and if i have trouble getting more.. it will leave me enough space to copy the other 3 drives over while i change the fs...... |
Hey - that's good news... |
yea.. its great..
i wanna play around for a bit.. i'll get back into it a bit later |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 6:20 am Post subject: |
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| wylde wrote: |
i'll do my homework and let ya know how i go |
Power Quest has really good tutorials- one of the reasons I suggested it. |
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snufalufagus
Joined: 10 May 2004
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 6:56 am Post subject: |
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I know this likely goes without saying, but you cannot convert to NTFS unless the file tables and boot tables are intact. Someone else messaged me asking such a question. The scenario of lost tables (ie, formatted drive with data still existant) will not allow conversion to 'aid recovery' of data.
Otherwise, yes, NTFS is the more ideal file system, allows for file larger than 2 GB in size and you can convert to NTFS from FAT formats and then merge/combine them into a single or multiple larger partitions.
For what it's worth ... |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 11, 2004 7:50 am Post subject: |
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| snufalufagus wrote: |
| I know this likely goes without saying, but you cannot convert to NTFS unless the file tables and boot tables are intact. Someone else messaged me asking such a question. The scenario of lost tables (ie, formatted drive with data still existant) will not allow conversion to 'aid recovery' of data. |
Right; I didn't mean to imply that converting to NTFS would be a solution to Wylde's current problem, sorry if anyone thought I was advocating that- it was just 'good advice' related to hard drives in general. |
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