Emergency Kit - save your files from a dead OS

whs

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Hi there
It should be a standard rule of thump that user data files should ALWAYS be on a separate HDD or at least a separate partition --then if you have to re-install the OS you haven't lost your data. (Any external tool can recover files from a Windows partition -- even a bog standard "Live Linux CD / USB" which is a very small download).

A good one (although you need to use "The Usual places" to find it) is Hirens boot CD.

Another interesting choice is download the Evaluation version of Windows 8 and create a Windows to Go system --this gives you a LEGAL running full windows system on an external device -- then you can use THAT windows system to recover your data. The Enterprise evaluation system I think is valid for 90 days and it is FREE.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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Jimbo, I agree. Everybody should have a seperate data partition and I really wonder why the installer does not set it up that way from the outset. But fact is that 80% of the users do NOT have a seperate data partition and screem for help when their system goes on the blink.

And I realize that there are many options to recover the data. Most are very Linux though and not obvious for a Windows user. The one I describe is particularily easy to setup and use and can also be used a a full fledged OS to easily run any PC. That's why I went thru the trouble making the tutorial.

I would not recommend Hirens because it is not really legit. They give you a (reduced) Windows OS without a license. And it is also very old and does not have all the modern functions (e.g. in Command Prompt).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Windows To Go sounds good but you'd need to install Windows 8 enterprise on a PC to create it. It also hides the internal hard drive on the PC you boot it from automatically. You then have to unhide the drive to get access to it and the files on it. Easy enough for you or me but not all that easy for the none tech savvy average Joe. MSDart is another way to do it if you can get your hands on it. Now that I have a TechNet subscription I have Windows To Go and MSDart bootable media. I haven't had to use them for data recovery yet so I can't say how good or bad they are. My Data is always on a separate partition or drive. Manly to make reinstalls easy. I have it all backed up to external media anyway.


That looks like a good tutorial there WHS. :thumb:
 

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Great tutorial!

I always tell customers "If it's backed up in two places it's not backed up" I have my stuff on my HD, My external, a spare internal and for pics and docs I use Dropbox.

What I mean is if it's on your HD and an external, might consider making a DVD backup or using a cloud service for really important stuff. I have had on a couple occations (not many) where I had to Nuke and Pave the install and the customers exteranal took a dive as well do to a power surge. It really does suck to tell them they lost it all. I will say this though, they lose it once and I can count on them having a backup the next time.

Geeve
 

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    Dual Boot: Back to W7 and Ubuntu 12.04
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    Dell Dimension E521
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    AMD AthlonTM 64 X2 dual-core
    Memory
    4 GB
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    M-Audio Mobile Pre USB External
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    Acer aspire One D255, Windows 8.1.1 Pro, 2GB Ram, Intel Atom N450 1.6Ghz
Thanks for the excellent tutorial, Wolfgang. I wish Microsoft had done more to make it unnecessary, though!

For me, the least likeable "features" of Windows 8 are the limited repair options available if your system becomes unusable. Reset and Refresh both return your system to a less than complete state if they need to be used in anger. System Restore seems to be reported as being less reliable than in previous Windows versions.

The effort taken in getting a Windows installation to a state which is comfortable and personalized is far more than just having a back-up for user files and settings.

With the Windows 8 Immersive Boot Menu system, the Windows Recovery Environment, the Windows Side-by-side libraries all installed, and the Hibernation, Page and Swapfile system files present in Windows 8, altogether taking up about 3 times the number of Gigabytes of disk space than it takes to store the basic Windows OS, it is a huge pity that the last working instance of the OS cannot be recreated automatically, at boot time, in the event of a system software failure.

We used to do it by pressing the spacebar during bootup, I recall.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP COMPAQ Presario CQ57
    CPU
    AMD E- 300 APU with Radion HD Graphics 1.30GHz
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    inbuilt
    Memory
    4GB
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    ATI
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    1366x768
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    Seagate ST9500325AS
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    touchpad
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    BT Infinity Unlimited - 80 up 20 down =70/16 really
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    Chrome Canary usually
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    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    no Start menu modifications
    Upgraded with no issues to 8.0 and to 8.1
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