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Wrong UBCD?

Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 9:50 am
by Know Nadda
Hello,
I just joined and am now thinking I ordered the wrong CD from ebay. I have Windows XP and I saw the info on your main page saying I should go to UBCD4Win.com Will there be anything on the UBCD that just arrived that will work with WinXP? Thanks very much! Cheryl :oops:

Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 10:30 am
by Icecube
UBCD is a CD with tools that run outside Windows. It depends on the tools that you need, to know if UBCD can help you (checking memory, checking hard drives for problems, ...).

BTW, UBCD is free.

Wrong UBCD? Details of problems

Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:04 pm
by Know Nadda
Thank you for fast reply! Here is the story and, it's a long one which involves 2 PC's I'll do one at a time.
I had HP XP Media Center PC which stopped working on me so I took it to Aware Bear here in Rochester. They called and said the mother board was shot but my HD was fine and did I want them to make back up CD's. I didn't really have the $$ at the time so said I would be in to pick everything up. I knew I could get a USB portable HD for my data at a lesser cost than they quoted for the back up CD's. When I opened the PC case the HD fell out onto the table. They never bothered to hook anything up, just shoved it inside and closed it up. So I decide to hook it up as a slave in another PC and freaked out when I saw it said "no OS" I called the shop and took it back to them. The guy tells me the HD is recognized but no data is showing up and there is a 50/50 chance the data can be recovered and to try is about a hundred bucks. After I remind him they said my HD and data was fine when they had it there before now he tells me I probably caused the HD problem myself because I transported it to there wrapped in paper towell and a bag. I said, are you kidding, gee maybe it happened when it fell out after YOU stuffed it back in with out so much as a single screw or cable attached. I just walked out at that point.
The bottom line is that HD has family photos and voice emails from my husband who passed away in 2005 that can't be replaced at any cost and I desparately want to do all I can to recover whatever is possible. I am on a small fixed income and simply can't afford to hire a professional so it is up to me. I realize I may do more harm than good but it is my only chance. I am so greatful I found a group with amazing minds willing to share and help anyone who asks, plus provides software and all for FREE.

So on to PC #2 and that problem.
I'm old and get attached to things I'm used to and I like. After learning my mother board was no good but before knowing my HD had been trashed I had what should have been a great plan.
I would get another PC just like it and have a 2nd HD on slave to use as my back up and all would be well. I went on craigslist and found a PC pretty much the same and a bit newer, the only thing was the owner had upgraded to XP Pro which was working just fine. Since he provided me with the restore to XP Media Center CD's I bought it anyway and it should have been simple. NOT simple! I ran the first 7 and all was well, after it indicated the restore portion was completed and go to CD 8 it started with a bunch of can not install such and such (many were cat files) and after I hit OK it went on and on. Eventually it acted as if it was finishing but it never did. I figured the CD's were defective I called HP thinking I could get a set of restore CD's that would work but they are no longer available.

So that's where that HD is now, no Media Center or XP Pro so no PC.

I know that UBCD is free but this older PC I'm using has no burner so to me under $5.00 inc. shipping was a fine deal. Again thank you so much for being here on the net and whatever suggustions and help you can give is greatly appreciated. Sorry tis is so long!

:D

Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 5:25 am
by Icecube
Do you have a USB hard drive?

To recover the "No OS" hard drive, you can try testdisk to repair the partition table.
Photorec can also find the individual pictures, but won't be able to give them the original filename (but gives some random characters).

How much RAM do both PCs have?

Wrong UBCD? Details of problems

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2009 7:30 pm
by Know Nadda
Do you have a USB hard drive?

No, I never got one once I found out there was no data on the HD

To recover the "No OS" hard drive, you can try testdisk to repair the partition table.
Photorec can also find the individual pictures, but won't be able to give them the original filename (but gives some random characters).


I am happy to recover the photos using any name.

How much RAM do both PCs have?

The info on the 1st is "RAM (standard) 512 MB / 2100 DDR (1 x 512) "

The 2nd is "Comes with two 256MB (512MB total) PC2700 or better dual-inline Memory Modules."

Hope this helps

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 4:42 am
by Icecube
For testdisk see the documentation on: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

For Photorec, you need another hard drive (USB or regular), that can hold all files that you want to recover.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec_Step_By_Step

Because your Windows recovery CDs are corrupt, you can't reinstall Windows. You can get a copy of Ubuntu (another operating system) for free.
https://shipit.ubuntu.com/
You can probably find it also on ebay for a low price (so you don't have to wait a few weeks). Or ask someone you know, to burn the iso.

Wrong UBCD? Details of problems

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 12:33 pm
by Know Nadda
For testdisk see the documentation on: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

Upon visiting the testdisk site it appears to be a miracle worker! For the HD from the PC that supposedly has a bad motherboard which was corrupted or wiped by the shop it actually sounds like I could maybe recover the OS on it. Is that the case or am I misunderstanding it? If that is the case and I manage to do that would everything else just go back to the way it was or will I still need to recover files individually? Thanks again for your help!

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 2:31 pm
by Icecube
If the partition table (hold information about where partitions start and end on your hard disk) is corrupt. Testdisk can restore a broken partition table, and you normally can see your files again. But maybe other part of your hard disk are damaged too, so maybe individual recovery of files may be needed.

Wrong UBCD? Details of problems

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:46 pm
by Know Nadda
I hate to keep bothering you so I was wondering if there is a place online that will show me what I will see as soon as I insert the UBCD?

In reading the testdisk page it says about naming the the disk..

"Windows versions of TestDisk use /dev/sdX as the disk name (where 'X' would be a, b, c... etc. for your first, second, etc. drive location) rather than 'hdX' (the usual IDE designation). '"

So is my first thing I will see the naming of the disk? Thanks again.

Wrong UBCD? Details of problems

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:53 pm
by Know Nadda
I'm sorry! :oops: Please ignore the last post. As I kept reading the testdisk page the answer is of course as you already know right there!

Wrong UBCD? Details of problems PC #3 -Wrecked Another One!

Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:22 am
by Know Nadda
It seems I have a knack for PC troubles. My daughter brought me a PC to use that could burn a CD. I decided to pop in disk #8 of the restore CD's as that was where the problems were with PC #2. I just wanted to explore the disk to see if the files were actually there but the PC didn't read them or the restore #8 was defective. I was able to look at it but time was limited right then so figured to go back later and run search etc looking for the files.
OK, so when I go back again windows screen where you choose "start normally" "last known good configuration" and safe modes. I used last known good. The WinXP loading page comes up, the one where the little blue dashes move across bottom of screen. Then it goes to the color circle, center screen which should be clickable but isn't. After a few seconds the PC stops trying to read anything except for a couple blips of the light.
I'm afraid the problem was created when I put that system type disk in and it is made for that Media Center XP OS and not the 2008 XP. Should I use one of the software programs to try to get this latest PC back running? If so, which one do you suggest?
For the other 2 PC's so far I have looked at the UBCD and was looking for the testdisk program and could not find it on the CD. I went into a couple of the programs just to get an idea what it was like and am thinking this may be over my head. I know nothing about DOS, my first PC was a Win95. Do you know where I should look to find the testdisk on the CD?
Thanks again!

Wrong UBCD? Details of problems PC #3 -Wrecked Another One!

Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:08 am
by Know Nadda
I keep forgetting to ask you this question. Back when Windows XP came out I recall hearing folks going on and on many times that Microsoft had somehow matched up the hard drive to the PC it was shipped in and that it could not be used in any other PC except the one it came with. Do you know if this is really this true? Thanks