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Laptop Lament

Shades

Shades of .....
Feb 8, 2002
2,999
2
38
My Toshiba laptop appears to have bitten the dust. Right now it is at Staples awaiting the pronouncement from their warranty specialist on whether the replacement insurance I bought when I got the computer is worth anything!

I have a software specialist that will take the hard drive and mine the data for me...I have a lot of business stuff on that machine. When one recovers data from a hard drive...what is happening. Is there a way they can take everything and just copy it on disc or external drive? In other words do you do a full drive dump or do you have to specify files...such as address files, specific file folders, photo albums etc.?

I have a few sites like terb. bookmarked...will these come up for my software guy to see where I have been or visit on a regular basis?

What about installed programs like Limewire....will this be pulled off the drive or will I have to go through the whole procedure of downloading this stuff again?

Any insight to what I might be in for would be a help.
Thanks,
S
 

albertp

Member
Aug 20, 2002
338
0
0
Your tech could just mount the drive and clone it to another drive using software.

There's nothing to stop him from browsing around in your hard drive and looking at your files, bookmarks, or temp folders containing sites you've visited. You should have made him sign a confidentiality agreement.

I did some data recovery for a client and found about 3 Gigs of downloaded gay porn in a hidden folder ! He told me that it must have been his roommate's stuff !
 

MarkII

New member
Sep 22, 2004
1,904
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In most cases, the people that do recovery do not even look at your files.
They are simply monitoring the recovery process, not WHAT is being recovered.

I've had a system go south a few times...HD into the freezer for a few hours and then quickly transfer the data...they never even looked at any files..just compared file numbers. But then again I didn't have any porn on the drive!
M2
 

Shades

Shades of .....
Feb 8, 2002
2,999
2
38
Thanks for the info...I really don't have anything "incriminating" saved, just sites like terb bookmarked. Occassionally have downloaded images that people put up...but never save them. However, I know these are probably still lurking on the hard drive.
Guess I really have no choice at this point!
 

albertp

Member
Aug 20, 2002
338
0
0
I do my own data recovery, so I don't have any experience with other companies. But I highly recommend EnCase as the best software to use.
 

canucklehead

Active member
Oct 16, 2003
2,422
12
38
The Unix program dd is a disk copying util that you can use at the command line in order to make a disk image. It makes a bit-by-bit copy of the drive it's copying, caring nothing about filesystem type, files, or anything else. It's a great way to workaround the need for Norton Ghost.

Normally, in order to make a disk image, the disk you're copying from has to be able to spin up and talk -- in other words, it's OK to make a copy if the disk is healthy. But what happens when your disk is becoming a doorstop? As long as it continues to spin, even with physical damage on the drive, dd and Mac OS X will get you out of the fire.

We had a situation recently where a friend sent a disk to us that had hard physical errors on it. It would boot in Windows, but then it would hit one of these scratch marks and just die. We fired up dd, and it started OK, but stopped at the same physical error location -- complaining about a Hard Error.

So the workaround was to designate the dd mode as noerror -- which just slides over the hard stops, and to add the mode sync, which fills the image with nulls at that point. We did it on BSD Unix, but as long as you can get the hard drive attached to your Mac, the command is the same:
dd bs=512 if=/dev/rXX# of=/some_dir/foo.dmg conv=noerror,sync
The bs=512 designates block size, and the if=/dev/rXX# is the UNIX path to the actual disk device. Make sure that the chosen directory (some_dir) has enough room to take the entire disk image -- which will be equal to the size of the drive. Since dd doesn't care about the contents of the drive, it copies every bit on the thing, so you get an image equal to the disk's capacity. A really big file. One workaround is to put it on a RAID array.

Once you've established the disk image (in this example, foo.dmg), you're almost home. Here's where your Mac OS X box is far and away the best thing to have. In this example, the dd output file is foo.dmg. You have to realize that this is an exact copy of a busted drive, but the "holes" are filled with nulls. As long as the damage isn't to the boot sector, though, when you double-click on it, Mac OS X mounts it without breathing hard ... who cares if it's FAT32, NTFS, whatever.

Due to the size of the image that we were copying, we put it on a RAID array, and had to access the image over the network -- it still mounted fine. In straight UNIX, if you try to mount a disk image, it complains that there is "no block device" and fails. Once your image is mounted, it appears in your Finder, and then it's easy work to retrieve the critical files from the image -- usually things like .doc files and .xls files and the lot.

Finally, since your disk is actually dying, once you have your image, you can drop it to tape or something and you've not only recovered your files, you've made a viable backup as well. Once again, that which destroys a Windows box becomes a play thing to a Mac OS X box.
 

canucklehead

Active member
Oct 16, 2003
2,422
12
38
If you're limited on local space you can use a pipe to gzip instead of the "of=" option.
dd bs=512 if=/dev/rdisk2s3 conv=noerror,sync | gzip -9 > foo.dmg.gzip
 

Tragically_Glib

New member
Jan 8, 2006
371
0
0
Always run Files and Settings Tranfer Wizard

Shades said:
Thanks for the info...I really don't have anything "incriminating" saved, just sites like terb bookmarked. Occassionally have downloaded images that people put up...but never save them. However, I know these are probably still lurking on the hard drive.
Guess I really have no choice at this point!
Microsoft has a utility called "Files and Settings Tranfer Wizard" (Start>Programs>Accesories>System Tools).

It does an awsome job restoring settings, files in My Documents and things like Favourites.
 

Shades

Shades of .....
Feb 8, 2002
2,999
2
38
An Update on the Lamentable Lament

It has now been 3 weeks since I parted company with my TOSHIBA laptop...I still don't have it back. The techie at Business Depot ordered a new motherboard from Toshiba....who immediately sent to Japan for the part! That was 2 weeks ago...and there is still no word on when it will arrive. If ever.
So I said to them...let me have the hard drive and replace the computer...cause that is the warranty I had. Enough is enough! Guess what...the 300 bucks extended warranty I bought doesn't cover replacement...even though it says clearly on the bill...replacement warranty!
The battle is on. I am now working my way up the Business Depot heirarchy.
While I was there a woman arrived with her TOSHIBA laptop...third time in trying to get it fixed!
Do not buy Toshiba lap tops....the jury is still out on whether one should buy a computer from Business Depot!
 

freshbreath

Registered Pooner
Mar 2, 2004
2,085
0
0
area code four one sex
was the hard drive ok in the first place? if it was, you could have ripped it out yourself and turned it into a USB drive, with one of those $10 steel boxes you see at computer stores
 

Shades

Shades of .....
Feb 8, 2002
2,999
2
38
As far as I know the hard drive is fine...so when I get my hands on it...I can get it copied. I'm just sick and tired of waiting and want them to honour their replacement commitment. If it looks like the fight will drag out...I will get the hard drive from them...get a dell and follow the above advice and copy the HD onto the new machine. It would be better if they gave me a new machine so I can continue to hobby though!
 
Shades said:
It has now been 3 weeks since I parted company with my TOSHIBA laptop...I still don't have it back.
I had a similar experience a few years ago with a laptop from Future SHop. Same problem... The "Covers Everything" warranty should have been called the "Covers Everything Except What's Buggered" warranty. I recently bought a cheapie Gateway from them Three months into it, the HD control arm crapped out. I took it to my local computer geek shop, who replaced the drive for under $250... for a larger and faster drive. The warranty was going to be $300 as I recall, so so-far I'm ahead of the game. I decided not to buy the warranty when they told me the computer had to go back to Gateway if it did die, which would take 3 - 6 weeks, which is a pain...
 

Marla

Active member
Mar 29, 2010
1,563
12
38
59
ajax
Shades said:
My Toshiba laptop appears to have bitten the dust. Right now it is at Staples awaiting the pronouncement from their warranty specialist on whether the replacement insurance I bought when I got the computer is worth anything!

I have a software specialist that will take the hard drive and mine the data for me...I have a lot of business stuff on that machine. When one recovers data from a hard drive...what is happening. Is there a way they can take everything and just copy it on disc or external drive? In other words do you do a full drive dump or do you have to specify files...such as address files, specific file folders, photo albums etc.?

I have a few sites like terb. bookmarked...will these come up for my software guy to see where I have been or visit on a regular basis?

What about installed programs like Limewire....will this be pulled off the drive or will I have to go through the whole procedure of downloading this stuff again?

Any insight to what I might be in for would be a help.
Thanks,
S
what kind of Toshiba broke that was still under warranty. I have had mine forever and I back up my data to something that looks like a box. If I crash, I would just plug it into the new computer and it would restore- according to my techy. I dont know much. I had to have a new mother board put in about 3 years, but I love this computer. I know it is obsolete thoughit isa satelite pro. Any ideas for a new one. I run 2 businesses off of it and use it 4 hours a day. Good luck with your dilemma. Don't worry about the techy. He's probobly seen more than you want to know and your's is just innocent stuff. Really. Don't fret.
 

Shades

Shades of .....
Feb 8, 2002
2,999
2
38
Marlene said:
what kind of Toshiba broke that was still under warranty. I have had mine forever and I back up my data to something that looks like a box. If I crash, I would just plug it into the new computer and it would restore- according to my techy. I dont know much. I had to have a new mother board put in about 3 years, but I love this computer. I know it is obsolete thoughit isa satelite pro. Any ideas for a new one. I run 2 businesses off of it and use it 4 hours a day. Good luck with your dilemma. Don't worry about the techy. He's probobly seen more than you want to know and your's is just innocent stuff. Really. Don't fret.
Hi Marlene
It was (is) a 2+ year old Toshiba Satellite Special Edition. The screen went in year one and was replaced by Toshiba. It took 3 weeks for them to get the part. This one is still awaiting parts...a new mother board...is still on order. It seems I am learning two things about Toshibas...one screens and motherboards are common problems and the company or distributors in Canada don't believe in stock piling parts...even though the same parts are in frequent demand! Not a good business model.
I have a back up system which after my last problem I used regularly, then a little less, then even a little less. Now I regret the error of my ways as I am clearly being punished for my sins.
I think I am going to go back to Dell. I have had two previous Dell laptops and no problems. Their servicing can't be any worse than Staples and Toshiba's ....can it?
Cheers
S
 

JEFF247

New member
Feb 23, 2004
1,816
0
0
Finger Lakes, NY
www.XXXand.US
Extended warranties

I don't buy the warranties but if you want to, for piece of mind, it is best to go with the manufacturers extended warranty. Consumer reports agrees. I have had a couple Toshibas with no problems. I did look at their extended warranty when I bought my last one. It's a little more expensive but covers MUCH more. Even spilling coffee on it. No store warranty will cover that.
 

Shades

Shades of .....
Feb 8, 2002
2,999
2
38
Update: The Saga is Over

Thanks for everybodies input to my laptop lament.
Staples finally saw the light... two days shy of 4 weeks...and agreed that enough was enough. Toshiba couldn't tell them when the motherboard was going to be available so they figured what the replacement cost of a laptop that matched my Toshiba's configuration would be...plus tax....and they gave me about $1400 to replace the computer plus they copied and installed the contents of the hard drive for free.
The only catch was that it wasn't cash but a store credit...so I had to buy from what was available.
I didn't want to go down the Toshiba road again so this limited me to the Acer, HP, Sony or IBM... I went with a Compaq Presario V267 Notebook...64 bit AMD processor 204 MB system memory and 120 GB hard drive etc. More features available for the money.
So far so good....since the store finally came through, I bought the store warranty. I know, I know...but they did eventually solve the problem for me. Big thing is that HP has parts available in North America!
Let's hope HP Compaq stays in business long enough to honour their warranty if needed.
 

Marla

Active member
Mar 29, 2010
1,563
12
38
59
ajax
Shades said:
Hi Marlene
It was (is) a 2+ year old Toshiba Satellite Special Edition. The screen went in year one and was replaced by Toshiba. It took 3 weeks for them to get the part. This one is still awaiting parts...a new mother board...is still on order. It seems I am learning two things about Toshibas...one screens and motherboards are common problems and the company or distributors in Canada don't believe in stock piling parts...even though the same parts are in frequent demand! Not a good business model.
I have a back up system which after my last problem I used regularly, then a little less, then even a little less. Now I regret the error of my ways as I am clearly being punished for my sins.
I think I am going to go back to Dell. I have had two previous Dell laptops and no problems. Their servicing can't be any worse than Staples and Toshiba's ....can it?
Cheers
S
truth be known I have heard Dell is great, what is reputations of Ibm
 
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