On Tue, 10 Oct 2017 17:16:20 -0400, Paul wrote:

I'm sure he'll get SysRescue running now.


I'm sure I wont. I tried Yumi, Rufus, and a newer version of Unetbootin.
I tried a 2gb flash drive, as well as a 8gb and a BRAND NEW 64gb.
Regardless, the computer begins to boot from the USB drive, shows a list
of my PCI stuff, and freezes up forever.

One HUGE question ??????

Does Sysrescuecd contain ddrescue and everything else needed to perform
this dreaded surgery?

If it dont, why am I messing with it?

If it does, I found a place linked from Distrowatch, which will sell CDs
with pretty much any linux distro. They have Sysrescuecd for $2.95 plus
$2.65 shipping. Before I even consider buying a Cd burner, and trying to
burn Cds (which generally fails for me), I'll just buy the flipping CD
ready to use.

Of course, I suppose I'm still stuck with the linux command line
(terminal) nightmares. Maybe I can get the help of someone at a nearby
computer repair shop to use it. I dont feel confident at all trying to
do this or any linux command line stuff on my own. And this is a rural
farm community. There is no one around here who knows beans about
computers. Most of the old farmers wont even touch a computer and the
younger ones use their smartphone for the internet and probably never
leave facebook.

This is my last resort. I have a large 20lb sledge hammer just waiting
to smash that hard drive. I dont even care about my data anymore. This
is now going on two weeks of frustration, and has cost me close to $130
for new hard drives, backup drives, flash drives cables, and other crap,
not to mention over 60 hours of my time. It's beyond saving data, it's
now a matter of saving my nerves and mental condition.