Off the wall cloning question

On 12/30/15 8:20 AM, Mayayana wrote:
| The system is going to sit until the owners decide how they want to
| proceed. It could be just getting the data I could will be as far as
| they want to go.

Did you ever try just copying the restore partition
to a new disk? You didn't mention that, though you
did say that that section seems to be intact. It
may be corrupt, but worth a try if they want to
save the machine.

No copying yet. The only thing I know for sure is the concern over lost
photos. Of which there will be some unless there's software that may
locate and copy them without the need of any directory records. Know of
any that are both free and good? Getting those off the drive would be
such a feather in the cap. LOL

I don't think they even thought down the road past the photos, other
than cursory contemplation.

I don't think you ever mentioned
the age of the computer. Most can last a lot longer
if the system is backed up, so that the disk can be
replaced.

HP Pavilion, mostly air in the box. W7 Home Premium. If you'd like
more info, I'll get it. :-)


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 42.0
Thunderbird 38.0.1
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On 12/30/15 8:43 AM, Paul wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:


Definitely the drive and not a faulty restore. HD Tune 5.xx has a lot
of red squares indicating damage of some type.


Some day, you'll get to play with this.

ddrescue

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Damaged_Hard_Disk

Paul

That time might be now. LOL


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 42.0
Thunderbird 38.0.1
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

| I don't think you ever mentioned
| the age of the computer. Most can last a lot longer
| if the system is backed up, so that the disk can be
| replaced.
|
| HP Pavilion, mostly air in the box. W7 Home Premium. If you'd like
| more info, I'll get it. :-)

I'd certainly consider that worth saving.
After all, it's the last Windows OS before Win8
and 10.

But Win7 also means it's not more than about 5
years old. With a backup disk image that can be
installed onto a new hard disk, most computers will
go over 10 years. Aside from occasionallu RAM going
bad, there's usually not much that goes in a computer
other than the hard disk.

I'm still fixing XP boxes from 2005 or so. I've
done two in the past couple of months that saved
people from having to buy a Win10 computer.
They'll probably work for several more years.
One was a messed up XP box with the restore
partition still good. I restored it, then copied all
partitions to a new disk (on sale for $40) and
put the new disk in an extra bay. Now the owner
has a disk image, but they also have a backup
hard disk. If the original disk dies they can just
switch the SATA plug from one disk to the other.

On 12/30/15 12:45 PM, Mayayana wrote:
| I don't think you ever mentioned
| the age of the computer. Most can last a lot longer
| if the system is backed up, so that the disk can be
| replaced.
|
| HP Pavilion, mostly air in the box. W7 Home Premium. If you'd like
| more info, I'll get it. :-)

I'd certainly consider that worth saving.
After all, it's the last Windows OS before Win8
and 10.

So do I, and told them that as soon as I knew what OS was on the box.

But Win7 also means it's not more than about 5
years old. With a backup disk image that can be
installed onto a new hard disk, most computers will
go over 10 years. Aside from occasionallu RAM going
bad, there's usually not much that goes in a computer
other than the hard disk.

I usually create one for the few repairs I do. On DVDs which I hope
they don't lose.

I'm still fixing XP boxes from 2005 or so. I've
done two in the past couple of months that saved
people from having to buy a Win10 computer.
They'll probably work for several more years.
One was a messed up XP box with the restore
partition still good. I restored it, then copied all
partitions to a new disk (on sale for $40) and
put the new disk in an extra bay. Now the owner
has a disk image, but they also have a backup
hard disk. If the original disk dies they can just
switch the SATA plug from one disk to the other.

I don't do XP anymore. Nothing wrong with the hardware, and I want to
look seriously at some Linux distros as a substitute for XP. The people
who usually end up with these are more computer literate than I would
like them to be if they are going to use XP.



--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 42.0
Thunderbird 38.0.1
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

In message , Ken Springer
writes:
[]
No copying yet. The only thing I know for sure is the concern over lost
photos. Of which there will be some unless there's software that may
locate and copy them without the need of any directory records. Know
of any that are both free and good? Getting those off the drive would
be such a feather in the cap. LOL
[]
I remember using one some years ago (XP); it was German, and designed
for recovering from SD cards, but I think it would do hard discs as
well. I think it recognised image file segments. Unfortunately I can't
remember the name now. However, googling recover deleted pictures finds
lots of hits, including several that are free.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"Who came first? Adam or Eve?" "Adam of course; men always do."
Victoria Wood (via Peter Hesketh)

On 12/22/15 8:23 AM, Ken Springer wrote:
Is it possible to just clone a single partition to another drive and
have it end up in the exact matching place on the new drive?

I've got a friend's system here with a dead HD. But I'd like to try to
at least save the recovery partition and see if the recovery partition
on the new drive will restore that drive.

It's possible the recovery partition can't be saved/rescued, just want
to try.

Sometimes it’s better to be old, stupid, and lucky rather than smart. LOL

After finding out today, the owner is interested in fixing it, I started
investigating the system. (Owner is at least 2500 miles away for the
holidays.) Learned the existing drive was already a replacement. 1.5TB
instead of 500GB. HP's site wasn't much help, but from another site,
supposedly there was no recovery manager with the original drive.
Finding this out, gambled on a bit of experimentation.

The system would not boot into normal boot, safe mode, nor the recovery
mode. So even though I thought there was a chance the recovery
partition was OK, I decided to run the GUI version of Checkdisk on it,
fixing/recovering any files. To my surprise, lots of recovered files.
So, I did the OS partition, same result. So of course, had to see if it
would boot.

Installed the drive back into the computer, would not boot normally nor
into Safe Mode, but I got a lot further. Then I tried recovery mode,
and it booted into recovery. And... It worked!!!!

Reinstalled 7 Home Premium with only one hitch. I made a setting that I
wished I hadn't done, so did another recovery. Went perfect without me
making a mistake. As I write this, it's checking for W7 updates.

To my surprise, there was no nag from HP about making recovery disks.
But I'm going to make a set after W7 is fully updated. Will be updating
all the way to W10 so the owner can play with it, see how she likes W10.

Do I trust the hard drive? No further than I could toss the White
House. So will be recommending a drive replacement, plus the purchase
of a backup drive and setting up a backup schedule.

Note to Paul... If the above hadn't worked, I was going to give the
DDrescue(?) program a try.

Thanks to all for the help and suggestions.

--
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 42.0
Thunderbird 38.0.1
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

Ken Springer wrote:
On 12/22/15 8:23 AM, Ken Springer wrote:
Is it possible to just clone a single partition to another drive and
have it end up in the exact matching place on the new drive?

I've got a friend's system here with a dead HD. But I'd like to try to
at least save the recovery partition and see if the recovery partition
on the new drive will restore that drive.

It's possible the recovery partition can't be saved/rescued, just want
to try.

Sometimes it’s better to be old, stupid, and lucky rather than smart. LOL

After finding out today, the owner is interested in fixing it, I started
investigating the system. (Owner is at least 2500 miles away for the
holidays.) Learned the existing drive was already a replacement. 1.5TB
instead of 500GB. HP's site wasn't much help, but from another site,
supposedly there was no recovery manager with the original drive.
Finding this out, gambled on a bit of experimentation.

The system would not boot into normal boot, safe mode, nor the recovery
mode. So even though I thought there was a chance the recovery
partition was OK, I decided to run the GUI version of Checkdisk on it,
fixing/recovering any files. To my surprise, lots of recovered files.
So, I did the OS partition, same result. So of course, had to see if it
would boot.

Installed the drive back into the computer, would not boot normally nor
into Safe Mode, but I got a lot further. Then I tried recovery mode,
and it booted into recovery. And... It worked!!!!

Reinstalled 7 Home Premium with only one hitch. I made a setting that I
wished I hadn't done, so did another recovery. Went perfect without me
making a mistake. As I write this, it's checking for W7 updates.

To my surprise, there was no nag from HP about making recovery disks.
But I'm going to make a set after W7 is fully updated. Will be updating
all the way to W10 so the owner can play with it, see how she likes W10.

Do I trust the hard drive? No further than I could toss the White
House. So will be recommending a drive replacement, plus the purchase
of a backup drive and setting up a backup schedule.

Note to Paul... If the above hadn't worked, I was going to give the
DDrescue(?) program a try.

Thanks to all for the help and suggestions.


Check the SMART statistics on the drive.

Use HDTune, run a transfer rate benchmark. Look for
wide dips in transfer rate, as evidence of "bad areas" on
the disk.

HDTune also has a SMART tab, so you can check for
reallocated sectors.

http://www.hdtune.com/files/hdtune_255.exe

And as of today, I have posted that link, 158 times :-)

An owner who continually switches off the power, instead
of using "Shutdown", might be able to trash the thing.
Given enough attempts.

Paul

On 1/4/16 11:58 PM, Paul wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:
On 12/22/15 8:23 AM, Ken Springer wrote:
Is it possible to just clone a single partition to another drive and
have it end up in the exact matching place on the new drive?

I've got a friend's system here with a dead HD. But I'd like to try to
at least save the recovery partition and see if the recovery partition
on the new drive will restore that drive.

It's possible the recovery partition can't be saved/rescued, just want
to try.

Sometimes it’s better to be old, stupid, and lucky rather than smart. LOL

After finding out today, the owner is interested in fixing it, I started
investigating the system. (Owner is at least 2500 miles away for the
holidays.) Learned the existing drive was already a replacement. 1.5TB
instead of 500GB. HP's site wasn't much help, but from another site,
supposedly there was no recovery manager with the original drive.
Finding this out, gambled on a bit of experimentation.

The system would not boot into normal boot, safe mode, nor the recovery
mode. So even though I thought there was a chance the recovery
partition was OK, I decided to run the GUI version of Checkdisk on it,
fixing/recovering any files. To my surprise, lots of recovered files.
So, I did the OS partition, same result. So of course, had to see if it
would boot.

Installed the drive back into the computer, would not boot normally nor
into Safe Mode, but I got a lot further. Then I tried recovery mode,
and it booted into recovery. And... It worked!!!!

Reinstalled 7 Home Premium with only one hitch. I made a setting that I
wished I hadn't done, so did another recovery. Went perfect without me
making a mistake. As I write this, it's checking for W7 updates.

To my surprise, there was no nag from HP about making recovery disks.
But I'm going to make a set after W7 is fully updated. Will be updating
all the way to W10 so the owner can play with it, see how she likes W10.

Do I trust the hard drive? No further than I could toss the White
House. So will be recommending a drive replacement, plus the purchase
of a backup drive and setting up a backup schedule.

Note to Paul... If the above hadn't worked, I was going to give the
DDrescue(?) program a try.

Thanks to all for the help and suggestions.


Check the SMART statistics on the drive.

Use HDTune, run a transfer rate benchmark. Look for
wide dips in transfer rate, as evidence of "bad areas" on
the disk.

HDTune also has a SMART tab, so you can check for
reallocated sectors.

http://www.hdtune.com/files/hdtune_255.exe

I don't remember if I mentioned it, but I ran Hiren's Boot CD, and I
think it has 2.52 on it. Gave me all red for an error scan the drive.
Then I removed the drive and attached to a different computer, and ran
the trial version of the current version, 5.6. Got a completely
different result for the error scan, somewhere in the neighborhood of a
dozen locations damaged.

So, if I do this again, I think I'll spring for the paid for version, I
don't think I'd trust the free version unless it was a really old drive.

But the drive does "click and tick" as it reads and writes, so it's
definitely going south. Found a new 2TB drive, which I'll put in it.
It's a very slow processor, and the 2nd time a drive has failed. Told
the client the next time this happens, just to buy a new computer. I
also said the first thing they should do is buy a backup drive and get
it set up.

Also, the replacement drive is a refurbished unit.


And as of today, I have posted that link, 158 times :-)

An owner who continually switches off the power, instead
of using "Shutdown", might be able to trash the thing.
Given enough attempts.




--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 42.0
Thunderbird 38.0.1
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

On 1/5/16 10:43 AM, Ken Springer wrote:
On 1/4/16 11:58 PM, Paul wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:
On 12/22/15 8:23 AM, Ken Springer wrote:
Is it possible to just clone a single partition to another drive and
have it end up in the exact matching place on the new drive?

I've got a friend's system here with a dead HD. But I'd like to try to
at least save the recovery partition and see if the recovery partition
on the new drive will restore that drive.

It's possible the recovery partition can't be saved/rescued, just want
to try.

Sometimes it’s better to be old, stupid, and lucky rather than smart. LOL

After finding out today, the owner is interested in fixing it, I started
investigating the system. (Owner is at least 2500 miles away for the
holidays.) Learned the existing drive was already a replacement. 1.5TB
instead of 500GB. HP's site wasn't much help, but from another site,
supposedly there was no recovery manager with the original drive.
Finding this out, gambled on a bit of experimentation.

The system would not boot into normal boot, safe mode, nor the recovery
mode. So even though I thought there was a chance the recovery
partition was OK, I decided to run the GUI version of Checkdisk on it,
fixing/recovering any files. To my surprise, lots of recovered files.
So, I did the OS partition, same result. So of course, had to see if it
would boot.

Installed the drive back into the computer, would not boot normally nor
into Safe Mode, but I got a lot further. Then I tried recovery mode,
and it booted into recovery. And... It worked!!!!

Reinstalled 7 Home Premium with only one hitch. I made a setting that I
wished I hadn't done, so did another recovery. Went perfect without me
making a mistake. As I write this, it's checking for W7 updates.

To my surprise, there was no nag from HP about making recovery disks.
But I'm going to make a set after W7 is fully updated. Will be updating
all the way to W10 so the owner can play with it, see how she likes W10.

Do I trust the hard drive? No further than I could toss the White
House. So will be recommending a drive replacement, plus the purchase
of a backup drive and setting up a backup schedule.

Note to Paul... If the above hadn't worked, I was going to give the
DDrescue(?) program a try.

Thanks to all for the help and suggestions.


Check the SMART statistics on the drive.

Use HDTune, run a transfer rate benchmark. Look for
wide dips in transfer rate, as evidence of "bad areas" on
the disk.

HDTune also has a SMART tab, so you can check for
reallocated sectors.

http://www.hdtune.com/files/hdtune_255.exe

I don't remember if I mentioned it, but I ran Hiren's Boot CD, and I
think it has 2.52 on it. Gave me all red for an error scan the drive.
Then I removed the drive and attached to a different computer, and ran
the trial version of the current version, 5.6. Got a completely
different result for the error scan, somewhere in the neighborhood of a
dozen locations damaged.

So, if I do this again, I think I'll spring for the paid for version, I
don't think I'd trust the free version unless it was a really old drive.

But the drive does "click and tick" as it reads and writes, so it's
definitely going south. Found a new 2TB drive, which I'll put in it.
It's a very slow processor, and the 2nd time a drive has failed. Told
the client the next time this happens, just to buy a new computer. I
also said the first thing they should do is buy a backup drive and get
it set up.

Also, the replacement drive is a refurbished unit.

This came out wrong. The drive I'm replacing is refurbished, I'm
putting in a new one.


And as of today, I have posted that link, 158 times :-)

An owner who continually switches off the power, instead
of using "Shutdown", might be able to trash the thing.
Given enough attempts.






--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 42.0
Thunderbird 38.0.1
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

In article ,
says...

On 1/5/16 10:43 AM, Ken Springer wrote:
On 1/4/16 11:58 PM, Paul wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:
On 12/22/15 8:23 AM, Ken Springer wrote:
Is it possible to just clone a single partition to another drive and
have it end up in the exact matching place on the new drive?

I've got a friend's system here with a dead HD. But I'd like to try to
at least save the recovery partition and see if the recovery partition
on the new drive will restore that drive.

It's possible the recovery partition can't be saved/rescued, just want
to try.

Sometimes it?s better to be old, stupid, and lucky rather than smart. LOL

After finding out today, the owner is interested in fixing it, I started
investigating the system. (Owner is at least 2500 miles away for the
holidays.) Learned the existing drive was already a replacement. 1.5TB
instead of 500GB. HP's site wasn't much help, but from another site,
supposedly there was no recovery manager with the original drive.
Finding this out, gambled on a bit of experimentation.

The system would not boot into normal boot, safe mode, nor the recovery
mode. So even though I thought there was a chance the recovery
partition was OK, I decided to run the GUI version of Checkdisk on it,
fixing/recovering any files. To my surprise, lots of recovered files.
So, I did the OS partition, same result. So of course, had to see if it
would boot.

Installed the drive back into the computer, would not boot normally nor
into Safe Mode, but I got a lot further. Then I tried recovery mode,
and it booted into recovery. And... It worked!!!!

Reinstalled 7 Home Premium with only one hitch. I made a setting that I
wished I hadn't done, so did another recovery. Went perfect without me
making a mistake. As I write this, it's checking for W7 updates.

To my surprise, there was no nag from HP about making recovery disks.
But I'm going to make a set after W7 is fully updated. Will be updating
all the way to W10 so the owner can play with it, see how she likes W10.

Do I trust the hard drive? No further than I could toss the White
House. So will be recommending a drive replacement, plus the purchase
of a backup drive and setting up a backup schedule.

Note to Paul... If the above hadn't worked, I was going to give the
DDrescue(?) program a try.


I was going to add I have a 2Tb Seagate external went belly up within
warranty period. They sent me a new refurbished drive. It's lasted well
past the original so ...

On 1/5/16 12:53 PM, pjp wrote:
In article ,
says...

On 1/5/16 10:43 AM, Ken Springer wrote:
On 1/4/16 11:58 PM, Paul wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:
On 12/22/15 8:23 AM, Ken Springer wrote:
Is it possible to just clone a single partition to another drive and
have it end up in the exact matching place on the new drive?

I've got a friend's system here with a dead HD. But I'd like to try to
at least save the recovery partition and see if the recovery partition
on the new drive will restore that drive.

It's possible the recovery partition can't be saved/rescued, just want
to try.

Sometimes it?s better to be old, stupid, and lucky rather than smart. LOL

After finding out today, the owner is interested in fixing it, I started
investigating the system. (Owner is at least 2500 miles away for the
holidays.) Learned the existing drive was already a replacement. 1.5TB
instead of 500GB. HP's site wasn't much help, but from another site,
supposedly there was no recovery manager with the original drive.
Finding this out, gambled on a bit of experimentation.

The system would not boot into normal boot, safe mode, nor the recovery
mode. So even though I thought there was a chance the recovery
partition was OK, I decided to run the GUI version of Checkdisk on it,
fixing/recovering any files. To my surprise, lots of recovered files.
So, I did the OS partition, same result. So of course, had to see if it
would boot.

Installed the drive back into the computer, would not boot normally nor
into Safe Mode, but I got a lot further. Then I tried recovery mode,
and it booted into recovery. And... It worked!!!!

Reinstalled 7 Home Premium with only one hitch. I made a setting that I
wished I hadn't done, so did another recovery. Went perfect without me
making a mistake. As I write this, it's checking for W7 updates.

To my surprise, there was no nag from HP about making recovery disks.
But I'm going to make a set after W7 is fully updated. Will be updating
all the way to W10 so the owner can play with it, see how she likes W10.

Do I trust the hard drive? No further than I could toss the White
House. So will be recommending a drive replacement, plus the purchase
of a backup drive and setting up a backup schedule.

Note to Paul... If the above hadn't worked, I was going to give the
DDrescue(?) program a try.


I was going to add I have a 2Tb Seagate external went belly up within
warranty period. They sent me a new refurbished drive. It's lasted well
past the original so ...

Understood. You just never know how long any drive will last. The
folks that own this system are friends, so opting for new.


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 42.0
Thunderbird 38.0.1
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

In article ,
says...

On 1/5/16 12:53 PM, pjp wrote:
In article ,
says...

On 1/5/16 10:43 AM, Ken Springer wrote:
On 1/4/16 11:58 PM, Paul wrote:
Ken Springer wrote:
On 12/22/15 8:23 AM, Ken Springer wrote:
Is it possible to just clone a single partition to another drive and
have it end up in the exact matching place on the new drive?

I've got a friend's system here with a dead HD. But I'd like to try to
at least save the recovery partition and see if the recovery partition
on the new drive will restore that drive.

It's possible the recovery partition can't be saved/rescued, just want
to try.

Sometimes it?s better to be old, stupid, and lucky rather than smart. LOL

After finding out today, the owner is interested in fixing it, I started
investigating the system. (Owner is at least 2500 miles away for the
holidays.) Learned the existing drive was already a replacement. 1.5TB
instead of 500GB. HP's site wasn't much help, but from another site,
supposedly there was no recovery manager with the original drive.
Finding this out, gambled on a bit of experimentation.

The system would not boot into normal boot, safe mode, nor the recovery
mode. So even though I thought there was a chance the recovery
partition was OK, I decided to run the GUI version of Checkdisk on it,
fixing/recovering any files. To my surprise, lots of recovered files.
So, I did the OS partition, same result. So of course, had to see if it
would boot.

Installed the drive back into the computer, would not boot normally nor
into Safe Mode, but I got a lot further. Then I tried recovery mode,
and it booted into recovery. And... It worked!!!!

Reinstalled 7 Home Premium with only one hitch. I made a setting that I
wished I hadn't done, so did another recovery. Went perfect without me
making a mistake. As I write this, it's checking for W7 updates.

To my surprise, there was no nag from HP about making recovery disks.
But I'm going to make a set after W7 is fully updated. Will be updating
all the way to W10 so the owner can play with it, see how she likes W10.

Do I trust the hard drive? No further than I could toss the White
House. So will be recommending a drive replacement, plus the purchase
of a backup drive and setting up a backup schedule.

I "expect" any drive to last five years without issue. I've had them
last well past ten and I've had them fail within days. I've got a stack
of old 10-40 Gb drives (IDE) I might as well toss but they all worked
when put on shelf. They all gotta be getting on now.