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From: google3luo359 on 28 Dec 2005 20:49
I bought a new 80G Toshiba 2.5" HD to use as a backup USB drive for my
ancient desktop.
I run Win 98SE on the 233Mhz desktop.

At first the desktop couldn't see more than 10G of the USB drive.
Someone suggested updating the Fdisk to a newer version.
I did and bingo, it could now see 80G.

I partitioned the drive into 4 partitions and started transfering files
from the desktop to the USB drive. I did it a little bit at a time for
a few weeks. I must have transferred files for a total of three or four
sessions, with no problems.

Then today I plug in the USB drive and no go!
The desktop sees a USB drive, but it's only 10G again, and there is
nothing on the drive !!!!!

Someone please help me!
I didn't backup those files, I transferred them to clear out space on
my desktop HD.

Please tell me what I should try, ending as a very last resort with
Fdisk-ing the HD.

Thanks!

Ric

From: Curious George on 1 Jan 2006 21:42
On 28 Dec 2005 17:49:15 -0800, google3luo359(a)yahoo.com wrote:

>Then today I plug in the USB drive and no go!
>The desktop sees a USB drive, but it's only 10G again, and there is
>nothing on the drive !!!!!

Have you tried a scandisk or norton disk doctor? IIRC Norton works
better with borked partitions.

>Someone please help me!
>I didn't backup those files, I transferred them to clear out space on
>my desktop HD.

Don't mean to be a PITA but from now on PLEASE make sure you NEVER
have only 1 copy of any piece of data - unless you don't care if you
loose it.

If you can't afford to backup all your data (pref min of 3 copies
spread out over time and at least one of those in a different place)
you should try to reduce the amount of data you keep, rather than
skimping on backup. (BTW Reducing data can also make backup cheaper)

>Please tell me what I should try, ending as a very last resort with
>Fdisk-ing the HD.

Please don't re-Fdisk. Fdisk -mbr won't help either. You need to
find a way to recover a corrupt partition.

If the tools I mentioned don't work try dome data recovery programs.
(actually you should probably try those first. The last thing you
want to do is to break the disk further trying to fix it.)
From: Arno Wagner on 2 Jan 2006 02:39
Previously google3luo359(a)yahoo.com wrote:
> I bought a new 80G Toshiba 2.5" HD to use as a backup USB drive for my
> ancient desktop.
> I run Win 98SE on the 233Mhz desktop.

> At first the desktop couldn't see more than 10G of the USB drive.
> Someone suggested updating the Fdisk to a newer version.
> I did and bingo, it could now see 80G.

> I partitioned the drive into 4 partitions and started transfering files
> from the desktop to the USB drive. I did it a little bit at a time for
> a few weeks. I must have transferred files for a total of three or four
> sessions, with no problems.

> Then today I plug in the USB drive and no go!
> The desktop sees a USB drive, but it's only 10G again, and there is
> nothing on the drive !!!!!

> Someone please help me!
> I didn't backup those files, I transferred them to clear out space on
> my desktop HD.

They could not have been important if you have only this one copy,
now can they? Sotty, but I think you just learned a valuable lesson.

If you can spend the money, try a data recovery outfit. Has a
reasonable chance of bringing back some of your data.

My guess as to the actual problem is that Win98 never saw more than
the small amount of space and that in you last session you managed
to fill that up and windows started writing an the beginning of the
disk, overwriting all the meta-information, file-allocation table and
main directory. If I remember correctly, this is a known problem,
also with large disk sizes and XP (without service pack).

This also means that some of your data is likely irretrivably lost.

> Please tell me what I should try, ending as a very last resort with
> Fdisk-ing the HD.

I think you can forget about fdisk'ing again, since it will just
re-create the original problem. Better check whether the enclosure
manufacturer offers drivers for win98, and if it does not, you
might have to update the OS or, e.g., use Linux (e.g. in the form of
Knoppix) to copy your files to the USB enclosure.

Arno
From: Arno Wagner on 2 Jan 2006 02:44
Previously Curious George <cg(a)email.net> wrote:
> On 28 Dec 2005 17:49:15 -0800, google3luo359(a)yahoo.com wrote:

>>Then today I plug in the USB drive and no go!
>>The desktop sees a USB drive, but it's only 10G again, and there is
>>nothing on the drive !!!!!

> Have you tried a scandisk or norton disk doctor? IIRC Norton works
> better with borked partitions.

>>Someone please help me!
>>I didn't backup those files, I transferred them to clear out space on
>>my desktop HD.

> Don't mean to be a PITA but from now on PLEASE make sure you NEVER
> have only 1 copy of any piece of data - unless you don't care if you
> loose it.

> If you can't afford to backup all your data (pref min of 3 copies
> spread out over time and at least one of those in a different place)

For low- to medium-importanec files you can get away with just one
copy, but it should be on a backup medium (MOD, professional tape),
known to work reliably. The problem with HDDs is that they have
some failure modes that make data recovery very problematic.

For really important stuff you should allways have at least
2 copies in different places and check them for errors regularly.
BTW, a working copy (on disk) does not count as a backup copy
in this.

Arno
From: Curious George on 2 Jan 2006 03:41
On 2 Jan 2006 07:44:11 GMT, Arno Wagner <me(a)privacy.net> wrote:

>Previously Curious George <cg(a)email.net> wrote:
>> On 28 Dec 2005 17:49:15 -0800, google3luo359(a)yahoo.com wrote:
>
>>>Then today I plug in the USB drive and no go!
>>>The desktop sees a USB drive, but it's only 10G again, and there is
>>>nothing on the drive !!!!!
>
>> Have you tried a scandisk or norton disk doctor? IIRC Norton works
>> better with borked partitions.
>
>>>Someone please help me!
>>>I didn't backup those files, I transferred them to clear out space on
>>>my desktop HD.
>
>> Don't mean to be a PITA but from now on PLEASE make sure you NEVER
>> have only 1 copy of any piece of data - unless you don't care if you
>> loose it.
>
>> If you can't afford to backup all your data (pref min of 3 copies
>> spread out over time and at least one of those in a different place)
>
>For low- to medium-importanec files you can get away with just one
>copy, but it should be on a backup medium (MOD, professional tape),
>known to work reliably. The problem with HDDs is that they have
>some failure modes that make data recovery very problematic.
>
>For really important stuff you should allways have at least
>2 copies in different places and check them for errors regularly.
>BTW, a working copy (on disk) does not count as a backup copy
>in this.
>
>Arno

Well I don't really disagree but that's a preference. Everyone will
have their own idea of a "safe minimal protection" or "best practice."

My personal threshold for loss is a little lower. For me _anything_
that requires time expenditure or is an inconvenience/ PITA caused by
loss requires good protection (no matter how "important" or "valuable"
- or not - I consider the data). I also find it generally
impractical & unnecessary to maintain a multi-tiered backup strategy
in a single user environment esp if that entails different media
types. It becomes a mess very quickly that requires hand holding &
can therefore interfere with normal computing & computer & file
maintenance as well as creates overly-complex recovery.

Therefore IMHO a backup system designed for "low- to medium-importance
files" should probably be limited to a person who only creates "low-
medium-importance files." Otherwise I see a multi-tiered approach
better suited to someone who creates "medium-importance files" on one
workstation and has "important stuff" on another workstation or
server. I don't really think simple folder organization (to simplify
backup jobs) solves the problem of a multi-tiered backup on a single
machine because I'm not sure you can justify the extra work, remaining
complexity, & expenditure for one machine. Even still whenever setting
up & maintaining multiple machines you can quickly feel the pressure
to simplify & centralize strategies as much as possible. This is pure
_opinion_ though. Everyone has different variables and quantities in
their own cost/benefit analysis.

But as long as he has more than one copy of his data on more than one
media (i.e. _any_ valid backup) esp for his most important data, he's
in a lot better shape than right now. Even better if it can be as
automated & simple as possible. Don't mean to beat him up - it's just
now's the best time to jump on backup esp a "best practice" - 'cause
now he REALLY understands the importance now.
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